BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — As Birmingham gears up for a sports-filled weekend, a lot of people will want to park in open lots right across from the venue, but they can fill up quickly. So, the city says to make sure to put on comfortable shoes in case you have to walk a few blocks from another available lot.

Birmingham City Councilor Hunter Williams said though it will be a busy weekend in downtown Birmingham, there will be plenty of parking for people at every event.

“At a lot of these events both the surface lots, as well as including overflow lots, as well as our parking decks don’t even make it to capacity because people don’t realize that those are options for them to park in,” Williams said.

The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex said it knows most people want to park as close as possible to their event but that some might have to walk three to five blocks.

“Believe me, we want everyone to park as close as they can,” said Tad Snider, executive director and CEO of the BJCC. “Sometimes when there’s multiple events and large events that we want to have as a city, as part of where we think we’re headed in terms of being able to bring great programming to the city of Birmingham and the region, then we’re going to have some of those weekends where parking is — might have to walk a little bit more than we want to.”

Some people not coming to any of the events downtown this weekend said they know how bad parking will be and they’ll be avoiding the area.

“I know on game days it can get very busy down here, and you have to drive around,” said Michael Montgomery, who enjoys playing pickleball with his friends at City Walk. “It might cause us to go to a different part of town to go play or somewhere else.”

The city and BJCC said there will not be shuttles this weekend for off-site parking. However, the BJCC said it will have golf carts roaming to pick up anyone who is unable to make the walk from their car to the venue.

For maps and directions to parking lots by the BJCC, visit its website. You can also view available parking lots for Protective Stadium.