Just in time for May flowers Arts Series of The Episcopal Church of St.
John in the Wilderness presents a piano concert from composer and church musician Thomas Keesecker. The
program features selections from Mr. Keesecker’s concert tour with performances taking place across the
country.
The free concert in Flat Rock is set for Sunday afternoon, May 4, 2025 at 4pm in the Parish Hall
located at 1905 Greenville Highway across from the church.

🍻 Na Zdrowie! Join us May 2-4, 2025 for our 3rd Annual Polish Fest: polka, piwo (beer) and pierogi, need we share more? 😛 Festivities will include live performances from local favorites Wasted Wine and Foothills Oompah Band, as well as Atlanta Polish folk dance group Mazury Folk Dance Ensemble. Remember to keep your pets at home, yet definitely bring your ID, dancing shoes — and your appetite!

Entertainment Schedule:

🍺 Friday, May 2 (5-10 p.m.)

🎶 Wasted Wine 6-9 p.m.

🍺 Saturday, May 3 (11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.):

🎶 Foothills Oompah Band (12:30-3:30 p.m.)

🎶 Mazury Folk Dance Ensemble (4-4:30 p.m. & 5:30-6 p.m.)

🍺 Sunday, May 4 (11:30 a.m.-8 p.m.)

🎶 Wasted Wine 2-5 p.m.

🌭 Fireforge’s festy food and beverage menu will include house-brewed “Polka Party” Lager and “Cendrowski” Grodziskie Wheat Ale; pork kielbasa from Asheville’s Chop Shop Butchery made with Fireforge beer and served on a bun with sauerkraut and horseradish beer mustard; potato and cheese pierogies from Polish American sister-owned Jaju Pierogi served with housemade sour cream, caramelized onions and chives; kabanos snacking sausage from Upstate Polish Market, house-made borscht (chilled beet soup) as well as other Polish cuisine-inspired sides and sweets!

Join us for an unforgettable night of epic music and cinematic magic as The Greenville Symphony Orchestra presents Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in concert. The concert will be led by conductor Thiago Tiberio on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

Tickets are available at the GSP International Airport Box Office located at the arena from the on sale through show day while supplies last. Box Office hours vary but we are generally open M-F 10AM-2PM.

This class offers a creative, hands-on experience perfect for all skill levels!  Participants will decorate terracotta pots using vibrant paints to transform each one into a heartfelt gift just in time for Mother’s Day.  Feel free to get creative with your design!  Everyone will get seeds to take home with them to plant in the pot once the paint is dry, creating a thoughtful and lasting token of appreciation for Mother’s Day.

Tuesday May 6th, 2:00 – 4:00. $20/$15 for Friends of Bullington Gardens.

Join the Asheville Symphony Chorus for a very regal evening as part of Asheville’s Amadeus Festival. Director Kyle Ritter and ASC will present an evening of choral masterworks written for coronations and royal weddings. Featuring works by composers Sir William McKie, William Mathias, Will Todd, and others, the concert’s twin crowning glories will be W.A. Mozart’s Coronation Mass and G. F. Handel’s Zadok the Priest. Special guest appearance by the Asheville Youth Choir.

Date and Time: On Tue, 06 May 2025 at 19:00 – Tue, 06 May 2025 at 20:30

Venue details: Central United Methodist Church, 27 Church Street, Asheville, North Carolina, 28801, United States

Category: Live Music | Choral

Prices:
Adult: USD 29.00,
Youth: USD 16.00

Artist: The Asheville Symphony Chorus

The Weaverville Tailgate Market located at 60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville, NC 28787 will again host Extension Master Gardener plant clinics on the first Wednesday of the month for the 2025 season!

At each Plant Clinic, Master Gardener volunteers will be available to answers all of your gardening questions and address your related concerns. Feel free to bring plant or insect samples for identification and/or problem resolution.

You can pick-up soil test kits and receive information about in-person programs and activities at The Learning Garden and the Gardening in the Mountains seminars. Please stop by to learn more!

Get swept up in the timeless allure of cabaret with singer Anaïs Reno and the Asheville Symphony. This ALT ASO program, which will also be part of Asheville Amadeus: The Art of Storytelling, will seamlessly blend classical masterpieces and timeless French standards.

Tickets are general admission and the show will be seated.

Based on the popular comic strip by Harold Gray, Annie has become a worldwide
phenomenon and was the winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The
beloved book and score by Tony Award winners, Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and
Martin Charnin, features some of the greatest musical theatre hits ever written,
including “Tomorrow.”

With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s
hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to
find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City
Orphanage that is run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the
other girls in the Orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC. In adventure
after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations… and even
befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt! She finds a new home and family in
billionaire, Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable
mutt named Sandy.

Mark your calendar and get ready for the 2025 Spring Fling Plant Sale, sponsored by the Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Buncombe County, the Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society, and Men’s Garden Club of Asheville.

Featuring perennials, 35 different varieties of daylilies, natives, herbs, and vegetables.

Visit the Plant Clinic tent with questions, and don’t forget to drop by the Kid’s Corner.

A Rain or Shine event.
Remember to bring your wagon!!

Garden photography workshop with Camilla Calnan.

Do you want to take better photos in the gardens? Join us for a hands-on workshop where we use whatever camera you are working with to learn tips, tricks, and techniques to take the photos you are hoping to capture. Working from whatever level you are currently and using your phone, point and shoot camera, or SLR camera, we will discover new ways to think about photography to help you grow in your photography.

This program takes place in the classroom and outdoors. Please come prepared to walk on gentle, yet uneven terrain, and dress appropriately for the weather.

An Evening with Chris Thile features a true array of genres. You’ll hear Thile’s new work ATTENTION! A narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra, the third movement of Barber’s masterful Violin Concerto – which he will play on mandolin – and more.

MacArthur Fellow and Grammy Award-winning mandolinist, singer, songwriter Chris Thile, who the Guardian calls “that rare being: an all-round musician who can settle into any style, from bluegrass to classical,” and NPR calls a “genre-defying musical genius,” is a founding member of the critically acclaimed bands Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek. For four years, Thile hosted public radio favorite Live from Here with Chris Thile (formerly known as A Prairie Home Companion). With his broad outlook, Thile creates a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike, giving the listener “one joyous arc, with the linear melody and vertical harmony blurring into a single web of gossamer beauty” (New York Times).

Darko Butorac, conductor

Chris Thile, mandolin

Celebrate Mother’s Day with this special brunch event! Join us for a delicious meal surrounded by beautiful scenery. Treat your mom to a day she won’t forget with a variety of dishes to choose from. Show your appreciation for all that she does with a lovely meal in a charming setting. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make her day extra special!

Peace Concert Hall
Saturday, May 10 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 11 at 3:00 pm

PROGRAM
Jessie Montgomery: Starburst
João Guilherme Ripper: Cinco Poemas de Vinicius de Moraes
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, “Pastoral”

Join us for the grand finale of our season with a captivating concert that celebrates the enduring legacy of Beethoven alongside the vibrant rhythms of Brazil. From the cosmic brilliance of Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst to the lyrical beauty of João Guilherme Ripper’s Cinco Poemas de Vinicius de Moraes, this is a journey of musical exploration and cultural fusion. Our season finale culminates with the timeless majesty of Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, transporting you to the serene landscapes of the countryside.

GUEST
Tess Altiveros, soprano

This event is a collaboration between the Asheville Chamber Music Series and the Asheville Art Museum featuring North Carolina musicians embarking on a major concert career.

Conclude the Parker Concert Hall 2024-25 Series with a triumphant performance by Roberto Díaz, Peter Wiley, and The Erinys Quartet from the famed Curtis Institute of Music. The concert embodies our aspiration for excellence and collaboration featuring world-class artists working alongside outstanding students. Curtis on Tour showcases the finest talents in the country, providing an unforgettable season finale.

Season Finale with Roberto Díaz, Peter Wiley, and The Erinys Quartet • Curtis on Tour

The Slice of Life Comedy Asheville Spring Standup Contest Series: ROUND 2

Thursday May 14, 7:30p-9:30p, doors at 6:30p

The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge
103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $17 (available at door or The Orange Peel website)

These shows sellout!
Hosted by Hilliary Begley from Netflix & Amazon Prime!
Cocktails available while you laugh the night away to some of the area’s best Stand Up Comics in a ridiculously fun adult environment!!
Free snacks while availability lasts! You may bring your own food in (no drinks)!
How it Works:
Comics on the show will do 3-1/2 minutes of comedy. Audience votes for their favorites of the night thru ballot voting. Comics are separated in 3 groups of 7 contestants. This show’s 3 top comics from each category will be paid and be brought back with other show winners to compete in our pageant finale, date TBA.

Comics on the show:
Aiden Lamb, Andy Frampton,
Art Sturtevant, Austin Elfers,
Becca Steinhoff, Ben Jennings,
Clay Jones, Cloud Hudson,
Evelyn Pekarek,
Foster, Issac Truman, James Burks,
Jason Reel, Jordan Ballard, Julia Macias,
Justin Blackburn, Makenzie Manent,
Roman Fraden, Sam Arrowood, Sully

Tedeschi Trucks Band(TTB) is a Grammy Award-winning 12-piece rock and soul powerhouse that holds the well-deserved reputation as one of the best live acts touring today. Led by husband & wife, guitarist Derek Trucks and singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi – hailed as “two of the best roots rock musicians of their generation” (NPR), the 12-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band is known globally for their unmistakable sound and world-class musicianship that seamlessly blends distinctive genres of American music.

Since forming in 2010, Tedeschi Trucks Band’s caravan has traveled countless miles to bring their music to audiences around the world. With a large catalog that spans rock, blues, jazz and even country, no setlist is ever the same, leaving their ever-growing fan base of all-ages returning again and again for electrifying performances. In the fall of 2023, Tedeschi Trucks Band played a pair of career-defining arena shows at TD Garden in Boston and a sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dubbed “The Garden Parties” the pair of gigs saw praise from Relix who raved of the group’s “seasoned grace and artistry.”  From sold-out multi-night residencies across America to tours through Europe and Japan, to their flagship annual summer amphitheater tours, the band’s shows are an eagerly anticipated highlight of the live music calendar and “nothing short of exhilarating” (Salon).

This is an in-person program, held at The Learning Garden

Program: Butterfly, Pollinator and Hummingbird Gardens – What’s the Difference?

Presenter: Phil Roudebush, Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer

Program Description: Pre-planned “butterfly gardens”, “pollinator gardens”, “monarch gardens”, “beneficial bug gardens” and “hummingbird gardens” are often available to purchase as mixed seed bundles from garden centers and mail-order or on-line garden catalogues. These terms are often confusing and many of the pre-planned planting schemes will result in colorful gardens that do not adequately support pollinators or other beneficial animal habitats.

This class will discuss what makes up a good habitat and give more specific recommendations for butterfly, Monarch butterfly, pollinator and hummingbird gardens. Resources for obtaining a wide range of appropriate plants will be provided.

After the presentation we will visit a pollinator garden in The Learning Garden; please dress appropriately for the weather. The classroom size is limited so register to reserve your seat!

The talk is free, but seating is limited and registration is required. Please Click here to register via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/butterfly-pollinator-and-hummingbird-gardens-whats-the-difference-tickets-1335472216349?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Learning Garden, located at the Extension Office, 49 Mt. Carmel Road, is offering the public the opportunity to Visit and Learn in the garden on selected Thursdays, February – October. The Thursday in-person programs will consist of eight garden-specific program areas.

If you encounter problems registering or if you have questions, call 828-255-5522.