Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
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Join us at the East Asheville Public Library for a movie showing of Academy Award nominated Pixar’s Luca! “Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar’s original feature film “Luca” is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, Alberto, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.” Refreshments will be provided while supplies last and will only be distributed to an accompanying parent or guardian. Rated PG. Open to all ages. Runtime: 1hr 35min. |
Are you ready to be part of the 95th Mountain Dance and Folk Festival®? On August 4, 5, 6, 2022, a different show will be presented live on stage each evening allowing you to appreciate the talent and dedication of the hundreds of musicians, dancers, and storytellers who are preserving the traditions of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. These traditions involve not only the hand-clapping, toe-tapping rhythms of Bluegrass, the style and stories of century-old ballads, the high energy of clogging, the elegance of Big Circle Mountain Smooth Dance, the fun and entertainment of storytelling, but also include an awareness of the hardships and trials that have brought us to this place and time.
This 95th Mountain Dance and Folk Festival® has been made possible through the generosity of our music community volunteering their time and talent to preserve and promote the Southern Appalachian music, dance and storytelling heritage.
A listing of performers who volunteer their time and talent to make our events possible can be found on Our Performers page. Please visit their websites and support their generosity by purchasing music, merchandise, making a contribution to virtual tip jars where available or just to tell them you enjoyed their performance. Our artists especially need our support during these difficult times.
The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival was founded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford as a means for people to share and understand the beauty and dignity of the Southern Appalachian music and dance traditions that have been handed down through generations in western North Carolina. He saw the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival grow to be the oldest gathering of its kind in the nation and it continues in this way, a platform for the talented of the high country lying between the Great Smoky and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Since 1928, the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival has served a crucial role in raising awareness and understanding of the vitality and importance of Southern Appalachian culture throughout the region, nation and world. Bascom Lunsford’s mission was to present the finest of the Appalachian ballad singers, string bands and square dance teams for education and entertainment. The songs and dances shared at this event echo centuries of Scottish, English, Irish, Cherokee and African heritage found in the valleys and coves between the Great Smokies and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lunsford’s was the first dubbed a folk festival, and he later consulted with many communities across the country interested in organizing similar festivals.
Join us in our new monthly social swing event on the 1st Saturdays of every month, The
music, open vintage space and wood floors and is guaranteed to have you dancing East Coast and/or Lindy all night long, A free
lesson is offered to kick things off and will include a different combination of moves each time, No partner or rhythm needed and
dress is casual, $10 for lesson and/or social dance.
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Are you ready to get down with your StarTribe…and Mikaya playing live on the 22 speaker StarTribe sound system…and at the coolest venue in the southeast?
Hooray for such a rare opportunity to do what we love most…and right here at the premier location in Asheville!
- Be at Pack Square by 6:30PM for the opening ceremony!
- StarTribe dances are drug and alcohol free.
- Free attendance for kids 12 & under.
- Bring water!
- And reserve your space early!
Bio:
Mikaya Swabb, founder of Dance Church Maui, uses a spectrum of musical genres to deepen somatic embodiment through movement, breath and presence. He’s also a well-known sound healer that plays the gong, Tibetan singing bowl, Native American flute, N’goni, hand drum, and other sacred sound healing instruments.
The StarTribe Vision:
For thousands of years, countless cultures all over the world have danced for the purpose of community and self improvement, making dance of this kind an invaluable part of life.
The StarTribe ecstatic dances, with musicians like Mikaya, fulfill a passion for dance within the natural outdoor elements and a tight-knit community. StarTribe believes that dance within this energetic, high-minded container is among the most consciousness enhancing activities we can do for ourselves.
In much of the Western world, however, the scope of dance has become narrow and limited with the theme often being of noisy, unnatural nightclubs and bars which may not exactly be empowering, relative to what’s possible.
But there’s a revival of late towards more meaningful dance – dance that takes place in special outdoor settings and within a real sense of community, much like it was for millennia. This is where to find your tribe – StarTribe.
Thousands of people have participated in StarTribe, and for the real spirit of dance. There’s something especially moving and powerful about an entire community of people coming together for this experience, and YOU are warmly invited.
StarTribe is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to community transformation. That includes YOU.
August 12: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (rated PG)
– When kids sneak into inventor Wayne Szalinski’s upstairs lab to retrieve an errant baseball, his experimental shrink ray miniaturizes them. When Szalinski returns home, he destroys the device – which he thinks is a failure – and dumps it in the trash, throwing out the kids along with it. The four children, now 1/4-inch tall, must survive the journey back to the house through a yard where sprinklers bring treacherous storms and garden-variety ants stampede like elephants.
If You Go
- All movies begin at dusk in Pack Square Park on 80 Court Plaza in downtown Asheville.
- Rec n Roll Fun Zone programming starts at 7 p.m.
- Pets, smoking, and alcohol are prohibited.
- Free parking is available in marked spaces on city streets and in city-owned lots on Marjorie Street after 6 p.m.
Henderson County Parks & recreation hosts a free movie screening and food truck at parks across the county this summer! Food truck opens at 7pm, movie starts at nightfall (approx 8pm). Bring your blanket and chair!
– May 13 | Jackson Park | Encanto
– June 17 | Etowah Park | Clifford the Big Red Dog
– July 15 | East Flat Rock Park | Sing 2
– July 29 | Tuxedo Park | Space Jam
– August 12 | Dana Park | Luca
The Street Dances have been a tradition for over 100 years in Downtown Hendersonville! They began in 1918, at the end of World War I, when the city welcomed home its soldiers from the War by celebrating in the streets. The Street Dances feature bluegrass music, square dancing and demonstrations of clogging, a traditional southern Appalachian style of dance.
Enjoy the fresh air, bring a chair and delight in the one-of-a-kind experience you’ll get from this fun event!
This week, enjoy the music of Hightop Mountain Harmony, a four-piece band that plays a mix of bluegrass, country and gospel music. This week’s clogging performance will be the Southern Connection Cloggers!
In case of inclement weather, the concert will be postponed until 8pm. If the weather does not improve by 8 pm the performance will be canceled.
This Concert Series is sponsored by Burger King, Kathy Watkins of Preferred Realty, Firehouse Subs, Blue Ridge Hospitality and Mast General. This event is hosted by the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority.
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The premier of “Racist Roots,” a 25-minute film created by the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, exposes the death penalty’s deep entanglement with slavery, lynching and racism. The film features several stories of Black men, including an Asheville man, who were unjustly convicted and sentenced to death. Panel discussion will follow.
This event is presented by the NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, as part of “Just Sentencing: How North Carolina’s Death Penalty Grew from Racist Roots.”
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Join Buncombe County Special Collections and the Asheville City Schools Foundation on Thursday evenings throughout the summer to enjoy screenings of football game review films from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. We especially invite AHS athletes past and present to enjoy these highlights of vintage games. Screenings will begin at 6 pm in the Lord Auditorium at Pack Memorial Library. |
Join Foundy Street, Wedge Brewing, and Grail Moviehouse for an outdoor screening of Xanadu, performances by Drag Queen Ganymede, DJ Set by Jaze Uries, exclusive limited seating from Sunnyside Trading Company, a Gospel Ice Cream Pop-Up, and lots of fun all benefitting Cat Fly Film Festival!
The 48 Hour Film Project is a wild and sleepless weekend in which a team makes a movie – writes, shoots, and edits – in just 48 hours. Phew! The Awards Night will include a “Best of” screening of the TOP TEN short films, followed by an Intermission and the Awards, including the award for BEST FILM! Bring your family and friends to this fun, annual celebration of our creative local film community.
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Benefit for The Hope Chest For Women
Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.
Join us after hours to watch Luca (PG) in August. Films take place in the library community room after the library has closed. Popcorn will be served. Chairs will be out, but you’re welcome to bring blankets, sleeping bags, or pillows to sit on the floor.
Food and beverage welcome, but beverages must contain lids. No alcoholic beverages on library property and no child can be left unattended. Masks are not required in libraries but we ask you to respect other people’s space and wear a mask if you prefer.