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.
Dad Jokes Standup Comedy Picture Show
Everyone loves dads doing jokes! Lucky for you these are professional comedians giving you more laughs than groans. Comics on the show do standup with pictures to illustrate their sets!!
Wednesday June 11, 7:30-9p in The Orange Peel’s comedy basement. PULP is a bourbon speakeasy (400+ varieties) located under the iconic stage. No food is served but we do have free snacks while they last and outside food is permitted (no drinks of any kind).
$17 tickets available at door or The Orange Peel’s website
Host is Hilliary Begley voted repeatedly Asheville’s Favorite comic in the Mountain Xpress. Film debut in the Netflix original Dumplin’ as Aunt Lucy, or “Jennifer Anniston’s fat sister,” and Austin Film Festival winning movie When We Last Spoke with Cloris Leachman, now streaming on Amazon Prime.
End your week on a high not and join us every second Friday this summer for free live music in Biltmore Park Town Square! Bring your friends and family to dance, play games, and enjoy eats and treats from Biltmore Park restaurants.
Returning to Concerts in the Park is “Mission Accomplished,” an Asheville, NC based classic rock cover band made up entirely of Mission Health colleagues. Who knew that three surgeons, a nurse, a pharmacist and a data scientist could have so much fun rocking out together? Playing classic rock and blues tunes from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, Mission Accomplished delivers on the expectation that the audience “may not know what they like – but they like what they know!”
Cane Creek is marking this new era with a ribbon cutting and celebration on Saturday, June
14th at the new Experience Center at 355 Cane Creek Rd., Fletcher, NC 28732. The ribbon
cutting will be at 1pm. This event is open to the public and will feature group rides starting at
9am with the party kicking off at 12pm. Join this staple WNC company for skills clinics, a
bounce house and family fun, merch deals, BBQ, and more on Saturday!
Join us in the beautiful Asheville neighborhood of Olivette for an outdoor concert by *dream folk* trio South for Winter. BYOB • BYOC (chair) • KIDS ARE FREE!
With a blend of dreamy acoustic duets, foot-stomping folk and bluesy murder ballads, New Zealand-formed and Nashville-based South for Winter’s sound is as eclectic as their origins. The band is composed of New Zealander Nick Stone, Coloradan Dani Cichon, and Michigander Alex Stradal, and together the three multi-instrumentalists and songwriters combine elements such as classically-trained cello, percussive guitar, mandolin, suitcase stomp, poetic lyricism, and haunting melodies into a genre-bending sound described by American Songwriter as “impeccable”.
✍️ For young writers ages 8–13
Join us in celebration of the Summer Solstice with an evening of bold, imaginative storytelling!
We’ll begin with a short introduction to tall tales—a playful style of story where characters are bigger than life, the details are wildly exaggerated, and nothing is too impossible to imagine. Think tornado-taming, moon-jumping, pancake-stacking kind of adventures.
Then, kids will explore the gallery to find a piece of art that sparks their own tall tale. With notebooks in hand, they’ll write their stories and return for a joyful story-sharing circle to close the night.
📓 Please bring a notebook or journal to write in!
🎟️ Free event, space is limited NO NEED TO RSVP— just arrive!
Nourish your body, mind, and soul by experiencing a variety of offerings to bring balance and peace to your life during these times. Ample free time allows participants to nap, hike around the lake, journal, or explore Kanuga. Led by Chantal McKinney, a life-long seeker of the Divine. She is a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, practitioner of community development, and former church planter who walks among the two worlds of faith and spirituality.
Each year, MountainTrue hosts a BioBlitz to record all the species we can find in a given area. We identify and catalog organisms using the online app iNaturalist. The BioBiltz this year will be on June 21st at Hickory Nut Gap Farm near Asheville, NC. Volunteers will hike with experts in reptiles/amphibians, mammals, birds, plants, and mushrooms. *Group sign-ups are taken at the event and are first come, first serve. Group availability is subject to change.
We will meet at 12:30 pm to complete waivers and sign-up for groups. The BioBlitz will kick off at 1 pm and end at 5 pm. But the fun doesn’t stop there. We hope our volunteers will stick around for the barn dance at Hickory Nut Gap from 6 to 9 pm. All BioBlitz volunteers will receive free admission to the barn dance.
There will be a food truck on site where you can purchase dinner. MountainTrue will provide snacks.
Please bring: water, sunscreen, bug spray, notebook (if desired), sturdy close-toed shoes and any snacks, etc. that you may need.
**Kids aged 6 and up are welcome to join if they are accompanied by a parent/guardian for the duration of the trip.
Join the magical fairies at Bullington Gardens for a special Fairy Tea Party. Start your journey with a guided walk through the Fairy Trail. Your child will make their own wand followed by tea and cookies in the pavilion. This event is for children ages 7 and up. Each child must be accompanied by an adult.
Three different dates to choose from!
June 10th, June 24th, or July 12th at 10:00AM, $28.00/per child, $21 for Friends of Bullington Gardens. Limit of 12 children per event.
Dance with Fireflies. No dance experience needed. Mediation; Dance; Somatic Movement; Closing around Fire. Tuesday, 6/24, 8:30pm, $15. Contact for Weaverville location: [email protected] or www.sensudance.com
Wednesday June 25, 2025.
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’s 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)!
Winners from 3/27 & 5/14 Contestants: Cayla Clark, Darren Harper, Sarah Love, Mackenzie Manent, Foster & Jordan Ballard
Learn how to decorate four patriotic cookies to kick off your Independence Day celebrations. Kids of all ages are welcome; those under 10 must have an adult with them.
The North Carolina Writers Network-West and The Brandy Bar + Cocktails presents H.R. (RANDY) SPENCER &
RICHARD ALLEN TAYLOR
as next in their series
“In the Company of Writers.”
The program offers a series of personal and conversational dialogues featuring guest writers/poets followed by an open mic forum. These inspirational gatherings will elucidate and entertain those attending. The guest author speaks from 7-8 PM with an open mic from 8 -9 PM. Sign-ups for the open mic will be located at the entrance to the reading.
For more info visit: https://www.facebook.com/TheBrandyBar/events
Kanuga is thrilled to announce the return of its Summer Day Camps for rising first through sixth graders, with five weeklong sessions planned for June and July 2025, at its Bob Campbell Youth Campus. Registration is now open.
In the serene mountains of Western North Carolina, campers will find fun and adventure in action-packed sessions staffed by well-trained, compassionate adults who specialize in keeping young children safe, entertained and engaged. Kanuga’s wooded campus offers children the opportunity to play, explore, swim in mountain lakes, hike to scenic vistas, paddle canoes, create arts and crafts and so much more.
Mondays through Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. $400–$460.
Day Camp A: June 9–13
Day Camp B: June 23–27
Day Camp C: July 7–11
Day Camp D: July 14–18
Day Camp E: July 21–25
End your week on a high note and join us every second Friday this summer for free live music in Biltmore Park Town Square! Bring your friends and family to dance, play games, and enjoy eats and treats from Biltmore Park restaurants.
“Laron Huntley & The Gravely Brothers,” is a multi-generational band rooted in Asheville, NC with a sound steeped in classic country and southern rock. With deep local ties and a shared musical heritage, this group brings the authentic spirit of the mountains to every performance. Their show promises passion, talent, and timeless Americana vibes from heartfelt originals to crowd-pleasing covers and jam-worthy riffs.
Beach Babes Standup Comedy Show
The Orange Peel
July 11, 8p-9:30pm
$18
Beach vibes in the mountain! Standup Comedy of Roman Fraden, featuring Cayla Clark, Zandra Johnson & Makenzie Manent. Guest spot by the Leah Garth. Hosted by Hilliary Begley
Beach Babes Standup Comedy Show brings the vibes to the mountains in the heart of downtown Asheville! Roman Fraden his not for the faint of heart. 18+
Roman is a Los Angeles-based comedian and a regular performer at classic Hollywood venues including The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, and The Hollywood Improv. He has trained with Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Theatre, performed in various ensemble casts in film and on stage, and has opened for Mark Normand, Margaret Cho, and Patton Oswald. His one man show ‘Back In The Closet’ made it’s world premiere at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018. He currently is living in Asheville while still performing everywhere.
Host Hilliary Begley from NETFLIX & AMAZON PRIME, this beach babe will keep you laughing.
Featuring Cayla Clark from BLIND DATELIVE, who is very pregnant on this show but still one of the funniest people around (check out her famous instagram).
Also featuring comedy favorites Zandra Johnson & Makenzie Manent, with a guest spot by the always zany Leah Garth.
Join the magical fairies at Bullington Gardens for a special Fairy Tea Party. Start your journey with a guided walk through the Fairy Trail. Your child will make their own wand followed by tea and cookies in the pavilion. This event is for children ages 7 and up. Each child must be accompanied by an adult.
Three different dates to choose from!
June 10th, June 24th, or July 12th at 10:00AM, $28.00/per child, $21 for Friends of Bullington Gardens. Limit of 12 children per event.
Join us Saturday, July 26th, for the Apple Ridge Relay, a newly launched relay and lap-format race at Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard in Hendersonville, NC!
Run through scenic trails, mowed grass, and forested roads in the heart of apple country, and celebrate your finish with refreshing apple cider slushies. Whether you’re teaming up with friends for the relay or going solo in the lap option, it’s bound to be a summer morning to remember.
Sign up today to secure your spot and celebrate miles, memories, and mountain views with us!
Gather your team of 2 or 3 and run an overall total of 20 miles in a 2-mile loop relay format!
Prefer to participate on your own? Join in on the fun as an individual and take on a timed challenge! Choose your overall distance on our 2-mile loop—do one lap or keep going for up to 4 hours. It’s your race, your rhythm!
Join us Saturday, July 26th, for the Apple Ridge Relay, a newly launched relay and lap-format race at Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard in Hendersonville, NC!
Run through scenic trails, mowed grass, and forested roads in the heart of apple country, and celebrate your finish with refreshing apple cider slushies. Whether you’re teaming up with friends for the relay or going solo in the lap option, it’s bound to be a summer morning to remember.
Sign up today to secure your spot and celebrate miles, memories, and mountain views with us!
Gather your team of 2 or 3 and run an overall total of 20 miles in a 2-mile loop relay format!
Prefer to participate on your own? Join in on the fun as an individual and take on a timed challenge! Complete as many laps of the 2-mile loop as you can and want to in 4 hours!
On Animal Enrichment Day, guests will see firsthand how Grandfather Mountain cares for its resident animals. Visitors can enjoy watching demonstrations, talk directly with keepers and participate in family-oriented games and crafts. Included with admission.
THURSDAY JULY 31, 7:30Pm at The Orange Peel PULP
ENJOY standup comedy in a whole new way with picture and videos to go along with the fun in a bourbon bar comedy club! Hosted by Hilliary Begley from Netflix & Prime Video. Headliner Jordan Julius, winner of Slice Standup Comedy Contest. Featuring hot regional comics Sarah Love, Jason Reel & Lois Adjevi
FREE SNACKS, outside food ok!
Get you tix now, these shows sell out!
In town for the Spartan Race? Enjoy a fun social time or try out some obstacles with fellow Spartans at Triumph, Asheville’s premier OCR Training Center! Music, vendors, and snacks provided! Outside food welcome. RSVP via text or email: 206-931-5868 [email protected]
End your week on a high note and join us every second Friday this summer for free live music in Biltmore Park Town Square! Bring your friends and family to dance, play games, and enjoy eats and treats from Biltmore Park restaurants.
“Soul Blue” is a charismatic and entertaining classic Soul/Blues/R&B band whose five members hail from both Asheville, NC and Atlanta, GA. These seasoned musicians come together from a variety of popular bands such as: Daddy’s Money, The XL’s, Banks and Shane, and a good many more; enabling them to create an authentic approach to the music of many best-loved Soul, Blues, and R&B artists.
Grandfather Mountain’s Junior Ranger Program is now the Junior Naturalist Program — a new program for our new Conservation Campus! Activities throughout the day will be provided specifically for children ages 5-12 to explore their environment and experience all that Grandfather has to offer.
The North Carolina Writers Network and The Brandy Bar + Cocktails present
JENNIFER McGAHA as next in their series “In the Company of Writers”
The program offers a series of personal and conversational dialogues featuring guest writers/poets, followed by an open-mic forum. These inspirational gatherings will both enlighten and entertain those in attendance. The guest author speaks from 7-8 PM with an open mic from 8 -9 PM. The original music of John Longbottom welcomes you, continues during intermission, and closes the evening. Sign-up for the open mic sheet is posted at the entry.
Jennifer McGaha is the author of three works of creative nonfiction, including The Joy Document, a collection of fifty essays celebrating midlife, Flat Broke with Two Goats, a 2018 OverDrive Big Library Read, and Bushwhacking: How to Get Lost in the Woods and Write Your Way Out, a Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award finalist. Her work has also appeared in many magazines and literary journals including Image, The Huffington Post, The New Pioneer, Lumina, PANK, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Brevity, Bitter Southerner, Crab Creek Review, River Teeth, and others. An Appalachian native, Jennifer lives in a wooded North Carolina hollow with her husband, two cats, four unruly dogs, eight relatively tame dairy goats, and an ever-changing number of chickens
Co-sponsored by the North Carolina Writers Network and The Brandy Bar + Cocktails, the program, “In the Company of Writers” is featured the 2nd Wednesday of each month. https://www.facebook.com/events/581466841671943
Join us at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center (MHCREC) for our annual Field Day. Since 1949, our station has been a hub of agricultural innovation, with the added addition of Field Day being a long-standing tradition. This year’s event promises an engaging, informative, and hands-on look at the latest in horticultural research and extension activities.
Field Day 2025 will feature a comprehensive showcase of ongoing research programs across a variety of crops such as apples, tomatoes, nursery plants, and other specialty crops. In addition to the featured research, the event will highlight various other projects and initiatives that reflect the breadth of work being done here at MHCREC.
Come for the whole day or drop in for part of it — your choice! Admission is free.
Enjoy a complimentary lunch on us! And of course, don’t miss the chance to make your own fresh tomato sandwich right in the field!
We look forward to welcoming growers, researchers, students, and community members alike for a day of learning, networking, and celebration of agricultural innovation.
The first annual Bodhi Fest, a Buddhist Arts and Film Festival at Asheville Community Theatre on August 16th, 2025 will be a day of illumination as we explore the gladdening qualities of the human spirit ranging from sweet solitude to ecstatic joy. The program will consist of Buddhist films + Q&A, shorts, a dance workshop, a songwriting workshop, musical performances and more. Crafts, art and food from Buddhist sanghas, artists and local vendors will be shared in the front lobby during the festival.
Enjoy an event of immersion in compassionate-wisdom activities that provoke insight and lift the spirit.
Thursday – August 21 – 7-9pm – WNC Songwriter Sessions returns with Karen Cohen, Just Rick, and Todd Hoke. An evening of original songs in the natural acoustics and listening room atmosphere of the beautiful and historic Brandy Bar + Cocktails.
Hidyho Neighbors! Another solid trio of swellegant songwriters will be sharing their lyrical and musical offerings for our August session at the coolest bar in all Hendo. Karen Cohen, Just Rick, and Todd Hoke will entertain you with their tales and tunes. Delicious cocktails + handcrafted songs + friendly folks = time well spent. Join us!
Karen Cohen has honed her own unique finger-style guitar for over 5 decades. Her current passion is writing songs that combine authenticity, emotion, and imagery with beautiful melody. Karen just arrived on the WNC and Upstate SC scene 6 months ago and is generating a lot of excitement at local open mics and songwriter showcases.
Just Rick (aka Rick Reles) is a guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist based in Hendersonville, North Carolina. A lifelong musician and singer-songwriter inspired by the roots of American rock music. He draws from country, blues, bluegrass, rockabilly, and classic rock to craft his growing catalog of original songs. From early bands like Green Steam and Full House to Identity Crisis and IC3, Rick has been a gigging musician. Today he plays solo as well as in Two Step Too and The Right Fit.
Todd Hoke tried therapy but that didn’t work out so he took up the guitar instead and, as of this printing, has remained mostly unincarcerated (a fact his mother loudly boasts about every time her bowling league gathers at the pool hall to play poker and whittle).
With hosts Annie Wenz and Todd Hoke. For more info visit: [email protected]
We have another standup comedy contest, coming up on Thursday August 21! Come out for the fun as you pick your favorite comic of the night!! Audiences love these shows and tickets go fast!
___________________________________
The Slice of Life Comedy Asheville Fall/Winter Standup Contest Series: ROUND 1
Thursday August 21, 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 approximately 3-1/2m of comedy. This show’s 3 top comics will be brought back with other show winners to compete in our pageant finale, date TBD. Audience votes through paper ballots to be picked up and counted at end of show, winner will be announced.
Want to compete?
These spots go fast! There is no cost to performing comics. Comics should have 3-5m of material and be prepared for additional material in the event of a tie-breaker performance. Winners will be compensated for the night and move on to the finale.
Go to SliceofLifeComedy.com for more information. Contact Michele with any questions, or to sign up at [email protected]
RISE: A Fly Fishing Festival
Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins and Uproar Concept are hosting, RISE: A Fly Fishing Festival, taking place on August 24 in Asheville, NC. A portion of proceeds from the one-day event will benefit two local conservation nonprofits: RiverLink & MountainTrue. Both have been vital to recovery efforts in WNC. Borne from Blue Lines, which supports fly fishing guides in Western North Carolina and Tennessee, will host a guide expo during the event in an effort to help them rebuild their customer base after Hurricane Helene.
The riverfront Wrong Way (9 Midnight Drive, on Amboy Road) will host RISE which will be free and open to the public and include activities like casting and fly-tying competitions, clinics, kid-friendly programming, raffles, and shoppable A-frame cabin “takeovers” by outdoor brands. Festival goers will enjoy an eclectic mix of live music in the Wrong Way Meadow and food and drinks from Imposter Pizza Co., Chop Shop Butchery, and featured local breweries.
Garden and Adventure Photography Basics
with Cami Calnan
Friday, August 29 | 10 am – 1 pm
Elevate your photography from the level you are currently working from. In this immersive workshop, we will explore the technical aspects of the camera you photograph with. Bring your phone, your slr or point and shoot digital or film camera, and we will explore the concepts behind taking the kinds of photos you are hoping to capture.
This program will take place outside and will follow easy trails and paved walkways. Dress for the weather and prepare to be outside for the entire program time.