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.
The 2020 James Beard Awards Nominees
The 2020 James Beard Awards nominees are here, marking the arrival of the short list of who could win one of the food world’s most prestigious honors.

https://ymcawnc.org/sites/default/files/May%202020%20Nutrition%20mobile%20market.pdf

Bluegrass Brunch
hosted by Aaron Woody Wood & The Sufi Brothers
Pickin’ on the Porch w/ Chicken Coop Willaye 1030AM
Bald Mountain Boys 11AM – 12:30PM
Sufi Brothers 12:45PM – 3PM
Be sure to check out our Bloody Mary Bar, the BEST selection of pickled products and other additions in Asheville. The MOJO Kitchen will be serving a special Brunch menu until 3PM as well.
Food & music start at 10:30am
ADULT beverages at Noon.

Tip a glass to the plants that make your home, house – and beer – unique! The North Carolina Arboretum is excited to host its first annual “Blooms & Brews” floral and beer festival, which will be held on Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.. Participants can visit various beer tasting stations, featuring botanically-influenced craft brews placed throughout the Arboretum’s gardens, create botanical wearables and attend educational programs. Visitors can also experience live floral demonstrations and exhibits, including the Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society’s annual Rose Show.
Admission into Blooms & Brews is free; however, standard parking fees apply to non-members. Separate beer tasting packages can be purchased on-site.

Every Sunday Except First of Month.

NPS Photo
On Memorial Day folk musicians from across the region will share a day of toe-tapping fun and music. Just as Carl Sandburg’s family enjoyed sitting on the porch while he played a guitar and sang for them, you can experience the joy of music at Connemara. All performances take place in the amphitheater, unless otherwise specified, and signs will direct festival goers.
2020 Performers include:
- Pretty Little Goat Band
- Jon Shain
- Kat Williams
- Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters
Parking
Keep in mind that our parking lots fill up quickly. We will run a courtesy shuttle from satellite parking lots at the Flat Rock Playhouse (located across the street) and from the Flat Rock Village Offices (110 Village Center Drive) to the park entrance, throughout the day. It is a short walk from the park entrance to the amphitheater. There will be also be a shuttle operating inside the park to take visitors from the entrance to the amphitheater, Sandburg Home and barn area.
The event will be held at the new amphitheater located near the park entrance. Bench seating is available and visitors are also welcome to bring lawn chairs and blankets as seating is expected to fill quickly. Come prepared for warm weather, with sun protection, water and snacks. Dogs are not permitted in the seating areas for the festival.

FREE LUNCHES for anyone 18 years of age and under at the Ferguson Family YMCA. Simply drive up to our front door and let us know how many lunches you need, no questions asked.
For additional food for your family, pick up a FREE box of fresh produce at our Mobile Markets. Calendars are online at ymcawnc.org/nutritionprograms.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 11am-2pm, we are offering meal pick-ups to those in need in our community. 200 meals will be provided on a first come, first serve basis.


FREE LUNCHES for anyone 18 years of age and under at the Ferguson Family YMCA. Simply drive up to our front door and let us know how many lunches you need, no questions asked.
For additional food for your family, pick up a FREE box of fresh produce at our Mobile Markets. Calendars are online at ymcawnc.org/nutritionprograms.

EVERY Tuesday at Asheville Music Hall! Tuesday Night Funk Jam has been a huge part of Asheville’s vibrant music scene since 2008 and is #Asheville’s hottest weekly concert. Tuesday Night Funk Jam is programmed and orchestrated by an evolved Legendary House Band with trombonist Derrick Lee Johnson at the helm. At 10PM sharp, the Legendary House Band kicks off the night

FREE LUNCHES for anyone 18 years of age and under at the Ferguson Family YMCA. Simply drive up to our front door and let us know how many lunches you need, no questions asked.
For additional food for your family, pick up a FREE box of fresh produce at our Mobile Markets. Calendars are online at ymcawnc.org/nutritionprograms.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 11am-2pm, we are offering meal pick-ups to those in need in our community. 200 meals will be provided on a first come, first serve basis.


FREE LUNCHES for anyone 18 years of age and under at the Ferguson Family YMCA. Simply drive up to our front door and let us know how many lunches you need, no questions asked.
For additional food for your family, pick up a FREE box of fresh produce at our Mobile Markets. Calendars are online at ymcawnc.org/nutritionprograms.
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Mitch Fortune brings you an irreverent and nostalgia filled night of pop culture trivia every Thursday night 7-9 pm at the One Stop in Downtown Asheville. A potpourri of movies, music, TV show trivia just for you!
https://ymcawnc.org/sites/default/files/May%202020%20Nutrition%20mobile%20market.pdf

FREE LUNCHES for anyone 18 years of age and under at the Ferguson Family YMCA. Simply drive up to our front door and let us know how many lunches you need, no questions asked.
For additional food for your family, pick up a FREE box of fresh produce at our Mobile Markets. Calendars are online at ymcawnc.org/nutritionprograms.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 11am-2pm, we are offering meal pick-ups to those in need in our community. 200 meals will be provided on a first come, first serve basis.

Join us at The One Stop at Asheville Music Hall every Friday at 5:30PM for our FREE Acoustic Grateful Dead series Featuring members of Phuncle Sam and great drink and food specials.

https://ymcawnc.org/sites/default/files/May%202020%20Nutrition%20mobile%20market.pdf

FREE LUNCHES for anyone 18 years of age and under at the Ferguson Family YMCA. Simply drive up to our front door and let us know how many lunches you need, no questions asked.
For additional food for your family, pick up a FREE box of fresh produce at our Mobile Markets. Calendars are online at ymcawnc.org/nutritionprograms.
Great food, artist displays and fun activities while mingling with their neighbors.”
Perhaps the most family friendly street festival in western North Carolina, the Montford Music & Arts Festival features a special children’s area for face painting, interactive displays, sidewalk chalk art contest and other fun activities.
Located on Montford Ave. between Chestnut and Waneta Streets just down the street from downtown Asheville, the Asheville Visitors Center and Chamber of the Commerce, the all-day event will also feature a music stage with another attractive lineup in 2020. Comprised solely of local musicians, the performing schedule will be announced shortly.
Attendees will also be treated to a wide variety of specialty cuisine, courtesy of food booths and food trucks. In addition, more than 100 booth vendors will be on hand, with various artists, crafts people and nursery plant purveyors selling their merchandise.
Featuring turn-of-the-century “Victorian” homes and several bed-and-breakfast inns, a portion of Montford is proclaimed a National Register Historic District. Many of today’s Montford historic homes were designed by the same architect hired by the Vanderbilt Family to create the Biltmore Estate.
World famous authors Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry are buried in Montford at the nearby Riverside Cemetery, while the community’s rich history also dates back to the once thriving African-American community of Stumptown, which ended in the 1960’s.
The very first Montford festival was presented as strictly an arts event in 2004, held inside of Pyper’s Place, which is now Nine Mile Restaurant, and Sweet Heaven Ice Cream Shop, now a real estate office.

To our friends who’ve lost their jobs including those in the service industry and hospitality workers: Please join Food Connection for a free “to go” meal lovingly prepared by Wicked Weed Brewing’s Cultura thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor! We will be setting up in the parking lot against the Asheville Masonic Temple. We will be offering curbside service distributing meals from 12:00 pm until 2:00 pm or until they run out.
For the safety of our beautiful community:
* If you come by car, please stay in your car at all times.
*There is 1 Entrance In By AMT and you will drive through and exit at the back of the lot.
• If you come by foot, please keep a social distance of at least 6 feet.
* Wear a mask if you have one
Thanks, y’all! We hope to see you Saturday!

Food Connection will be giving out free chef prepared meals from Wicked Weed Brewing‘s Cultura restaurant in Swannanoa on Saturdays beginning May 2nd from 3-4PM or until all meals are given out. Times are tough for many of us. Please know there are no requirements for receiving the meals. If you need a meal or meals for your family, PLEASE come join us. :) Meals will be served curbside “to go” style in front of the Symmetry Financial Group offices at 204 Whitson Avenue in Swannanoa (next door to the Native Kitchen.) Look for the Food Connection van. Our volunteers will be practicing extreme safety. We hope to see you this Saturday and each Saturday that you may need a delicious ready-to-eat meal. Please help us spread the word by sharing this post!

WE’RE GOING VIRTUAL and Bringing AVL Beer Week to You!
Events added daily at: http://avlbeerweek.com/events
In light of current circumstances, we are unable to host AVL Beer Week in its traditional capacity. We have tentatively scheduled dates for a Fall AVL Beer Week, but will only proceed with planning and executing a physical beer week once we are 100% certain it is safe and practical to do so.
With that said, We’re excited to announce Virtual AVL Beer Week 2020: Friday, May 22-Sunday, May 31!
AVL Beer Week aims to promote all of the awesome stuff our local breweries are doing to keep us engaged, learning, having fun, and of course, enjoying local craft beverages during these uncertain times!
Join us on Facebook Live, Zoom and curbside to enjoy trivia, yoga, happy hours, to-go beer dinners, educational offerings, beer releases, beer specials and more!
AVL Beer Week relies on the vital support of participants to sustain, and with our culinary and beverage industries facing an uncertain future, we will be looking for new ways to gain that support by making AVL Beer Week donation based in order to make it open and accessible to all participating businesses. LOOK FOR OUR FUNDRAISER LAUNCH SOON!
Thank you for supporting WNC breweries and small businesses! Until we can once again gather in large numbers, we can band together in spirit over our various networks to bring the best of Asheville’s craft beverage scene into our homes.
https://ymcawnc.org/sites/default/files/May%202020%20Nutrition%20mobile%20market.pdf

Bluegrass Brunch
hosted by Aaron Woody Wood & The Sufi Brothers
Pickin’ on the Porch w/ Chicken Coop Willaye 1030AM
Bald Mountain Boys 11AM – 12:30PM
Sufi Brothers 12:45PM – 3PM
Be sure to check out our Bloody Mary Bar, the BEST selection of pickled products and other additions in Asheville. The MOJO Kitchen will be serving a special Brunch menu until 3PM as well.
Food & music start at 10:30am
ADULT beverages at Noon.

Every Sunday Except First of Month.

