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.
From Friday, July 21 through Sunday, August 6, 2023, D & J Amusements is bringing the Summerfest Carnival to Asheville Outlets! Enjoy carnival rides and games for all ages along with favorite fair foods including funnel cakes, fried Oreos, turkey legs and more. Operating hours are Monday through Thursday from 5pm to 10pm; Fridays from 5pm to 10pm; Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm and Sundays from 1pm to 10pm. Tickets are $20 Monday – Thursday, and $25 Friday -Sunday. For more information, visit AshevilleOutlets.com.
First of all many thanks to all who have come out to events! Thank you!🙏❤️🙂
Back by popular demand!
Let us all gather, be happy on a Friday evening together, and celebrate each other in our journeys!
This Sober and Sober Curious in Asheville Be Happy Hour will be at FBO at Hominy Creek. They have a good selection of NA Beverages, food truck, and live music should be going as well! You can also get in the water as well to cool off!
Bring a smile 😁 , a chair, and Let’s Be Happy together!
Also, feel free to bring your questions and suggestions! We would love to hear them!
Let’s celebrate and get to know one another!
You are invited to the opening reception Friday, July 28th from 5-8 pm for two concurrent exhibitions: Rainbow Spirits by Sarah Mathilda Stewart and always elusive, continually shifting by Peter Roux. Each artist considers the material and metaphysical vastness of matter, water, and light through distinctly different visions. Stewart’s highly detailed, prismatic paintings feature a range of imagery from plants to animals and figures, rainbows, and mystical strands of dotted light undulating in symmetrical patterns. Roux paints luminous swells of ocean surf, galaxies, clouds, and atmospheric landscapes. Abstraction is laced throughout his paintings, including his newest paintings on multi-faceted surfaces. Join us and meet the artists!
From the local favorites to new regional acts, all live from the river banks of the Nantahala. Raft, dine, then jam with us with Live Music every Friday and Saturday from 5pm-8pm between Memorial Day and Labor Day!
May 27th 5pm-8pm – Mama and the Ruckus
May 28th 5pm-8pm – The Lefties
June 2nd 5pm-8pm – Christina Chandler Trio
June 3rd 5pm-8pm – Laura Thurston
June 9th 5pm-8pm – Eddie Clayton
June 10th 1pm-4pm – Jacobs Well
June 10th 5pm-8pm – Natti Love Joys
June 16th 5pm-8pm – Rae and the Ragdolls
June 17th 5pm-8pm – Beer and Loathing
June 23rd 5pm-8pm – TBA
June 24th 5pm-8pm – Terry Haughton Trio
June 30th 5pm-8pm – Blue
July 1st 5pm-8pm – Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs
July 7th 5pm-8pm – Bayou Diesel
July 8th 5pm-8pm – Pioneer Chicken Stand
July 14th 5pm-8pm – Wyatt Espalin
July 15th 5pm-8pm – Christina Chandler Duo
July 21st 5pm-8pm – Terry Haughton
July 22nd 5pm-8pm – TG and the Stoned Rangers
July 28th 5pm-8pm – Blue
July 29th 5pm-8pm – Somebody’s Child
August 4th 5pm-8pm – Trial by Fire
August 5th 5pm-8pm – Andy Johnson
August 11th 5pm-8pm – Eddie Clayton Solo
August 12th 5pm-8pm – Eddie Clayton Band
August 18th 5pm-8pm – Big Deal Band
August 19th 1pm-4pm – Mckinney
August 19th 5pm-8pm – Funk N’ Around
August 25th 5pm-8pm – Wyatt Espalin
August 26th 5pm-8pm – Somebody’s Child
September 1st 5pm-8pm – TBA
September 2nd 5pm-8pm – Regatta 69
Sip and stroll through the Arboretum’s gardens in the glow of the golden hour, all while listening to live music from a variety of local and regional artists! ArborEvenings runs Thursdays and most Fridays through September 30, 2022 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.
There is no additional cost to attend ArborEvenings beyond our standard parking fee. As always, Arboretum Society members and their accompanying guests can enter for FREE (guests must be in member vehicles to receive free entry). Proceeds from ArborEvenings help support the The North Carolina Arboretum Society and further advance the Arboretum’s mission.
Beverage Service
Beer, Wine, and soft drinks will be for sale onsite at the Green Gardener’s Shed from 5:30 to 8:15 p.m. each night of the event. Outside alcohol is strictly prohibited, but guests are welcome to bring in water or a favorite non-alcoholic beverage.
Food Available for Pre-Order, Picnics Welcome
Although the Bent Creek Bistro will not be open during the event, they will be offering their delicious dining options at ArborEvenings via pre-order! Simply place your online order — including alcoholic beverages — up until 11 a.m. on the date you plan to attend, then pick up your order at the Baker Information Desk between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. (In the event of rain cancellation, pre-orders will be fully refunded.)
Guests are welcome to bring in outside food and non-alcoholic beverages. However, outside alcohol is strictly prohibited.
Find more information here.
Wanna hear the best local music and drink the best local beers? Hop aboard LaZoom’s Purple Bus and rock out with a local band while we take you on a journey to Asheville’s premiere local breweries.
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Montford Glow Nights 3.1 WEB – WebTrac Activity Search (vermontsystems.com)
Fridays, June 30, July 28, and August 25, 2023
6:00-8:00 PM
Location: Tempie Avery Montford Center (34 Pearson Dr, Asheville, NC)
Description: Enjoy a night out! Drop the kiddos off with us at the Tempie Avery Montford Center for a night of fun. We will have our black lights set up in the gym for a night of glowing fun. Each month we will offer a different glow in the dark activity.
June 30 – Laser Tag
July 28 – Dodgeball
August 25 – Capture the Flag
Music Bingo featuring a variety of your favorite musical selections performed live by one of our local favorites, Craig St. John!
Come prepared to win prizes and sing along with ‘Craigy-oke’ while enjoying the best wine selections at the ‘World’s Edge’ premier location, Point Lookout Vineyards!
NO COVER CHARGE
– ALL AGES
– LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE
ROOTS AND DORE
Roots and Dore are an American blues, soul and roots duo from the music-rich mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. They are currently among the busiest performing acts in the southeastern US. Having played 150-200 shows annually for the past 15 years. They have made a name for themselves in the blues world by opening for national blues acts, (Eric Gales, Bob Margolin , Mac Arnold, Maria Muldaur, John Dee Holeman,
John Primer, Samantha Fish and many others) they’ve playing festivals nationally and internationally and their original music is being played on dozens of radio stations, locally and around the world. Roots and Dore released their last album The Blues and Beyond to a wave of awesome reviews. (Featuring special guest appearances by “Steady Rolling” Bob Margolin of Muddy Waters Band, along with Doc Watson’s partner and multiple Grammy winner David Holt and Tony Black, bass player for Marshall Tucker Band.) Always a good time had by everyone when Roots and Dore are doing their thing for folks at shows.
The beats of the Friday Night Drum Circle have been rocking Pritchard Park for decades and the circle has become so popular that it is featured in magazines and TV commercials.
$1 Hot Dogs presented by Blossman Gas and Mix 96.5
Post Game Fireworks Show presented by Blue Ridge Power!
The whole family is invited to join us for stories in the library after hours. A fun filled story hour with puppets, stories and song. Wear your jammies for maximum coziness.
These mountains are known as much for the music that comes out of them as they are for their picturesque vistas, cascading waterfalls and alluring trails.
Some of the world’s finest musicians have come from Western North Carolina and that rich tradition carries on today.
Here in Jackson County, the Town of Sylva, Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce team up to produce the Concerts on the Creek series at the Bridge Park gazebo in Sylva every Friday from 7-9 p.m., typically from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
The 14th annual season will start on Friday, May 26 (Memorial Day weekend) and end on Friday, Sept. 1 (Labor Day weekend). That will be 15 Fridays of Concerts on the Creek, with the Fireworks Festivities and concert on Tuesday, July 4 sprinkled in for good measure.
- Friday, July 28: Lua Flora, folk/reggae (7-9 p.m.)
- Friday, Aug. 4: Tuxedo Junction, classic hits, (7-9 p.m.)
- Friday, Aug. 11: TLQ+2, classic rock and pop hits, (7-9 p.m.)
- Friday, Aug. 18: Get Right Band, psychedelic indie rock originals, (7-9 p.m.)
- Friday, Aug. 25: Maggie Valley Band, Appalachian/Americana folk rock, (7-9 p.m.)
- Friday, Sept. 1: PMA, roots/reggae/dub/fusion, (7-9 p.m.)
These events are free with donations encouraged. Everyone is welcome. Dogs must be on a leash. No smoking, vaping, coolers or tents allowed. Bring a chair or blanket. We will have food trucks available on select nights.
For more information, please contact the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce at 828-586-2155, visit our Facebook page, or visit us online at www.mountainlovers.com.

GHOST COMEDY BUS TOUR
Grab a local beer, crucifix and a rubber chicken* —You might survive this hour long hilarious haunted ghost tour of Asheville.
- Guided comedy bus tour of Haunted Asheville
- 60 minutes; tours run nightly after dark
- $33 per person (Ages 17+ only)
- Departs from 76 Biltmore Avenue
*Legal Note: Crucifix not required to board the bus; we do not condone exorcisms, chickens, rubber, or any combination of the three.
The Friday Night Music series will present the familiar 50’s and 60’s
classic rock and beach music from a host of different bands. Food vendors like Babbles Ice
Cream, Blue Ridge Hospitality and Eggs Up Grill will provide a some spice. The Carolina
Mountain Car Club will participate as in years past.
Friday Night Concerts
Super 60’s June 9
Gotcha Groove June 16
It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere June 23
Marsha Morgan June 30
Shades of Gray July 7
Thomas Brown July 14
Emporium July 21
Johnnie Blackwell Band July 28
Rock and Roll Reunion August 4
208 Army Band August 11
Night Moves Band August 18

Bat Boy: The Musical
Book by: Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming; Music and Lyrics by: Laurence O’Keefe
A rock musical, Bat Boy: The Musical expands on a June 23, 1992 Weekly World News tabloid story about a bat boy – half-boy, half-bat – found in a cave and forced into society. The musical – at turns both haunting and hilarious – deals with themes of racism and revenge, hypocrisy and forgiveness. This darkly quirky, compelling musical is not to be missed!
Content Warning: Bat Boy: the Musical contains violence, drug use, and sexual references. Viewer discretion is advised.
Accessibility:
All performances: Accessible wheelchair/scooter seating available.
Saturday, Aug 5, 2023: ASL-Interpreted Performance
Written by Honor Moor
Directed by David Doersch
The second World Premiere of the season, Treasure Island is a new take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of buccaneers and buried gold, from local playwright Honor Moor. Fun for the whole family!
All shows will be at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in the Montford District of Asheville, and all will be presented absolutely FREE of charge!
All shows will run Fridays through Sundays and all will be presented at 7:30pm and prime seats can be reserved.
Montford Park Players has been bringing some of theater’s greatest works to Western North Carolina for over 50 years. Montford Park Players continues its mission of bring free theater to the community. The summer season allows everyone to come spend an evening under the stars, seeing some of the best live performances presented in Asheville.
Maestro Ken Lam leads Brevard’s talented high school orchestra in a program of solo and orchestral showpieces. Tchaikovsky’s lush and poignant setting of the story of the star-crossed lovers opens the program. Maestro Lam then welcomes virtuoso flutist Anthony Trionfo to perform two seminal works in the solo flute repertoire. The program closes with Rimsky’s brilliant suite based on Spanish folk melodies that provides excitement and flash for every member of the orchestra.
PERFORMANCE & ARTIST DETAILS
Brevard Concert Orchestra
Ken Lam, conductor
Anthony Trionfo, flute
P. I. TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy
CHARLES GRIFFES Poem
FRANÇOIS BORNE Carmen Fantasie Brilliante
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio espagnol
Auditorium seating is reserved. Lawn seating is general admission.

The “One Singular Sensation,” A Chorus Line, is coming to Flat Rock Playhouse for the first time and we are thrilled to share this award-winning musical with everyone! A Chorus Line is a celebration of those unsung heroes of the American Musical Theatre: the chorus dancers. The show follows 17 would-be dancers in their quest to make the cut for a new Broadway Musical. One by one, the dancers come forward to share the stories of their lives, giving it their all and putting themselves on the line to make the cut. Only eight will remain. Capturing the spirit, tension, and hope of an audition, A Chorus Line is the musical for everyone who’s ever had a dream and put it all out there to make it come true!
A Chorus Line once held the record as the longest running show on Broadway with over 6000 performances, and heralds nine Tony® Awards including Best Musical, Best Director and Best Choreographer, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Michael Bennett. Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante, Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kleban. Co-Choreographed by Bob Avian. Original Broadway production produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival, Joseph Papp, Producer, in association with Plum Productions, Inc.
George Porter Jr. & Runnin Pardners will be performing LIVE on the Indoor Stage at Salvage Station on Friday, July 28th, 2023 with Marvelous Funkshun! Doors open @ 7PM and the music starts @ 8PM. This is a General Admission, 18+ ONLY show! FREE ON-SITE PARKING! George Porter Jr is a founding member of legendary funk band, The Meters. Porter has accompanied the stage as a band member or special guest with the likes of David Byrne, Dead & Company, Jimmy Buffet, Warren Haynes, Widespread Panic, Tedeschi Trucks Band, John Scofield, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and various members of Phish, to name a few. Bottom line, this is a show you don’t want to miss!
Explore Grandfather Mountain after hours with your own personal guides. You’ll discover some of the park’s nighttime wonders, while stopping at its most significant sites. Watch a stunning Grandfather sunset, and experience the mountain as never before!
Meet at entrance gate at 8 PM. In-park transportation is provided. Next stop is atop Grandfather Mountain and its world-famous Mile High Swinging Bridge, where you explore and observe sunset from a mile high. Meanwhile, park educators will be on hand to discuss the unique flora and crepuscular (active during twilight) fauna that call Grandfather home.
Next stop is a visit lower on the mountain to take a brief, guided night hike. Encounter and learn about such nocturnal creatures as owls, salamanders, fireflies and more. Limited to 24 participants.
This event costs $50 for general admission and $42 for members of Grandfather Mountain’s Bridge Club – plus tax. Registration opens here on June 14, 2023. If sold out: Email [email protected] with name, email and phone number to be placed on the waiting list.
This event is accessible for those in a wheelchair. Grandfather Mountain’s vehicle fleet includes a 12–seat shuttle that has a 1,000 lb. Braun Lift and accommodates an additional two people in wheelchairs. After purchasing a ticket for this event, please reach out to the Grandfather Mountain Admin. Office (828-733-2013) to let us know if anyone you purchased a ticket for has any accessibility needs and so the proper transportation can be arranged.
What to Bring?
Much of your time will be spent outdoors and all programs are held rain, snow or shine. You should be prepared for a variety of mountain weather conditions and temperatures. Appropriate clothing, equipment, and footwear are very important. You’ll need a jacket on many summer evenings!
Jody Carroll is a blues & Roots performer and songwriter who effortlessly creates bold interpretations of old Blues and American Folk music, his own songs, stories and improvisational musical journeys. He is a Finger style/slide guitar master and amazingly soulful singer blending flavors of old Blues, Folk, Mountain music, Jazz and Rock all together into a true power packed gumbo.
JC Has toured with or shared the stage with legends such as Buddy Guy, Honey Boy Edwards, Louisiana Red, R.L Burnside, Johnny Winter, John Mayhall, George Thorogood, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeski, Leo Bud Welch, Robert Cray, Eddie Kirkland, Robyn Trower, John McEuen , Ural Thomas, Charlie Musslewhite, Canned Heat, Robert Earl Keen, Sonny Landreth, Shameka Copeland, Paul Geramia, Sonny Landreth, Roy Bookbinder and even members of Metallica once back in 1987 (strange story).
He appeared to great critical response at Merlefest 2018 & 21
Jody Carroll McMurrian was born on April 5 1968 in an area called the San Joaquin Delta of California. It’s a vast water filled area where the Antioch River, the Old River, The San Joaquin River and the Sacramento River all meet up to pour into the San Francisco Bay. His family hails from the hills of Buffalo Valley Oklahoma via Arkansas on his fathers side and Amarillo Texas on his mothers side.
Jody Carroll grew up hearing whispers of old American music on the radio or from his fathers guitar. His father started him off with a couple Willie Nelson songs and plenty of AM country radio. His grandfather, who also played guitar when he was young, had come from the remote rural Buffalo Valley hills of Oklahoma 20 years earlier with his family in tow. He and his brothers had been running whiskey in those hills one to many times and had been effectively asked to leave the state by the law. JC’s grandfather left town and made his way over to California and then up to the bay area for work in the ship yards of Port Chicago. Jody grew up in the 70’s and 80’s working on the families Northern California farm, building barns, riding horses, drawing, learning music from old blues, folk, Rock and Soul records.
His first guitar was his father’s steel guitar that had languished for many years up in the attic until he found it. After secretly playing it for a while, he asked his father to teach him some old folk tunes that he had played in his early years and some lap slide licks. He took to it like a fish devouring all he could learn from the family record collection. After many years of playing in garage rock bands, he happened upon the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music and the recordings of Robert Johnson. That sealed the deal as it where, he took off into the back woods of old weird America and never looked back.
You Tube Links:
From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the six wives of Henry VIII take the microphone to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a Euphoric Celebration of 21st-century girl power! This new original musical is a global sensation that everyone is losing their head over! Featuring an all-woman cast and all-woman band, SIX has won 23 awards in the 2021/2022 Broadway season, including the Tony Award® for Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. The New York Times says SIX “TOTALLY RULES!” (Critic’s Pick), and The Washington Post hails SIX as “Exactly the kind of energizing, inspirational illumination this town aches for!” The SIX: LIVE ON OPENING NIGHT Broadway album debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard cast album charts and surpassed 6 Million streams in its first month.
Recommended for ages 12+ (adult content).
Truly a one-of-a-kind dance theater spectacle, Heather Maloy’s ‘Cleopatra’ is the crowning jewel of Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance’s 20th Anniversary Season. Featuring a cast of critically acclaimed dancers from ballet and contemporary companies across the US and abroad, the story of history’s first sex symbol is filled with intrigue, violence, splendor, love and tragedy.
The innovative dance theater’s most lavish production to date, ‘Cleopatra’ embodies the opulence and wonder of Cleopatra’s Alexandria, a city whose riches and scientific innovations were centuries ahead of their time. Runway worthy costumes with a contemporary flair inspired by ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, plus a two story set, multiple projection screens and the incomparable Terpsicorps dancers bring to life a true story more exciting than any piece of fiction.
Originally intending to title the work Antony & Cleopatra, Maloy’s research into the history of Egypt’s last Pharaoh introduced her to a woman much too complex, powerful and brilliant to share a title with any man. A scholar and scientist, diplomat and single mother, lover and calculating strategist… Cleopatra seduced the most powerful men in the world with her wit, intellect and sexuality. Let yourself be seduced. We dare you!
Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance has been producing cutting edge, world class dance in Asheville since 2003. Utilizing hand picked professional dancers in the summers when they are off contract from critically acclaimed dance companies, has given the dance lovers in our community the opportunity to enjoy performances of a caliber seldom seen outside of major metropolitan cities.

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
HORSEGIRL
Horsegirl is a noisy rock trio from Chicago composed of Penelope Lowenstein (she/her), Nora Cheng (she/her), and Gigi Reece (they/them), all 17-18 years old. Horsegirl draws inspiration from shoegaze and post-punk, in the realm of ‘90’s American and UK indie underground. Together for just over a year, they have played contemporary art museums, all ages venues, open mics, and house parties.
LIFEGUARD
Lifeguard is a punk-band-power-trio. Emerging out of the young and exciting windy city DIY scene with the likes of Horsegirl, Post Office Winter, and Friko, Lifeguard have become a part of a cultural moment. Though the members are all still in high school, they are on the forefront of a younger generation taking old music, understanding what made it great, applying it to their art and pushing it in the future. This isn’t a nostalgia act, this is a band for now, distilling lessons learned from SST, Dischord and Sub Pop and channeling it into fury and anxiety for the modern world. – Joe Trainor
After some folk/country directions on their 2021 EP, Big Fall, Philadelphia country band rock band Florry is back with their Dear Life debut, the four song Sweet Guitar Solos. Whoever gave them those directions did a pretty good job because on their new EP they definitely seem like they’ve gotten to where they needed to be.
Culled from various outtakes recorded between 2021 and 2022, the band slips and slides from a four-piece lineup to a seven-piece band with two- three guitars, fiddle, pedal steel, and vocal accompaniment. The band does a lot of things, such as raggedy alt country, cowpunk, and country rock, but mostly they have fun.
On an electric version of 2021 track Big Fall is frontwoman Francie Medosch, bassist Jared Radichel, second guitarist John Murray, and drummer Joey Sullivan. When I Kicked You Out of the Band (I Wasn’t Kicking You Out Of My Life) sees the band add vocal accompanist/acoustic guitar player Victoria Rose and fiddle player Will Henriksen, with Murray on lap steel. The band finally lands on their current lineup with Cowgirl in a Ditch, with Murray back on guitar and Sam Silbert on pedal steel. The band also covers Lisa’s Birthday from the Drive-By Truckers.
Ages 18+ (under 18 must be accompanied by a parent)
Every Friday evening Modelface Comedy brings you the best comedians from all over the country
Jaffer Khan is an NYC-based stand-up originally from Houston, TX. He’s written for Comedy Central, CBS, and was a correspondent on Redacted Tonight.
Kelly Bachman is also a NYC-based stand-up, originally from High Point, North Carolina, and she’s been featured by FX/Hulu’s Hysterical, The New York Times, and more.
Featuring TBA
ages 18+
doors at 9pm, show at 9:30pm

