Included with admission

Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:

• An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
• A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
• Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels

Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.

In the past 50 years in the United States and beyond, artists have sought to break down social and political hierarchies that include issues of identity, gender, power, race, authority, and authenticity. Unsurprisingly, these decades generated a reconsideration of the idea of pattern and decoration as a third option to figuration and abstraction in art. From 1972 to 1985, artists in the Pattern and Decoration movement worked to expand the visual vocabulary of contemporary art to include ethnically and culturally diverse options that eradicated the barriers between fine art and craft and questioned the dominant minimalist aesthetic. These artists did so by incorporating opulence and bold intricacies garnered from such wide-ranging inspirations as United States quilt-making and Islamic architecture. Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration features more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present. The artworks in this exhibition demonstrate the vibrant and varied approaches to pattern and decoration in art. Artworks from the 21st century elucidate contemporary perspectives on the employment of pattern to inform visual vocabularies and investigations of diverse themes in the present day. Artworks drawn from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection join select major loans and feature Pattern and Decoration artists Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, and Miriam Schapiro, as well as Anni Albers, Elizabeth Alexander, Sanford Biggers, Tawny Chatmon, Margaret Curtis, Mary Engel, Cathy Fussell, Samantha Hennekke, John Himmelfarb, Anne Lemanski, Rashaad Newsome, Peter Olson, Don Reitz, Sarah Sense, Billie Ruth Sudduth, Mickalene Thomas, Shoku Teruyama, Anna Valdez, Kehinde Wiley, and more. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Marilyn Laufer & Tom Butler.

The Youth Orchestra will present two consecutive educational Young People’s Concerts, free for all Buncombe County’s 5th-graders, featuring Béla Fleck and members of the Asheville Symphony! They will perform a wide range of pieces from “Shenandoah” to “Sourwood Mountain,” Bizet to Sibelius

Welcome to the new Asheville Amadeus Festival!

Building upon the success of our rock-themed Festival in 2019, the 2023 Festival moves in another exciting new direction, this year celebrating all things Americana with theater, art, music, culinary arts, and more. Featuring banjo superstar Béla Fleck as our Festival Headliner, Kishi Bashi as our Festival Opener, and 25+ partner organizations offering 40+ events throughout this extraordinary ten-day Festival, this is the most ambitious Amadeus in Asheville Symphony history!

There are endless ways to get involved in this year’s Festival, including attending the myriad of free or ticketed events, buying exclusive Amadeus merch, and drinking our exclusive collaborative beer. Click on the link below to learn more about this year’s Festival. 

MORE ON THE FESTIVAL

Join us at Eliada Home’s campus for a small group guided walking Farm Tour. Tours last approximately 1 hour. Participants will learn about outdoor and greenhouse growing practices, aquaponics, hydroponics, market gardening, corn maze production, and about our equine therapy program.

Reservations required. There is no cost, but donations to the non-profit agency are greatly appreciated.

We recommend bringing the following: comfortable shoes for walking on pavement and grass, hat, sunglasses, and water. This tour is not handicap accessible and will require participants to climb stairs and walk on uneven ground.

Do you have an overactive Spider Plant? Is your Aloe Plant giving you the stink eye? Maybe it’s time to mix things up! Bring any & all unwanted houseplants to the Weaverville Library in May and swap them out for something new.  Houseplant Exchange is available and self serve during all open hours.

Grove Street is back at it again. Come join us for our ART PARK Afternoon at Carrier Park from 2:00-4:00. Participants will enjoy “A Twist of Painting” in the Park. If you are feeling creative and like meeting new people, this program is for you!! If you have any questions please contact Grove Street Community Center at 828-350-2062, hope to see you there!!

ARP’s art instructors provide supplies and nature provides inspiration for painting in the park.

2022 Market Season: Every Friday April – October

Black Mountain Garden Sale, one of the most popular gardening sales in WNC, will be held on Friday, May 19, 4-8pm and Saturday, May 20, 9am-4pm at the Town Square Parking Lot at the corner of E. State St. and Richardson Blvd.

Hosted by Black Mountain Beautification Committee the sale will feature annuals, carnivorous plants, cut flowers, edible shrubs, herbs, native plants, perennials, shrubs, trees, and vegetable starts from specialty plant vendors. Plus garden décor including bee cabins, garden art and containers, wood carvings, and other specialty items.

The popular Members’ Market will have personal services and baked goods for sale. Purchase raffle tickets to take a chance to win plants. Proceeds help support the Seed Money Award, Community Improvement Award, and to keep the town beautiful!

Additional information at blackmountainbeautification.org. Let us help you create the garden of your dreams!

In recognition of remarkable service and valuable care provided, Novant Health Enterprises is recognizing all Western North Carolina health care heroes and invites them and a guest to an early evening event to reconnect, relax and enjoy complimentary refreshments and appetizers. The event will give all Asheville-area health care workers an opportunity to connect with one another in a casual environment, regardless of their level or affiliation. Individuals do not need to be affiliated with Novant Health to attend.

Please RSVP by May 12 by texting or calling Mark Turner at 336-692-0437 or emailing [email protected].

• June 16: Victoria Victoria featuring Charlie Hunter with Josh Phillips
• July 21: The Rumble featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux with Funk’N Around
• August 18: Asheville All-Stars with Asheville Rock Academy
• September 15: The Sensational Barnes Brothers with Alex Krug Combo

Come join us most Friday evenings,  5-6 for a happy hour yoga class at Rabbit Rabbit in downtown Asheville!

Don’t forget to bring your own mat!  

Free Class- Tips Appreciated

The schedule is constantly changing, please follow Asheville Wellness Tours on instragram @ashevillewellnesstours for updates!

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.

Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center brings a delicious twist with Bingo & Spaghetti Dinner on May 19 from 6-7:30 p.m.

Special Sale: Prices will increase until Race Day (Ranging from $25 to $75)

Traverse the treacherous terrain located in and around the Rocky Mount Sports Complex and throughout Battle Park.

This 5K race is packed with more than 20 obstacles!

For full details, visit us online at www.tacklethetar.com.

Competitive Heats and Fun Runs

2023 Heat Schedule

• 8:45am Kids Run Heat
• 9:00am – Competitive Heat
• 9:10am – Competitive Heat
• 9:20am – Competitive Heat
• 9:30am – Fun Run Heat
• 9:40am – Fun Run Heat
• 9:50am – Fun Run Heat
• 10:00am – Fun Run Heat
• 10:10am – First Responders Run Heat
• 10:20am – College Run

*Note – All Heats Will Be Timed, with the exception of the 1 mile kids run.

How old do you need to be to run?

A: You must be at least 14 years old on the day of the race to run Tackle the Tar 5K Obstacle Race. However, kids ages 8-13 are encouraged to race at 11:15 a.m. in our 1 Mile Kids Obstacle Race.

Participants ages 14-15 must run with a parent or guardian over 18, and are excluded from the competitive heats.

Participants 16-17 may run in the fun run only, but must have completed a Parental Consent Form (DOWNLOAD HERE).

All other participants 18+ are free to run in any race with the completion of the Participant Waiver Form (DOWNLOAD HERE)

If you or your child do not have a photo ID, you must still provide proof of your identity and verification of your age. (We need to know you’re old enough to run and that you are who you claim to be). You may consider bringing a combination of the options listed below:

For identification, we will accept photocopies of your:

• Passport
• Membership Card
• Student ID
• License

For more information about rules, regulations, and what to expect, visit us online at TTT RUNNER CENTRAL.

T-shirt, medal, and goodie bags are not guaranteed for anyone that registers after 5/1/23.

1-Mile Kids Obstacle Race

Kids 8-13 years of age will be racing through a 1 mile obstacle course designed with them in mind. Cost is $25.00.

Game Highlight: Dollar Dog Fridays

$1 Hot Dogs presented by Blossman Gas and Mix 96.5

Promotion: Tourists Fireworks Night

Gov’t Mule will be performing LIVE on the Outdoor Stage at Salvage Station on Friday, May 19th with Neal Francis and Saturday, May 20th with Maggie Rose! Doors open at 5:30PM and the music starts at 6:30PM. This is a General Admission, 12+ show (no exceptions). This is a LARGE EVENT, so please read our FAQs to learn more about parking options and our shuttle service.

Root Down will be serving their delicious twist on Southern Soul food and we’ll have a few rotating food trucks on-site as well! There will also be MULTIPLE full bars open for you to enjoy!

Every Sunday evening Modelface Comedy brings you the best comedians from all over the country

Ryan Brown is a comedian and writer raised in North Carolina, where he’s currently based after 8 years of living and performing in NYC. His jokes combine an analytical worldview with child-like curiosity to create something equal parts insightful and ridiculous. In New York, Ryan was a regular at Comic Strip Live, Broadway Comedy Club, Carolines on Broadway and more. He can now be seen performing constantly in the Raleigh area and all over the country. Ryan’s also been featured in numerous festivals including the New York Comedy Festival, Cape Fear Comedy Festival, Laugh Your Asheville Off and Oak City.

ages 18+

Early show: doors at 6:30pm, show at 7pm

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
– RAIN OR SHINE

Bluestreak is a 5 piece rock ensemble working through the classic rock songbook and adding their own jamming blues originals to the mix. Their song selections are sure to please your ears no matter what generation you’re from. Sampling Tom Petty, Eagles, ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, REO Speedwagon, and more, this quintet rocks the block with their amazing sound.

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY

THE FOOZER EXPERIENCE
Performed by El Scorcho & February Stars, “The Foozer Experience” is a 2+ hour Weezer/Foo Fighters tribute show based off their 2005 co-headlining tour with the moniker “Foozer.” The songs of both Weezer and Foo Fighters are powerful and memorable rock anthems and sing-a-longs that have proven the test of time over their 20+ year careers. The Foozer Experience delivers anthem after anthem from these two giants of the Alternative Rock era.

The Foozer Experience is a 2-band tribute show, but both bands can deliver a single show as each individual tribute act. Together or separate, El Scorcho & February Stars will leave audiences with an experience only rivaled by Weezer and Foo FIghters.

El Scorcho formed in the summer of 2004 with the goal of creating the highest quality Weezer experience next to actually seeing Weezer live. El Scorcho performs the best of the “Blue” and “Pinkerton” albums as well as classic deeper cuts, rarities, and new songs that the ever prolific Weezer continues to produce. The “Quintessential Weezer Tribute Band” quickly grew into one into one of the highest in-demand tribute acts across the Southeast. After Karl Koch (Weezer’s “5th member” and website administrator) caught word of El Scorcho, he immediately started to post show dates and news clips about the tribute act on Weezer’s website, http://weezer.com. El Scorcho has even had the privilege of performing on-stage with Weezer during their 2008 tour of the “Red” Album. To this day, Karl continues to support the band by tweeting their show announcements.

February Stars deliver the best live Foo Fighters show with songs spanning their entire career. Foo Fighters are arguably keeping the rock n roll torch lit by delivering melodic and guitar riff-based songs that everyone knows. With a catalog of over 12 full-length studio, live, and EP recordings and a 20+ year career, there is no doubt they are one of the most recognized and influential rock bands of the modern era.

By Andrew Lippa and John August
On the Steve Lloyd Stage
Directed by Candice Dickinson

What tall tales will we tell to be the hero of our own stories? 

When Will finds out his father is dying of cancer, he is on a mission to find the truth behind the tall tales his father has always told him. Audiences will be in awe as they travel back and forth from Will and Edward’s stark reality to the beautiful and larger than life fantasies of Edward Bloom’s past. This charming, warm hug of a musical features Southern-fried music from Andrew Lippa and is based on the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace that also inspired the 2003 big-screen adaptation directed by Tim Burton. A musical for dreamers, this show has sweeping melodies, gorgeous dance numbers, and celebrates the imagination, culminating in a thrilling theatrical experience. Full of giants, witches, mermaids, and, of course, an exceptionally large fish, Big Fish is about what’s real and what’s fantastic, what’s true and what’s not true, what’s partially true and how, in the end, it’s all true.

Suitable for all audiences.

Join us with Grammy Award-winners, Confederate Railroad, as we kick off our Summer Concert Series!

Possibly Shakespeare’s wackiest play, CYMBELINE features a panoply of Shakespeare’s greatest hits: orphaned royalty, mistaken identities, a cross-dressing heroine, a beheading, a war against Rome, poison that doesn’t really kill you, and more! Modern-day added characters Actor 1 and Actor 2 provide much-needed plot recaps and commentary on the action, and a rewritten ending provides some necessary catharsis. This whirlwind performance is one you won’t want to miss!

With: Molly Graves, Zak Hamrick, Christine Hellman, Erin McCarson, Alex McDonald, Jon Stockdale, Eric Vik, and Paul Vonasek.

Written (mostly) by: William Shakespeare.

Directed by: Melon Wedick.

All shows will be at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in the Montford District of Asheville, and all will be presented absolutely FREE of charge!
Written and Directed by Skyler Goff
This World Premiere was penned by local playwright Skyler Goff and tells of the continuing adventures of our favorite Lost Boy. A fantastical way to kick off our season!

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.

Montford Park Players allows patrons to bring their favorite food and beverages to their shows and sells beer, wine and concessions at the shows. If you’ve never been to the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre for a Montford show, there’s no better season than this one. If you have been, you know why you should come back and catch everything we have to offer!

(adjacent to Swannanoa Library). Movie at dark. Arrive about 7:30 p.m. to secure your spot and enjoy pre-movie festivities. Popcorn and light refreshments available for purchase. Rated PG. Free.

Come and enjoy an evening under the stars while you watch one of the highest earning and rated animated films in 2014. “Big Hero Six” is an adventure story for the whole family. Refreshments will be available for sale. Please bring a blanket or camp chair if you like.

By Lauren Gunderson

Produced by Immediate Theatre Project

Four badass women lose their heads in this irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in 1793 Paris. It’s a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection…that ends in a song and a scaffold.

From the people who brought you Silent Sky comes this grand and dream-tweaked comedy about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and badass ladies

Born October 7, 1951 in Seymour, Indiana, John Mellencamp fell in love with music at an early age and was gigging in local bars and fronting a soul band by the time he was 14. His professional music career began in earnest in 1976 when MCA Records released his first album, The Chestnut Street Incident. After releasing a few albums, he broke out in 1979 with his first hit, “I Need A Lover.” In 1982, his fifth album American Fool was the year’s best-selling album on the strength of two huge hits, “Hurts So Good,” and the number 1 single “Jack & Diane.” The albums that followed in the 80’s, Uh-Huh, Scarecrow, Lonesome Jubilee, and Big Daddy included singles: “Crumblin Down,” “The Authority Song,” “Small Town,” “Rain On The Scarecrow,” “Lonely Ol Night,” “”R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.,” “Paper In Fire,” “Check It Out,” “Cherry Bomb,” “Pop Singer,” and “Jackie Brown.”

Mellencamp took the music on the road with a band that many considered the best in the business, playing approximately 1,000 shows around the globe during the decade. He toured regularly until suffering a mild heart attack in 1994 that forced him to take a break from music, but returned strong in 1996. He continued to write and record frequently, releasing critically acclaimed albums that featured his band’s unique instrumentation and his poignant songs about everyday life in the American heartland.

Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 and is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He’s a Grammy-winner and the recipient of numerous awards including The Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck Awards, ASCAP Foundation’s Champion Award and their highest honor the Founders Award, the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting and the Billboard Century Award, amongst a host of other honors.