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.

• 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

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.

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!

– 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.

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

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.

– ALL AGES
– LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED

ABBY POSNER

Abby Posner is a queer, working musician in Los Angeles. Best known for her ability to play any instrument that she can find, twisting genres, and pushing the boundaries of folk, roots, and pop music making her “Genre Fluid.”  From banjo riff to looping pedal she does it all.

Absolutely outstanding! The full package – instrumentation, songwriting, chatter, stage presence. Just an outstanding musician and human being.  Concerts at Our House

The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to a very unique creature that some say resembles a tribe of fairies carrying blue candles through the forest. 

The Blue Ghost Firefly (Phausis reticulata) is a secretive, hard-to-find native insect that calls our area home, and for a very short amount of time in early summer, they inhabit our surrounding woodlands of Transylvania County. 

You’ll experience an educational presentation at our outdoor amphitheater starting at 9:00pm and then use the cover of darkness and special flashlights to go in search of the Blue Ghost fireflies while hiking on a paved trail through the forest. Cradle of Forestry team members will be stationed at key locations around the trail to provide further information about this amazing natural phenomenon. Please feel free to congregate near these areas with your fellow firefly enthusiasts or go explore on your own! We require everyone to stay on the trail to prevent habitat damage, and team members will clear the trail and require everyone to depart by 10:30pm.

Ticket Purchase/Pre-registration is required. This is a light rain or shine, family-friendly event!
In order to maximize our participant experience while minimizing our impact on the resource, we limit each night to 125 participants. 

Killer garage punk bill with The Whiffs (KC) Rocky MTN Roller, Pleasure House (CLT) and Jonny Couch touring down from NYC!

Learn Asheville’s history, discover hidden gems, and laugh at LaZoom’s quirky sense of adventure.

• Guided comedy tour bus of historical Asheville
• 90-Minutes – tours run daily
• 15-minute break at Green Man Brewing
• $39 per person (ages 13+ only)

Kids’ Comedy Tour: Wildly funny, this educational and entertaining tour features the perfect blend of Asheville’s history and kid-centric comedy. Geared specifically toward the 5–12 year old crowd, you’ll explore the town with our famously outlandish tour guides leading the way.

• Perfect for birthday parties
• Makes for memorable school field trips
• Tickets are $27 per person
• Beverages available for purchase at the LaZoom Room
• Departs from 76 Biltmore Avenue

Sandburg Home Tours – Thursday to Sunday at 11am, 1pm, 2pm.

*As of April 2022, tours are free until further notice. See rates below if they change before your visit. Online reservations are available at recreation.gov.

The Sandburg Home is a great place to start your visit! The ground floor of the home contains visitor information, exhibits, tour ticket sales, the park store, and you can watch the park video. The main and top level of the home are furnished with the Sandburg family belongings. Visitors may only access the furnished ares of the home on a guided tour.

• Tour Reservations: Reserving in advance lets you pick your preferred house tour time. Tours fill up quickly. Last-minute, in-person tickets may not be available on the day you visit. Plan ahead and reserve house tour tickets at recreation.gov.

• Passes: The park does not currently sell the America the Beautiful– National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes.
  *These passes do not waive the house tour fee, but do provide a discount.
  *You can purchase a pass online at America the Beautiful – National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass | USGS Store.
• 30-minute house tours are offered year-round, schedule varies by season. Visit recreation.gov for the current schedule.
• Visitors may only tour the Sandburg Home on a guided tour.
• Tours are limited to 6 persons.
• Strollers are not permitted on the house tour, but there is a place to leave them for storage. Infants and small children should be carried through the house while on tour.

  Sandburg Home Guided Tour Fee
  *Tours are free until further notice, this chart is the rate when fees resume.
  (credit card only)
  $10.00 for Adults 16 and older
  $6.00 for Adults age 62 and older and all interagency pass holders
  Free for Children age 15 and under

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.

Join us for a rooftop party on the top of the Pack Square Parking Garage off Biltmore Avenue on May 20th from 2pm-5pm at Bluegrass & Brews! Enjoy listening to three different bluegrass bands, sipping local beers, eating pretzels and more! The music lineup for this free event includes Cast Iron Bluegrass at 2pm, Bear Creek String Bandits at 3pm and Blue Ridge Tradition at 4pm.

A Special Community Concert generously sponsored by the First Congregational Church
introducing Womansong to Hendersonville:

​

Citron Gallery presents REFLECTIONS, a group exhibition featuring new works by a diverse range of national and international artists. Consisting of both literal and metaphorical meanings, reflections can appear in many different forms. The physical nature of light alters appearances and can reveal unexpected sensations. Reflections can also be internal; emotional, spiritual or cerebral, revealing distant memories. These artists have created works that aim to portray an inner dialogue for the viewer. Join us for an evening of art, music, light refreshments, and conversation.

Exhibiting artists include: Allison B. Cooke, Anna Carll, Dorothy Ganek, Eric Abrecht, Kieta Jackson, Kento Saisho, Lauren Betty, and Rand Kramer

Additional works by: Cliff Warner, Joshua Meyer

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 20th, 2023 | 5 PM – 8 PM
On View: May 20, 2023 – August 31, 2023
Location: 60 Biltmore Ave., #002 Lower Level, Asheville, NC 28801

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.

Come enjoy this FREE show, Saturday May 20th at French Broad Outfitters – Hominy Creek with live music 6-9PM. Pet and Family Friendly!
The Goldfish Party is celebrating their debut EP with special guests Perfumery, and KMRKLS + DJ Chrome C. Come enjoy the party!

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!

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
– RAIN OR SHINE

Jerry enthusiasts, Drip A Silver, render the catalog from a place of merry reverence.

Darko Butorac, conductor

Béla Fleck, banjo

American music is ever-evolving, refusing to be constrained by tradition or expectation. Our soloist and Asheville Amadeus Festival headliner, Béla Fleck, brings that same approach to the banjo by rediscovering and redefining the instrument. Doubling as our season closer and Asheville Amadeus Festival finale, this program challenges and explores the many shades of Americana.