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.
Give us 2-4 hours. Enjoy a day of music and memories — and the knowledge that you helped to bring a community together! You’ll also get a little swag: a 11th Annual Festival Tee Shirt, snacks, a drink ticket, and our new Blue Ridge Pride Center buttons and stickers. Volunteer roles include: setup and breakdown, selling wristbands, beverages or merchandise, and assisting with volunteer check-in or VIP. Learn more and sign up here.
We’ve sent three lucky winners to London and one lucky winner to Hawaii – but in this summer’s raffle, someone’s going to win $10,000! Heck, you could go to BOTH London and Hawaii if you won (fly coach, stay in hostels?) Or build that outdoor firepit you’ve seen on HGTV, or rent a super swank beach house for a week, or anything you want, really, because it’s your $10,000!
Raffle tickets are $50 and only 500 will be sold! And proceeds from every ticket you buy supports operations and programming at Asheville Community Theatre!
ELIGIBILITY: Present employees of Asheville Community Theatre and any immediate family members residing with the employees are not eligible to participate. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Contest void where prohibited. You need not be present to win.
The Council on Aging of Buncombe County in conjunction with the N.C. Department of Insurance’s Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) announces its classes “Introduction to Medicare – Understanding the Puzzle” for August – September 2019. The classes will explain how Medicare works, the enrollment process, how to avoid penalties, and ways to save money.
The classes are free and open to the public.
Residents who are new to Medicare, caregivers, and others who help senior citizens with their Medicare insurance should consider attending this informative class. The information presented is unbiased and accurate. No products are sold, recommended, or endorsed.
Medicare Classes: August – September 2019
- Aug. 21, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. PM Blue Ridge Health, 2579 Chimney Rock Rd, Hendersonville
- Aug. 23, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Goodwill, 1616 Patton Ave, Asheville
- Aug. 28, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 150 Brian Berg Dr, Brevard
- Sept. 5, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Reuter YMCA, 3 Town Square Blvd, Asheville
- Sept. 13, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. OLLI/Reuter Center, UNCA, One University Heights, Asheville
- Sept. 17, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Woodfin YMCA, 40 N Merrimon Ave #101, Asheville
- Sept. 20, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Goodwill, 1616 Patton Ave, Asheville
- Sept. 25, 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. Black Mountain YMCA, 25 Jane Jacobs Rd, Black Mountain
- Oct. 1, 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. Ferguson YMCA, 31 Westridge Market Pl, Candler
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS
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Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, author of Dear America: Notes of An Undocumented Citizen and a leading voice for the human rights of immigrants. He is the Founder and CEO of Define American, the nation’s leading nonprofit media organization that fights injustice and anti-immigrant hate through the power of storytelling.
Mr. Vargas will share details of his childhood journey to the United States from the Philippines and his life in America as an immigration reform activist. Some have called him the most famous undocumented immigrant in America.
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Play in the trees and help protect the forest! FOTS and Navitat Canopy Adventures are partnering to show their love for GSMNP on three more special days this year. Book an adventure with Navitat Asheville or Navitat Knoxville on July 30, August 17, or September 28 and get 10% off your ticket, PLUS a portion of sales will be donated directly back to Friends of the Smokies!
From Buncombe County Libraries:
Do you love to read? Do you like children? The Buncombe County Public Library’s Preschool Outreach Project (POP) is currently looking for volunteers. POP is an outreach service of the library, a program designed to bring the joy and excitement of books to children in child care centers. Our volunteers offer stories, songs, puppets and smiles to our youngest book lovers – children under the age of 5.
No formal experience is needed, just a strong commitment to both children and reading. Most volunteers spend approximately five hours per month on POP, reading twice a month at their assigned center. We ask that volunteers commit to participate with our program for one full school year. All story time materials are provided by the library.
All POP volunteers must participate in story time training and submit to a background check. The next training is Monday, Aug. 26.
Interested volunteers must complete a volunteer application before Aug. 19. Applications can be filled out here.
Momentum Gallery in downtown Asheville hosts new summer exhibitions – Mariella Bisson, Setting Shapes; Oil paintings by two new painters: Samantha Keely Smith and Paul Sattler; and a group invitational called Give Me Wood. These exhibitions continue at 24 N Lexington Avenue through the end of August.
Mariella Bisson deftly delineates the sculptural planes of regional waterfalls and sylvan scenes creating refreshingly contemporary landscape paintings. Her oil-over-collage paintings feature built-up texture, suggesting the complex surface of stone and tree bark, lichen, and moss. Bisson’s paintings demonstrate a strong understanding of formal composition and reflect a sensibility honed from time she’s spent immersed in the outdoors. Of note, Bisson is a two-time recipient of the Pollock-Krasner grant and was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship in painting.
Samantha Keely Smith creates inspired and stirring abstract paintings in oil. The Brooklyn-based artist sees her paintings “as an expression of our internal turbulence. They reflect the overwhelming reality of being constantly aware of what is happening in the wider world – Change is the only constant.” Smith’s nebulous compositions are evocative of luminous cloudscapes and primordial oceans. Brilliant areas of stained pigment collide with waves of painterly brush strokes ultimately conjuring imagined environments with a timeless quality. “These paintings are about the essence of who we all are, as human beings… We all want love and connection.” Smith’s works give form to fluctuations between turbulence and calm present in everything from our emotions to the temporal world. Overall, Smith’s focus is on the underlying psychological impact of the dawning awareness of our shifting reality.
An accomplished oil painter, Paul Sattler was the recipient of the John R. Solomon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. In 2004, he was selected to exhibit at the 179th Annual Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art at the National Academy of Design in New York, where he received the Wallace Truman Prize. Dramatic narratives unfold in his charged and enigmatic oil paintings which reference historic and literary sources. Sattler comments, “A diverse population of animals are enmeshed in my works’ human-inhabited environments, theatrical locales, and domestic dramas.”
Give Me Wood is an imaginative and evocative collection of contemporary painting and wood sculpture. Central to the identity and creation of all the extraordinary two- and three-dimensional works in the exhibition is the common material of wood. The participating artists defy logic, explore space (both real and imagined), carve, bend, turn, and otherwise construct some truly amazing and innovative work! Featuring Michael Alm, Garry Knox Bennett, Gil Bruvel, Christian Burchard, Tom Eckert, David Ellsworth, Ron Layport, Wendy Maruyama, and Sylvie Rosenthal.
Outback Give Back – Donate, Mate!
There’s never been a better time to stop by your local Outback Steakhouse! And The Blood Connection is giving you an easy way to eat for FREE.
For the entire month of August, TBC and Outback Steakhouse are working together to spread the word about blood donation. Partnerships like this are essential to the community’s blood supply. Outback Steakhouse’s enthusiasm to partner with TBC has helped the blood center reach new donors and save more lives!
The Outback Give Back Promotion runs August 1st – August 29th. Donors who give blood at any TBC center on any Thursday will receive a $20 Outback gift card and a free Bloomin’ Onion ® coupon. To find a center near you, click here.
On August 29th, 18 Outback Steakhouse locations will host a blood mobile for a collective blood drive at the same time, 2-7 P.M. Blood donors will receive a $20 Outback gift card and a free Bloomin’ Onion® coupon. After donating, they can walk right in and enjoy a free dinner at Outback, a thank you for saving lives!
Donors can visit any TBC center in the Upstate of South Carolina, and Raleigh and Asheville in North Carolina: 435 Woodruff Road, Greenville, SC; 341 Old Abbeville Highway, Greenwood, SC; 5116 Calhoun Memorial Hwy, Easley, SC; 1308 Sandifer Boulevard, Seneca, SC; 270 North Grove Medical Park Drive, Spartanburg, SC; 225 Airport Road, Arden, NC; 5925 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC. Centers are open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on the weekends 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Every Friday night you can find DJ Databoy and DJ Woodside spinning your favorite rap records. Dancing is permitted! No Cover.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2530249150380639/?event_time_id=2530253740380180
Top photographers gather at Grandfather Mountain to present on the nuts and bolts of making good photographs. This event is free to working members of the press, with an additional cost for non-press professionals and amateurs. Online registration begins July 15 at www.grandfather.com.
https://www.facebook.com/events/344126296249170/?event_time_id=344126299582503
Top photographers gather at Grandfather Mountain to present on the nuts and bolts of making good photographs. This event is free to working members of the press, with an additional cost for non-press professionals and amateurs. Online registration begins July 15 at www.grandfather.com.
https://www.facebook.com/events/344126296249170/
A monthly gathering of enthusiasts to celebrate all things automotive, share stories and build friendships around a shared passion for cars. The event is FREE and open to all.
DETAILS: http://bit.ly/CarsConcord
https://www.facebook.com/events/837238529957915/?event_time_id=837238539957914
Summer is all about outdoor fun, spending quality time together as a family and taking in the wonderful sights of nature. Submit your photos of your family hiking, sunlight making its way through the trees or of the fantastic views that make Chimney Rock so special. We’ll use the winning entries on our website and Facebook album, and you’ll win some fun prizes. Photos must be taken within the Chimney Rock section of the Park.
Cost: No cost to enter contest.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2346811038665486/?event_time_id=2346811045332152
Are you ready to generate more awareness about the benefits of Yoga? Want to join with other community members in practice, have fun, and raise money for our fundraising mission, The Heart of Community?
From 9 am to 6 pm on Saturday, August 17th, Asheville Community Yoga will host its Second Yogathon Fundraising Event! Participants will have the opportunity to practice Vinyasa with Michael Greenfield, Yin with Kelly Gilmore, Restorative with Linda Go, and Gentle Flow with Wendy Lantis, along with a fabulous “Tag Team Yoga” Vinyasa class! A delicious lunch will be provided by Karma Café for participants. Luna Ray & Friends will be there to provide life music to close out the day.
Lunch from Karma Café, exclusive Yogathon t-shirt!
$30 Entry Fee
(pay when you arrive for the Yogathon)
Top 60 fundraisers will be able to participate in our Yogathon
(10 person waitlist)
When you fundraise over $500, the entry fee is waived!
A great way to dive deeper into practice, get to know other community members, and raise money to support the mission of Asheville Community Yoga
There are so many ways to participate in the Yogathon!
Sponsor another participant or team, spread the news on social media to donate, or serve as a volunteer.
Click the link below to register and learn more!
https://ashevillecommunityyoga.com/featured/yogathon/
https://www.facebook.com/events/378633166117305/
We are holding out annual Fundraiser & Demonstration 8.17.19
During our annual demonstration we are asking the community to support us by marching with flowers and decorating their gardens with our flowers. Each flower will be made of Painted Aluminum, including purple petals to represent the life of a mother and a gold center to represent the life of a child. YOU can order your flowers on the website.
Our Fundraising Goal this year is $75,000. This will allow us to create our first Ecologically Self Sustaining Community Outreach Center which will include 2-5 acres of quality land on which we will build a Temple/Community Gathering Space, Prayer Garden, Food/Herb Garden, and 3-7 single earth huts for birthing/private supplication.
Seeking Volunteers, Donations, Vendors and Sponsors for this event. If you are interested, please respond with haste.
We are in a state of emergency.
Black women and infants are being exterminated via systematic genocide in USA, inc… Something has to be done now. If black life matters to you… get involved!
www.thebirthguru.org/march-of-flowers-2019
https://www.facebook.com/events/1107731626080562/
We welcome volunteers to join us as we pick up trash, remove non-native invasive plants, and do other maintenance at the Sanctuary. Please bring gloves and loppers if you have them.
https://www.facebook.com/events/342626140005018/
We welcome volunteers to join us as we pick up trash, remove non-native invasive plants, and do other maintenance at the Sanctuary. Please bring gloves and loppers if you have them.
https://www.facebook.com/events/342626140005018/?event_time_id=342626143338351
We’ll have vendors from all aspects of the outdoor industry. Everything from hunting and hiking to outdoor cooking will be represented. FREE ADMISSION
https://www.facebook.com/events/830657630608970/
We invite you to join us for the fourteenth annual Come to Leicester studio tour. We are excited to celebrate this annual event. The Come to Leicester studio tour is held every year on the third weekend in August; for 2019, that is 17-18 August. Our community of artists create in a variety of mediums, including painting, iron work, wood work, textiles, pottery, jewelry, and brooms. They welcome you to their open studios so that you can enjoy their talented work. Come to Leicester to see for yourself!
Downloadable map here
There are 18 stops on the 2019 tour. They are:
1 – 1177 Bear Creek Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Cat Jarosz -pottery
2 – 34 Cabin Cove Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Nirado – jewelry
3 – 205 Jones Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Anita Walling – pottery
4 – 106 N Cardinal Dr, Leicester, NC 28748. Patrick McDermott – pottery
5 – 95 Gibbs Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Valerie Berlage – wood **Saturday only**
6 – 14 Rose Creek Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Joanna White – fiber
7 – 209 Big Sandy Mush Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Matt Jones – pottery
8 – 8 Willow Creek Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Marlow Gates – brooms; Steve Schroeder – blacksmith
9 – 45 Singletree Gap Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Doc Welty -pottery
10 – 4005 New Leicester Hwy, Leicester, NC 28748. Wesley Angel – blacksmith; Deanna Lynch – textiles; Jessica Sanchez – pottery and fiber; Kay Smith – painting; Peggy Baldwin – quilting; Noel Yovovich – jewelry
11 – 3 Worley Cove Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Frank Barbera – wood
12 – 111 Mailon King Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Lynda Emashowski – apothecary
14 – 2979 New Leicester Hwy, Leicester, NC 28748. [Leicester Community Center] Barbara Hebert – pottery; Jean Hord – painting; Beth Hampton Jones – photography; Brad Worden – pottery; Suzanne Saunders – painting; Christie Ann Robinson – painting
15 – 1107 Bear Creek Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Joe DeSousa – painting
16 – 73 Bear Creek Hills Dr, Leicester, NC 28748. Cold Mountain Bling – stained glass
17 – 41 Hawkins Dr, Leicester, NC 28748. Karen Hawkins – figurative art
18 – 470 Sandy Mush Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Andy Gordon – pottery
19 – 51 Bridges Cove Estate Rd, Leicester, NC 28748. Trish Golay – jewelry
Douglas Falls
Distance: 2.5 Miles out and back
Degree of Difficulty: Some Obstacles, Moderate Climb
Trail Description: https://www.hikewnc.info/trails/big-ivy-coleman-boundary/douglas-falls
Meetup Location: Take 19/23 North (Future I-26 West) about 12 miles to exit 15. At the end of the exit ramp, turn right toward Barnardsville and drive NC Highway 197 about 6 miles. When you enter the tiny town, turn right on Dillingham Road past the fire station. Follow the paved Dillingham Road 5 miles. This road will end at Pisgah Forest (Big Ivy sign) and the unpaved FS74 begins. It’s 8.8 miles to the end.
Do you use native plants in your landscape?
Join us on August 3rd at 10 am for a workshop on Gardening with Native Plants given by Debbie Green, Black Mountain resident and Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer at the Black Mountain Library, 105 N. Dougherty Street.
Learn about the benefits of choosing plants native to our area to reduce maintenance while attracting pollinators and wildlife to your garden. Many natives are easy to share from plant divisions and seeds, making them budget-friendly choices for enhancing your home’s curb appeal.
This hour long presentation is free and sponsored by Black Mountain Blooms Seed Lending Library and Buncombe County Extension Master Garden Volunteers. We welcome you to be apart of our growing community!
Join us any Saturday for outdoor activities at the garden. Local youth involved in programming for building life skills, improving literacy and leadership development welcome young people in the area to join them, and we are always in need of adult volunteers to help with mentoring. Involvement in the Shiloh Community Garden also includes the experience of growing produce organically, lessons in permaculture and the science of sustainability, healthy meal preparation, and entrepreneurship. Come join the fun!
https://www.facebook.com/events/524392424698351/?event_time_id=524392471365013
Join us for the 1st annual ‘Scotty Bob’s “keeping it clean” river cleanup! At 10am, pull trash and tires from the French Broad River with Asheville GreenWorks. Sign up here: https://asheville-greenworks.networkforgood.com/events/14676-scottybob-s-keepin-it-clean-river-cleanup
Food will be available to purchase by Deli Volv food truck and Ice Cream by The Hop. Enjoy a cold beverage at the Oasis Taproom. Check out a few of our local vendors selling their arts and crafts.
Then, stick around to support and enjoy 5 amazing local bands, ALL donating their time to entertain. Appreciate the river, hang out, and have fun! A portion of the proceeds will go to keeping our beautiful French Broad River clean!
Lineup:
1:30-2:15 Room 27 (indie rock)
2:30-3:00 Andrew Reed (acoustic)
3:10-3:50 Billingsley (rock’n’roll)
4:00-5:00 The Log Noggins (progressive southern rock fusion)
5:15-6:15 Shabudikah (funk/soul)
Music may go on longer depending on the crowd, so come on out and support the talented artists!
This is a free event although your donations are appreciated to help clean our river and support this event!
https://www.facebook.com/events/685606115245458/
Did you know? J.Crew Factory in Asheville Outlets ALWAYS offers 15% off to public school employees w/valid district ID badge? To show appreciation to HCPS educators and help prep their back-to-school wardrobe, the store will also offer 20% off purchases of $100+ to HCPS staff members (with valid HCPS badge) during this this special “Shop for A Cause!”
And regardless of who’s doing the shopping that weekend, a percent of all purchases during the 2-day event will benefit HCPS through the Henderson County Education Foundation!
https://www.facebook.com/events/951969705136838/?event_time_id=951969708470171
Did you know? J.Crew Factory in Asheville Outlets ALWAYS offers 15% off to public school employees w/valid district ID badge? To show appreciation to HCPS educators and help prep their back-to-school wardrobe, the store will also offer 20% off purchases of $100+ to HCPS staff members (with valid HCPS badge) during this this special “Shop for A Cause!”
And regardless of who’s doing the shopping that weekend, a percent of all purchases during the 2-day event will benefit HCPS through the Henderson County Education Foundation!
https://www.facebook.com/events/951969705136838/
There’s more than Chunky Monkey and New York Super Fudge Chunk in downtown Asheville’s Ben & Jerry’s this summer.
Art created by Vance Elementary School fifth grade students of art educator Robbie Lipe is now on display on the brick walls opposite the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The exhibit depicts the students’ interpretation of the artist Kehinde Wiley and the contemporary portraits he creates inspired by traditional Baroque paintings. It will be featured through the end of the summer.
“Ben & Jerry’s is excited about showcasing art from the community inside our scoop shop,” said general manager Chris Carter. “Making use of our walls to show what local artists are creating complements our social mission — to be actively involved in the places we live and do business. I hope this is the first of many art exhibits on our walls.”
Carter gave all the credit for the exhibit to Ms. Lipe, who teaches kindergarten through 5th-grade students at Vance Elementary. She was named the North Carolina Arts Educators Association “Art Educator of the Year” in 2017-2018.
Ben & Jerry’s is located at 19 Haywood Street. Current hours are Monday-Thursday 12 pm to 10 pm; Friday 12 pm – 11 pm; Saturday 11:30 am – 11 pm; Sunday 11:30 am – 10 pm.
For more information, call Carter at 310-601-6247.
Qigong (alternatively spelled chi gung or chi kung) is a form of gentle exercise composed of movements that are repeated a number of times, often stretching the body, increasing fluid movement (blood, synovial and lymph) and building awareness of how the body moves through space.
The classes and the introduction to Qigong will be taught by Dr. John Akers.
Dr. Akers is a recently retired Wofford language professor and classical guitarist who has taught wellness classes at Wofford, the Spartanburg YMCA, and Zen Garden. Dr. Akers played and coached collegiate soccer, has practiced meditation over 40 years, and teaches a daily routine of yoga and core strengthening enhanced by Qigong energy play. Dr. Akers is also an avid golfer committed to carrying his own clubs, without a cart.
https://www.facebook.com/events/414684999313998/?event_time_id=414685055980659