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.

Friday, December 17, 2021
BBQ Bears’ Smokehouse Industry Of The Week: Manufacturing
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
BBQ Bears' Smokehouse

Stop by the restaurant to enjoy 15% off of your order!

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Bringing Black back to the Block: Noir Collective AVL
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Noir Collective AVL LLC
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Noir Collective AVL located in the historic Black business district, referred to as The Block, is a Black-owned boutique shop and art gallery featuring Black entrepreneurs. Noir Collective AVL is a community network of wellness warriors, creative activists, and social justice visionaries, cultural keepers and peace makers. We believe that in order to achieve collective liberation, our community needs to focus on opening greater opportunities for access, especially economically, that has been historically denied to African Americans and other people of color. Noir Collective AVL supports Black Liberation through Arts, Culture, and Kinship by featuring the wares of local and regional artists, designers and craftspeople. Our mission is simple, Bringing Black back to the Block.

Entrepreneurs will have products and information on hand:

Jewelry. Original Art. Tea. Shea Butter. Prints. Black Soap. Cards. Books.

& Featured services:

Realty. Exercise & Fitness. Landscaping. Catering. Heritage Tours and more.

We have open spots for Makers and Creatives!

Gestures: Mid-Century Abstraction from the Collection and Modernist Design at Black Mountain College to Open at Asheville Art Museum
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Claude Stoller, Jalowetz Cottage, 1942, gelatin silver print on paper, 8 × 10 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Claude Stoller, image David Dietrich.

The Asheville Art Museum is proud to announce two new companion exhibitions highlighting artworks from the Collection. GesturesMid-Century Abstraction from the Collection explores works in a variety of media that speak to the vibrant abstract experiments in American art making during the middle of the 20th century. Modernist Design at Black Mountain College features the Museum’s collection of groundbreaking designs from Black Mountain College (BMC)—including architecture, furniture, ceramics, textiles, and more—and situates them in the context for BMC’s influences and surroundings. Artists featured in the two exhibitions include Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, Jorge Fick, Buckminster Fuller, Mary “Molly” Gregory, Karen Karnes, A. Lawrence Kocher, Albert Lanier, Jo Sandman, Mim Sihvonen, Robert Turner, Gerald Van de Wiele, and more. The exhibitions will be on view in the Museum’s Explore Asheville Exhibition Hall from October 22, 2021 through January 24, 2022.

Help Save Lives this Holiday Season at Asheville Outlets’ Red Cross Blood Drive
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Asheville Outlets

This holiday season, give the gift of helping others. Please register for the American Red Cross Mobile Bus Blood Donation Drive at Asheville Outlets on Friday, December 17, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. located behind the Food Court. Visit RedCrossBlood.org/give and enter the sponsor code AshevilleOutlets. Organizers will practice advanced safety protocols and all donations will be screened for COVID-19 antibodies. For more information, visit ShopAshevilleOutlets.com.

Modernist Design at Black Mountain College Art Exhibit
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Mary “Molly” Gregory, Lazy-J Chair, circa 1945, ash, leather, and brass, 26 3/4 × 17 1/8 × 24 1/2 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Mary Gregory, image David Dietrich. | Mary “Molly” Gregory, Stool, circa 1941–1945, stained oak, 15 1/2 × 18 × 15 inches each. Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Mary Gregory, image David Dietrich.
Asheville, N.C.Modernist Design at Black Mountain College will feature works of design from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection by Black Mountain College artists including Anni Albers, Josef Albers, A. Lawrence Kocher, Buckminster Fuller, Karen Karnes, Robert Turner, Mary “Molly” Gregory, Ruth Asawa, Albert Lanier, Mim Sihvonen, and more. The exhibition will be on view in the Museum’s Explore Asheville Exhibition Hall from October 22, 2021 through January 24, 2022.

The experiment known as Black Mountain College (BMC) began in 1933 in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression and headed towards World War II; budgets were low, but creativity was high. When Josef & Anni Albers emigrated from Germany to the United States, they left the Bauhaus school of art and design behind but brought with them their modern aesthetic and design prowess. As faculty leaders at BMC, they attracted well known architects like A. Lawrence Kocher and Buckminster Fuller, among others, to teach architecture and design.

Perhaps most progressive of their actions was to hire a woman, Mary “Molly” Gregory, to head the furniture workshop. An openness to creativity and a smart resourcefulness—on the part of both faculty and students (like Ruth Asawa, Albert Lanier, and Mim Sihvonen)—meant an artistic output of groundbreaking designs including architecture, furniture, ceramics, textiles, and more that has yet to be fully assessed. This exhibition highlights the Asheville Art Museum’s collection of design from BMC, like the rarely seen Gregory furniture, and situates it in the context of its influences and surroundings at BMC.

“This exhibition combines artworks from the Museum’s Collection and on loan to explore a particular aspect of Black Mountain College that hasn’t been considered in depth: its design,” says Asheville Art Museum’s Associate Curator Whitney Richardson. “From the chairs used at the Blue Ridge Assembly to the architecture built at the Lake Eden Campus, the story of the design elements utilized by the faculty and students, and what they created within those contexts and environments, helps us look back at this place and time to proclaim BMC’s importance in the historical timeline of design. The aspect of this exhibition that excites me the most is displaying all of the Museum’s Molly Gregory furniture together for the first time since the Museum acquired it in 2017. Gregory’s ability to instruct BMC students on how to make their own furniture—mixed with her resourcefulness in using what the inadequately funded college could provide and the production of simple, modernistic furniture that has stood the test of time—astounds me.”

Ruminations on Memory Exhibition
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum
Robert Rauschenberg, John from the Ruminations series, 1999, photogravure on paper, edition 3/46, publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, Bay Shore, NY, 29 ½ × 38 7/8 inches. Asheville Art Museum. © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Ruminations on Memory contends with the act of remembrance and reflection, featuring a rare presentation of all nine prints from Robert Rauschenberg’s Ruminations portfolio, Judy Chicago’s Retrospective in a Box portfolio, and selections from the Museum’s Collection. Organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator, this exhibition will be on view in Appleby Foundation Exhibition Hall at the Museum from November 19, 2021 through March 14, 2022 in conjunction with A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art

Artworks are vessels for processing, recalling, and reflecting on the past. Artists often draw upon materials from their own pasts and grasp at fleeting moments in time in the creation of an object. For the viewer, observation of an artwork can draw out personal memories.

Artworks in a variety of media explore various ways of remembering, including individual memories that focus on the moments from an artist’s past; generational memory that looks back to one’s ancestors, whether recent or long past; and collective memory, wherein in an image might evoke bygone times that balance between constructed and real. Through these artworks that ruminate upon the past, viewers may discover the stirrings of their own thoughts and recollections prompted by the works before them.

Ruminations on Memory offers a unique opportunity to experience the entirety of a major print portfolio by American painter Robert Rauschenberg (Port Arthur, TX 1925–2008 Captiva, FL). Rauschenberg was a student at Black Mountain College in NC for the 1948–1949 and 1951–1952 academic sessions and for the 1951 and 1952 summers. His Ruminations series consists of nine color photogravures which were printed in 1999 and reflect on Rauschenberg’s early life, his friends and family, and the memories he held dear. The series represents especially significant mature work by Rauschenberg that looks back to his most formative moments as an artist including his time at Black Mountain College and the friendships and ideas formed there.

Also presented in the exhibition is an important series of prints by Judy Chicago (born Chicago, IL 1939). Five decades into her career, Chicago stands as one of the foremost artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, having committed to socially minded work, uplifting in particular experiences salient to her feminine and Jewish identities. Retrospective in a Box consists of seven prints and a portfolio created in collaboration with the master printers at Landfall Press, and provides an overview of her major motifs and ideas, including the print Spring the Dinner, a nod to her seminal 1979 work The Dinner Party.

In addition to the artworks from the Museum’s Collection, visitors will be able to experience Felix Gonzales-Torres’s “Untitled” (L.A.), on loan from the Art Bridges collection. “Untitled” (L.A.) is one of the artist’s iconic interactive candy installations where memories are engaged not only through sight but through sound, touch, taste, and smell as well.

Learn more about Ruminations on Memory and A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art at ashevilleart.org.

Walter B. Stephen Pottery: Cameo to Crystalline
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Artist Walter B. Stephen (Clinton, IA 1875–1961 Asheville, NC) contributed to Western North Carolina’s identity as a flourishing site for pottery production and craftsmanship in the early 20th century. Walter B. Stephen Pottery: Cameo to Crystalline features art pottery and functional vessels from each stage of Stephen’s career, from his origins discovering the medium alongside his mother Nellie C. Randall Stephen in Shelby County, TN from 1901 through 1910 to his multi-decade production just outside of Asheville. This exhibition will be on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s Debra McClinton Gallery July 28, 2021 through January 17, 2022.

In 1926, Stephen founded his third and last pottery studio, Pisgah Forest, in Arden, NC, which he operated until his death in 1961. It was at this studio that the artist perfected the “cameo” decoration technique for which he became best known. His hand-painted images, achieved with layers of white translucent clay, often feature American folk imagery, from covered wagons and livestock to cabins and spinning wheels. A selection of works from the Museum’s Collection showcase his innovation in form and in decorative surface details, including experimentation with crystalline glazing.

Weaverville Library Used Book Store
Dec 17 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Weaverville Library

The Friends of the Weaverville Library (FOWL) are excited to announce the opening of their used bookstore in Weaverville on Thursday, July 8. Located in the lower level of the Weaverville Library at 41 N. Main St., the store will be open Thursdays 1-5 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m.-2 p.m., with expanded hours beginning in September. The store is stocked with thousands of books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs, and more. All adult books are priced at $1.50-$3.00, children and teen books at $1.00-$1.50, audio and video at $2.00.

There is also a bargain-priced area and a collection of special finds that are priced individually. Please feel free to contact us at 828-641-1812 or [email protected]. All proceeds from the store will benefit the Weaverville Library.

ART BREAK A Living Language
Dec 17 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Jeff Edwards (Cherokee Nation), Tsalagiopoly, 2013, archival inkjet print on paper, 30 × 24 inches. Courtesy the Artist. © Jeff Edwards, image Jeff Edwards.

Today’s Art Break is led by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator.

ART BREAKS

Drop in to one of our lunchtime Art Breaks! Taking place on selected Fridays at 12pm, these informal gallery talks and presentations both inform and engage you in dialogue with our staff, docents, or special guests.

Blown Glass demonstrations with Andrew Montrie
Dec 17 @ 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Appalachian Craft Center

We will have a blown glass demonstration by Andrew Montrie on Friday’s 1 PM until 5 PM.

Appalachian Craft Center has been located in downtown Asheville for forty years. We sell crafts from over 150 artists. Appalachian Crafts sells pottery, rugs, toys, jewelry, glass, and wooden utensils.

The Hop releases Bountiful Cities Series Sweet Potato Candied Pecan Ice Cream
Dec 17 @ 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The Hop- various locations see below
An Online Store Release!
The Bountiful Cities Series consists of regular, small-batch ice cream flavors made with ingredients grown and harvested from the local elementary school FEAST gardens! It is also meant to be a tool to help promote the food-related programs for the schools/students in Asheville and Buncombe County.
What is the newest flavor?
Sweet Potato w/ Candied Pecans

North Asheville

640 Merrimon Ave
Asheville, NC 28804

828.254.2224

More Info »


West Asheville

721 Haywood Rd
Asheville, NC 28806

828.252.5155

More Info »


Downtown Asheville

S&W Building
56 Patton Ave
Asheville, NC 28801

More Info »


Black Mountain

114 Cherry Street
Black Mountain, NC 28711

828.357.5461

More Info »


The Creamery

167 Haywood Road
Asheville, NC 28806

828.774.5058

More Info »

‘HOLIDAY’ HEY ASHEVILLE TOUR
Dec 17 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
LaZoom

Start your new holiday tradition with LaZoom! Our top rated Hey Asheville Tour gets an extra dose of holiday cheer for the season. We’ll laugh all the way as the purple bus roams the historical streets of Asheville as you learn new holiday traditions, and meet colorful characters that are sure to bring joy to the world.

Historical and hysterical, The Hey Asheville tour features outrageously entertaining tour guides, outlandish comedy skits complete with special appearances and loads of Asheville information. You’ll get to see the best of downtown Asheville and the rarely seen but stunningly beautiful Montford neighborhood, not to mention the burgeoning River Arts District! You’ve never had a ride like this. It’s like a vaudeville show on wheels!

Find out what makes Asheville so unique on LaZoom’s City Comedy Tour. It’s the perfect mix of history, comedy, and entertainment. Our guides are trained professional actors working with an original script. It’s like a theatre on wheels! The tour highlights downtown Asheville, historic neighborhoods, the South Slope, and the River Arts District.

COLLEGE STUDY HALL
Dec 17 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Grind Coffee House

 Mon-Fri from 2-5pm. You have access to high speed internet, work space and HALF-OFF pastries when you present your college ID.

Holiday Giving Mobile Drive at Heritage at the Peak
Dec 17 @ 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Heritage at the Peak

TBC Rewards

Sharing Life. Saving Lives.

OAKS Afterschool Program
Dec 17 @ 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Oakley Community Center

OAKS Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
September 7-December 17, 2021 | Monday-Friday | 2:30-5:30pm
An inclusive recreation program designed to support rising 1st5th graders and their families. OAKS will provide homework
assistance and opportunities to play through a variety of activities
and field trips. Participants will benefit from lower child to
staff ratios, continuation of scholastic goals (as applicable),
and individualized treatment plans (facilitated by LRT/CTRS
and program staff). Participants who cannot meet eligibility
requirements may attend with a 1:1 worker.
Location: Oakley

On Golden Pond a Readers Theatre Showcase
Dec 17 @ 2:30 pm
Asheville Community Theatre

On Golden Pond

Tickets are not on sale yet. Please check back closer to the event date.

Only Ethel has found the key to humoring and being supportive of her husband, Norman, a disagreeable and difficult retiree. When their grown daughter, Chelsea, visits them at their vacation cabin on beautiful Golden Pond along with her new fiance’ Billy Ray, and his son Billy Ray Jr., she hopes that Billy Ray Jr. and Norman will bond. As for Chelsea, she tries to repair the long strained relationship she’s had with her aging father before it’s too late.


Friday and Saturday performances are held at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performances are held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. All shows at 2:30 pm.


Please come prepared to wear a mask for the entire performance. Masking requirements at ACT may change based on the recommendation of federal and/or state health officials; please check our website for ACT’s most up-to-date masking policy. **Reuter Center at UNCA may have different masking requirements than ACT, please check the UNCA website for venue policies.**


All sales final. No exchanges or returns.

Asheville Parks and Rec Afterschool Programs: Afternoon Adventures
Dec 17 @ 2:45 pm – 6:00 pm
Asheville Area

Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 2:45-6pm
K-6th graders.
Does your child enjoy having fun and making new friends? Offering
arts, crafts, special events, homework assistance and more!
Families currently enrolled in the school system’s reduced or free
meal program, please contact your recreation center for discount
fee information.
Locations: Burton, Grant, Montford, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee

Daily Meditation + Support
Dec 17 @ 3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Online w/ Awakening Asheville

Hosted by: the Buddhist Studies Institute

FREE – ONLINE – 30 MINUTES – DAILY
🌺Guided meditation support and community🌺

🌸Stabilization and Liberation:
In order to liberate our minds– we need stable calm.

🌸Consistency & Commitment:
Stabilizing in calm clear presence takes consistent training.

🌸Support & Community:
Daily Meditation is a container and support for your meditation focus.

Expand your meditation circle- join us online any day or every day!

Formerly known as 100 Days of practice to support a Tibetan Yogis tradition to practice 100 days in the winter, this has now been expanded to continue daily. To learn more and register: https://buddhiststudiesinstitute.org/100-days-of-practice/

What we’re about

COVID-19 UPDATE: An email was sent out to Awakening Asheville advising all in-person meetups should be postponed or moved to virtual attendance only. Please contact hosts with any questions. Thank you, and be well! Courtney

We are an LGBTQ+ BIPOC safe spiritual group that enjoys the coming together of community lightworkers sharing our journeys. We offer meditations, healing energy, and many different workshops. Come join us!

Get your photo with Blanta
Dec 17 @ 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
LEAF Global Arts
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Dec 17 @ 3:00 pm
Asheville Pizza Brewing Co

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BE ONE OF THE FIRST IN WNC TO SEE IT!

THE MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Superhero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.  (Running Time = 2 hours 30 minutes)

Montford Pre-Teen Afterschool Program
Dec 17 @ 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Montford Community Center

Montford Pre-Teen Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021 – June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
5th-6th graders.
New program designed to meet the needs of your pre-teen.
Providing time dedicated to school assignments, life skills, arts,
communication, leadership, fitness, nutrition, and loads of fun.
Location: Montford

Teen Leadership Program
Dec 17 @ 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Asheville Area

Teen Leadership Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
6th-9th graders.
Looking for a cool and enriching alternative for your Teen to attend
this school year? We offer creative activities, diverse projects,
field trips, and more.
Locations: Grant, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee

“Mini Market” Holiday Pop-Up at the Highland Brewing Downtown Taproom
Dec 17 @ 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Highland Brewing Downtown Taproom
Ballet Conservatory of Asheville Presents THE NUTCRACKER
Dec 17 @ 4:30 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

BCA Nutcracker Banner

A magically festive, full-length Nutcracker, featuring professional classical dancers and the Ballet Conservatory’s celebrated pre-professional company. A full production with impressive sets and costumes.

A young girl’s holiday dream comes true. Having crept downstairs at midnight to play with her new Nutcracker doll, Clara is swept up in a fantasy of toy soldiers, giant rats, snow fairies, magic and mystery. After saving her beloved Nutcracker from the King of the Rats, she is whisked away to an enchanted land and dances the night away, meeting a host of enchanting and exotic characters.

Asheville’s Winter Wonder Walk – A Family Holiday Event
Dec 17 @ 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Adventure Center of Asheville

December 10, 11, 17, 18, and 19th.

The Winter Wonder Walk transports you inside a winter storybook where our actors bring to life the wonderful world of Winterland, and set you on a quest to find Jack Frost. Your senses will be dazzled by this completely immersive experience. After the Winter Wonder Walk Trail, a warm cozy festival tents welcomes you back to Mrs. Clause’s Kitchen with Cookies For A Clause, kids activities, a stocking stuffer market with local vendors, and concessions.
For more information, visit www.winterwonderwalk.com.

Our Memories Making Meals program will donate 4 meals to MANNA Foodbank from each ticket. Memories Making Meals is a continuation of The Haunted Trail’s BOO To Hunger program which has donated 38,400 meals in 2 years. Have a memorable family friendly night out while supporting MANNA Foodbank!

The Winter Wonder Walk is produced in collaboration with Asheville Plays!, the creators of The Haunted Trail, The Conundrum, and The Adventure Center of Asheville. We are excited to bring you another treasured part of your family’s holiday tradition.

For more information, visit www.winterwonderwalk.com.

Festival of Lights at Lake Julian Park
Dec 17 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Lake Julian Park

Image result for Festival of Light lake julian

Tickets must be purchased online this year. Your ticket is valid for a one-time use any night of the festival; tickets are not date-specific.

  • $10 for personal vehicles (standard cars/vans)
  • $25 for sprinter vans, trailblazers, and conversion vans
  • $50 for buses and motorcoaches
  • 20% of the proceeds benefit Special Olympics Buncombe County

Lake Julian Festival of Lights has become a tradition for many mountain families and visitors. Visitors are invited to watch the lights twinkle over the lake and listen to their favorite seasonal tunes while driving through the magical wonderland.

Lake Julian Festival of Lights takes place nightly from December 1-23 from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Please check our Facebook page for information on closings due to winter weather.

Winter Lights at The North Carolina Arboretum
Dec 17 @ 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

Winter Lights returns to the gardens November 19-January 1

Tickets are now sold PER VEHICLE, not per person.

We are thrilled to announce that the 2021 Winter Lights holiday event will welcome members and guests back into the gardens as it returns to the traditional outdoor walk-through open-air show format. The famously tall 50-foot lighted tree and the Quilt Garden will be back, outfitted with new designs in lights, while throughout the gardens, popular arrangements will mingle with ones never seen before.

You can find everything you need to know about Asheville’s Brightest Holiday Tradition at the tabs above, and be sure to secure your tickets now.

We hope you will join us this holiday season!

 

Winter Lights is the Arboretum’s largest annual fundraiser, and supports many parts of its mission driven programming.

Christmas Concert with Melissa McKinney
Dec 17 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
LEAF Global Arts
SILENT DISCO: EVERYBODY’S SANTA PARTY
Dec 17 @ 6:30 pm
Rabbit Rabbit

Ticket price includes one set of wireless headphones.

The Montford Moppets: A (slightly chaotic) Christmas Carol!
Dec 17 @ 6:30 pm
Wesley Grant Southside Center

Our best rising stars are still going and are bringing you this seasonal classic. This year it’s the Moppets own interpretation of Dickens’ well-known story, and they are keen to bring you something that’s great fun for the whole family.

This year, a cast of 10 youth actors will randomly draw their roles for each performance just before showtime, giving every audience a fresh take on the heart-warming holiday tale every time!

This one’s going to be GREAT!