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.
Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Art & Culture,Entertainment,Family
Contact: Concierge Desk
Contact Phone: (828) 252-2711
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/things-to-do/tours
Our guided history tour covers the history of E.W. Grove, the construction and early years of the Inn, our Arts and Crafts style furniture, and some of our most notable guests.
Sign-up at the Concierge Desk.
Join Studio Zahiya for an old school dance workout class. Get sweaty and start your Saturday with lead and follow dance fitness with Lisa Zahiya and DJ M.p. Pride at The Orange Peel.
All levels
Phone: (828) 250-6488
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Story Time for Kids
Age Group: Preschool – (ages 3-5)
Location: 260 Overlook Rd. – Asheville
Library: Skyland / South Buncombe
Preschool story times are geared towards 3-5 year-olds and include singing, stretchers, and creative activities.
Phone: 828-250-4756
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Story Time for Kids
Age Group: Toddler – (ages 18 mos.-2 yrs.)
Location: 105 N. Dougherty St. – Black Mountain
Library: Black Mountain
Toddler Times are lively interactive story times for children ages 18 months to 3 years.
Phone: (828) 250-6486
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Story Time for Kids
Age Group: Toddler – (ages 18 mos.-2 yrs.)
Location: 101 W. Charleston Ave. – Swannanoa
Library: Swannanoa
Toddler Times are interactive story times for children ages 18 months to 3 years.
Phone: (828) 250-4754
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Story Time for Kids
Age Group: Baby – (ages 4 mos.-18 mos.)
Location: 749 Fairview Rd. – Asheville
Library: Oakley / South Asheville
Mother Goose Time is a lively language enrichment story time serving our youngest folks–the 4 month-old to 18 month-old set.
Phone: (828) 250-6480
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Summer Reading Programs
Age Group: School Age – (grades K-5)
Location: 1561 Alexander Rd. – Leicester
Library: Leicester
Join The Mad Scientists from Hands On! Museum and investigate the world beneath our feet. Learn how to identify rocks & minerals and their properties. Discover the rock cycle and the mineral treasures found in North Carolina. This program is free but registration is required. (ages 5 and up)
Phone: (828) 250-6482
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Story Time for Kids
Age Group: Toddler – (ages 18 mos.-2 yrs.)
Location: 41 N. Main St. – Weaverville
Library: Weaverville
Toddler Times are interactive story times for children ages 18 months to 3 years.
Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Family,Recreation,Wellness & Fitness
Contact: Golf Pro Shop ext. 1034
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/golf
Let our golf professionals open the world of golf to you. This introduction to the game of golf is a clinic that covers the basic rules, etiquette, and the PGA’s of golf (posture, grip, and alignment). Clubs will be provided. Proper golf attire is required. Please sign-up at least one (1) day in advance by calling (800) 438-5800 ext. 1034.
Event Type: Local Event
Event Category: Family
Contact: Grovewood Village
Contact Phone: 828.253.7651
Link: https://www.grovewood.com/
Grovewood Village is housed in the historic weaving and woodworking complex of Biltmore Industries, a noteworthy enterprise in the history of American Craft and textiles, founded by Edith Vanderbilt and two inspired teachers, Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale. At the height of its success in the late 1920s, Biltmore Industries had a total of 40 looms in steady operation, producing bolts of some of the finest handwoven wool fabric in the country. Orders were shipped as far as China and Uruguay, and customers included the likes of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Helen Keller, and several U.S. presidents and first ladies.
Learn the story of Biltmore Industries on a guided history tour, offered Wednesday – Saturday at 1pm during April – November. The tour includes a visit to our historic Dye House (usually closed to the public), where you’ll peek into the past and view the original looms, carding machines, spinning mule and dye vats used to make the famed Biltmore Handwoven Homespun. Tours last approximately 45 minutes and operate on a first-come, first-served basis, open to 25 people. Meet your guide at the Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum next door to Grovewood Gallery.
TOURS ARE FREE, but donations are greatly appreciated.
Private Group Tours
We gladly offer private group tours for a fee. These tours offer the exact same experience as the public tours, only in a private setting. Contact us for rates, and please schedule your group tour at least one week in advance.
Please Note: Our historic Dye House (Biltmore Industries’ production facility) is not handicap accessible or heated. Warm attire on cold days and comfortable walking shoes are strongly recommended.
Phone: (828) 250-6488
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Book Club
Age Group: Adult
Location: 260 Overlook Rd. – Asheville
Library: Skyland / South Buncombe
This month we are reading God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Please join us!
Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Art & Culture,Culinary,Family,Recreation,Wellness & Fitness
Contact: http://notastelikehome.org/
Contact Phone: (828) 209-8599
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/things-to-do/resort-activities/wild-food-adventures
Learn how to safely gather, prepare, and serve wild mushrooms, plants, and other extreme cuisine with No Taste Like Home. Discover the bounty nature provides on the beautiful Sunset Mountain Trail, located adjacent to the Historic Main Inn. Deliver your found ingredients to our Guest Services desk upon returning to The Inn and our chef will create a personalized, complimentary appetizer just for you.
Phone: (828) 250-4738
Email: [email protected]
Event Type: Summer Reading Programs
Age Group: Family – (children of all ages)
Location: 902 Tunnel Rd. – Asheville
Library: East Asheville
Space is limited. Please sign up for your free ticket at the East Asheville Library. Call 250-4738 or visit our branch for more information.
Join Defenders of Wildlife for our summer Wildlife Workshop & Walkabout to learn about bats — which species live in our region, why they’re important, and how we’re addressing the conservation challenges they face.
Special guest presenter: Nina Fascione, Defenders’ Vice President of Philanthropy and former Executive Director of Bat Conservation International
At the workshop we will build bat boxes to install on the campus New Belgium Brewing Company, which abuts the west shore of the French Broad River and provides great bat habitat!
Because bats are nocturnal, our walkabout will start just before dusk when bats become active and will include the identification of other nocturnal creatures like moths and insects. You won’t want to miss it!
WORKSHOP
Thursday, July 19, 5:30pm-7:00pm
Asheville Museum of Science
43 Patton Ave., Asheville, NC 28801
Light refreshments provided
WALKABOUT
Saturday, July 21, 8:00pm-10:00pm.
Sandy Bottom Preserve
Parkway Crescent, Arden, NC 28704
For questions and to register, please contact Tracy at [email protected].
Before it was Fletcher, it was Murrayville. The Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County is pleased to host a program about the history of a small town with a colorful past, to say the least!
Our speaker and historian, Brenda Coates, tells of the 18th C founding Murray family that helped form what is now Fletcher. Coates is the author of At the End of Road the Journey Begins: How the Murray Clan Shaped the Character of Western North Carolina. She will bring the town’s rich history alive – starting from pioneer life and the stagecoach Inn, where Howard’s Gap Road intersected the Buncombe Turnpike. The tale turns tragic with a limestone mine cave in, touches on a mysterious hanging and taps into what makes Fletcher special.
This presentation is scheduled for July 19th, starting at 5:30 at the old Feed and Seed store, located at 3715 Hendersonville Road in Fletcher. The doors open at 5:00, and the program begins with a half hour of Appalachian and blue grass music by Brian Hunter and Friends. Brenda’s talk begins at about 6:00 pm.
The old Feed and Seed store is an example of active and successful historic preservation. Now the home of the Feed and Seed Church, the site was the former Fletcher Supply Company, built in 1919 by the Youngblood family, and was the “heart of downtown Fetcher” for many years. Pastor Phillip Trees of the Feed and Seed Church saw the site’s potential and appreciated its history.
Pastor Phillip recruited volunteer labor to rehabilitate the building for worship space, preserving the hardwood floors and hammered tin tiles on 12 foot ceilings. The space now hosts community gatherings for family-friendly regional and bluegrass music, and also clogging dances on Friday and Saturday nights.
Everyone is invited to this upcoming PSABC event. While admission is free, a $10 donation helps support local preservation.
The focus of the program will be Appalachian culture and history as it relates to our area. Barnwell will share photographs and stories of meeting folks from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee who are involved with traditional farm life, crafts, and music. Using images of people and places made over the past 35 years from his three Appalachian-themed books, The Face of Appalachia: Portraits from the Mountain Farm, On Earth’s Furrowed Brow: The Appalachian Farm in Photographs, and Hands in Harmony: Traditional Crafts and Music in Appalachia, the program will depict scenes of daily life such as farming, hunting, religious activities, people working with oxen and horses, making traditional crafts, and playing old-time music.
Tim Barnwell is a photographer and author based in Asheville, North Carolina, and is one of the most published photographers in the South. He has been a principal or contributing photographer to dozens of books and is the author of five of his own: The Face of Appalachia: Portraits from the Mountain Farm, On Earth’s Furrowed Brow: The Appalachian Farm in Photographs, Hands in Harmony: Traditional Crafts and Music in Appalachia, Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas: A Comprehensive Identification Guide to What you See from the Many Overlooks, and Great Smoky Mountains Vistas: A Guide, with Mountain Peak Identifications, for What To See and Do in and Around the National Park.
Julia Roberson is the vice president of communications for The Ocean Conservancy. Her passion is taking complex issues that affect our ocean and figuring out how to make them real and relevant to people. Her favorite sea creatures? On any given day it could be oysters, fishermen or manta rays. This lecture will find connections between the global systems that define our ocean and mountain ecosystems.
This event is limited to 165 guests. Cost is $20 for general admission and FREE for Bridge Club members.
To register, email [email protected], or call (828) 733-2013.
Come cheer on the Tourists!
Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Couples,Entertainment
Contact: (800) 438-5800
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/dining/elaines-dueling-piano-bar
Join the non-stop, rock n’ roll, sing-along party show at Elaine’s! Doors open at 8:00 pm, show starts at 9:00 pm.
Sign up at door, or you can reserve a spot and/or get more info spot by emailing:
[email protected]
Named by USA Today as one of the Top Twenty Festivals in North Carolina, Folkmoot is a ten-day event, held across the mountains of Western North Carolina in Waynesville, Clyde, Lake Junaluska, Maggie Valley, Canton, Cherokee, Franklin, Hickory, Asheville, and Hendersonville. The 2018 festival dates are July 19 – 29 and feature cultural ambassadors/dance performing groups from Ghana, Italy, Czech Republic, Mexico, Venezuela and Northern Cyprus, Thailand and local Appalachian and Cherokee dancers and musicians.
Tickets are now on sale for all performances and can be purchased at Folkmoot.org, in person at the Folkmoot Friendship Center, or by calling 828-452-2997.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Asheville Habitat ReStore at 31 Meadow Road near Biltmore Village is encouraging residents to show off their creativity and talent for a chance to win in the ReStore ReUse Contest. Garden shed, artist studio, chicken coop…tree house, playhouse, tiny house…if you recently built a structure like this using predominantly reused building materials, Habitat wants to know. The contest runs July 1-August 31 and submissions must be sent electronically. Information and entry form will be available on ashevillehabitat.org starting July 1 st . The purpose of the contest is to showcase innovative building projects constructed predominantly of used building materials. “Our customers often tell us about the projects they make using materials purchased at the ReStore. This contest is a great way to showcase their projects and inspire others to reuse, recycle and repurpose usable materials,” said Scott Stetson, ReStore General Manager. Five judges will select winners in the following categories: Furniture, Homesteading, Live and/or Work Space, Home Décor, Youth (age 16 and under), and Best in Show. Winners will be announced in mid-September.
While having school supplies may simply be an item on the ‘to-do’ list for many parents and guardians, for others, the calculator that their child needs, or a backpack without last year’s broken zippers, may not be in the cards. 
These parents—and especially their children—should not have to worry about heading into school without the necessary supplies. This is why the United Way has this drive and, by contributing the supplies our students need to succeed, we’re investing in the future of our community. Together we are stronger. United, we make a difference. #BackpacktotheFuture.
This year’s 2018 school supply drive will be July 9th trough July 27th. If you visit www.handsonasheville.org/
Students at the Visual Arts Preschool at Roots + Wings School of Art and Design engage with pre-K education fundamentals through a dynamic, arts based curriculum. Literacy, numeracy, social skills, community building, cultural and environmental studies are approached through an art and design thinking lens, as students explore learning concepts experientially across multiple platforms.
The Roots + Wings Visual Arts Preschool ‘Best of 2018’ collection is a cross section of the diverse pre-K education program and includes investigations into art movements, community and culture, storytelling, and creative play.
You liked last year’s hit production of Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Music of the Night? You’ll love this celebration of top Broadway Blockbusters from Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Wicked, Newsies as well as classic hits from the Golden Age of the Great White Way.
Matinees: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00PM
Evenings: Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30PM. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00PM
Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage
2661 Greenville Highway Flat Rock, NC 28731
The Biltmore Estate has been planning the largest exhibition in its historic gardens for almost a decade. And finally, last week, Chihuly at Biltmore opened with a mega installation of glass sculptures from the famous artist Dale Chihuly. Tens of thousands of glass pieces from all around the world reside in 14 locations around the Estate (which is the very first large-scale N.C. Chihuly installation).
The exhibition is up from now until Oct. 7th, free admission with a Biltmore day pass (and free for annual pass holders). Chihuly at Nightis a special, ongoing event where the glass sculptures are lit up, plus live music in the gardens + a wine bar. Tickets are $37.50 for kids + range from $65 – 75 for adults ($10 discount for pass holders).
Three new works were blown just for Biltmore, and 6 new compositions were put together.
The Asheville Area Arts Council is excited to announce Contemplative Art in an Age of Distraction, a new exhibit curated by local photographer Susanna Euston.
Contemplative Art in an Age of Distraction will consist of large, fine art photographs paired with three-dimensional works to create a unified whole—an artistic gestalt. Euston aims to provide a meditative and contemplative atmosphere to transport the viewer from today’s turmoil to a place of peace. Seating will be made available in the large gallery to allow viewers to sit and meditate on the scenes before them.
Participating artists include four photographers—Susanna Euston, Matthew Kraus, Bonnie Cooper and Rick Daley—joined by potter, Steven Forbes-deSoule; Ikebana artist Lynn Forbes; glass artist, Rob Levin; and fiber artist, Paige Houghton.
Join them on Friday, July 6, 2018, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Asheville Area Arts Council’s Thom Robinson and Ray Griffin Exhibition Space to celebrate the opening of the exhibit. Artist talk will begin at 6:30 pm.
arth Skin is based upon the forms and textures of the earth using inspiration from aerial photography of Western North Carolina and topographical maps of local areas, including Pisgah National Forest and Balsam Range. Created by ceramic artists Trish Salmon and Crystal Allen, Earth Skin includes wall structures and pieces designed for mantles, shelves and tables. All works are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will be donated to The North Carolina Arboretum Society.
About the Artists
Trish Salmon
Trish has been studying clay for many years through the various classes available to her when she lived in the Atlanta area. Taking classes at Penland was a life changing experience and a turning point in her desire to become a studio ceramicist. She and her husband moved to Western North Carolina in 2007, and she has pursued her claywork full time after her career as a kitchen designer. Immediately after retirement, she enrolled in Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program in clay where she received her Associate’s Degree in 2014. She currently is a member of the Odyssey Coop Gallery in the River Arts District in Asheville, NC. She is also a founding member of Artisans on Main in downtown Weaverville where her studio is and where her work is primarily displayed.
Crystal Allen
Before discovering ceramics, Crystal earned a degree in Graphic Art and Design. She has also taught calligraphy, dabbled in watercolors and and learned how to felt, dye and spin natural fibers from her own llamas and sheep. Most recently, Crystal completed the Professional Crafts: Clay Associates degree at Haywood Community College. Her pottery is primarily functional, with altered or hand built additions. Her pieces are produced in her studio, one of her favorite places on earth!
Asheville, NC—Momentum Gallery in downtown Asheville is pleased to participate in the Summer of Glass, a WNC celebration of glass art in conjunction with the Dale Chihuly exhibition at the Biltmore Estate, May-October 2018. The gallery exhibition, Reflections (July 1-August 25) nods to the Gilded Age, a period during the late 19th Century when the Biltmore Estate was conceived and constructed by railway tycoon George Vanderbilt. This curated exhibition features recent work by some of the country’s top contemporary glass artists with many of the works in the collection speaking to Vanderbilt’s aesthetic of opulence, grandeur, and beauty. Other conceptual pieces examine concepts of memory and history, referencing the “downstairs” or “behind the scenes” of the palatial mansion as well. Sophisticated sculptures and stylish wall pieces incorporate a variety of glass techniques and explore the intricate detailing, ornamentation, and drama indicative of the Gilded Age. This Exhibit is free and open to the public.
Reflections includes works by: Thor & Jennifer Bueno, Amber Cowan, Jennifer Halvorson, Alli Hoag, Joanna Manousis, Andy Paiko, Kit Paulson, Pablo Soto, and Tim Tate.