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.
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Grindfest is BACK!
GrindFest is a free, 4-day festival that celebrates Black Business and entrepreneurship.
Grindfest is BACK! It is a free, 4-day event that celebrates the success of Black entrepreneurs + business owners in Asheville. A block-party style event will take place on 8 Rivers Arts Place! This includes a weekend full of music, games, live performance, food, local vendors + learning, employment and partnership opportunities. The goal of the festival is to highlight the progress made by people of color while also connecting folks in the community. A long weekend of fun and excitement
Over 30 sponsors will join together to celebrate this amazingly diverse and entertaining event. This year’s GRINDfest will showcase: ● World-renowned Slutty Vegan (Black, woman-owned vegan food truck recently featured in Essence Magazine) ● Curated Beer Garden by Highland Brewing ● Opportunity Tent featuring incentives, career development programs, grants, scholarships, and funding resources for businesses ● Food Trucks ● DJ Battle ● Poetry Slam ● Drag Show ● Outdoor Games ● Greater Asheville Cookoff (wings, chili, and BBQ categories); card games, and so much more!
The goal of the festival is to highlight the progress made by people of color while also connecting folks in the community. We will see you there! Let’s make HISTORY together!
NC DEACS Accepting Applications Now!
Last month DEACS launched a Multifamily Recycling Grant to support recycling at multifamily properties in North Carolina. Local governments, recycling businesses, and property management companies are all eligible to apply for funding. Grant funding can be used to purchase equipment and site developments to establish or expand recycling access for multifamily units. The maximum award is $250,000.
- Multifamily Recycling Grant Program – OPEN
This special grant program offers funding to initiate or expand multifamily recycling programs within the state. Eligible applicants include local governments, recycling businesses or non-profits, multifamily property owners, or multifamily property management companies. Grant funds may be used to purchase typical equipment needs to start or expand the collection of traditional household recyclables (paper, cardboard, metal cans, glass and plastic bottles and containers) from multifamily residences. Examples of eligible purchases include carts, dumpsters, collection vehicles, concrete pads, recycling corrals and education. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis with no due date. Approved grant applications will be funded in the order in which they are received until funding is exhausted.Download the Multifamily Recycling Grant request for proposals (RFP) by selecting one of the following links (PDF or Word). Please submit completed applications to Tara Nattress at [email protected].
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Once you start seeing all the plastics you use, you can’t unsee it.
You reach for your chips, your tube of toothpaste, or your plastic sandwich bags, and feel guilty that all that packaging will spend the rest of time in the landfill.
Us too.
Plastic is super light, but the average person throws away more than 110 lbs of it each year – the equivalent of almost 9,100 plastic soda bottles.
It’s too much. And we decided it doesn’t have to be that way.
We just have to get creative.
When we first started tracking our plastic waste, we challenged ourselves:
How little could we use?
Replacing plastic drink bottles with a reusable bottle was simple.
Keeping reusable shopping bags in the car to grab on the way into the store was also easy.
What’s the next level?
Join our Race2Reduce to find out!
Race2Reduce is your pledge to decrease your plastic use for the entire month of May.
Once you sign up HERE we will send you plastic tips, volunteer opportunities, and educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses!
But you won’t do it alone.
You’re joining a whole community of action takers opening their minds and kitchen pantries to plastic alternatives.
Plus there’s a little friendly competition…
How it works: Earn points to win a $75, $50, or $25 gift certificate to Ware, a local sustainability and refill shop in downtown Asheville.
5pts: Like or share a MYPM Instagram or Facebook post
10pts: Post (and tag us) or email us a video/photo of you using one of our plastic tips
15pts: Answer our Friday Trivia question
20pts: Post (and tag us) or email us a video/photo of you using one of our plastic tips
25pts: Lead your own trash clean up with GreenWorks’ supplies
Enter to win by pledging to reduce your plastic here.
(*Be sure to check the box that asks if you want to be in the running for prizes.)
Lots of plastics aren’t recyclable, and when we throw them “away,” they only go as far as the Buncombe County landfill off Panther Branch Road in Alexander.
So here’s the thing:
If you want to get in shape, no one else can do your push-ups for you.
If you want to feel awesome, no one else can choose your car dance song for you.
And if you want to protect your home and health from plastic pollution, no one else can choose to consume less plastic for you.
But we CAN do it together.
Over 400 residents participated in the last Mind Your Plastic May plastic reduction challenge – and together we diverted 6,750 lbs of trash from the landfill in just 30 days.
Will you help us break that record this year? Join here.
We’re proud that so many of our fellow Ashevillians are working to end their reliance on plastic! Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort, and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. Mind Your Plastic May 2022 is presented for the residents of the City of Asheville in partnership with the City of Asheville. #goingplasticfree.
Questions? Give us a shout at: [email protected]
P.S. It’s Mind Your Plastic May, which means we’re taking action to reduce plastic all month long!
Check out all our events and activities here: ashevillegreenworks.org/mind-your-plastic-may
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NC DEACS Accepting Applications Now!
Last month DEACS launched a Multifamily Recycling Grant to support recycling at multifamily properties in North Carolina. Local governments, recycling businesses, and property management companies are all eligible to apply for funding. Grant funding can be used to purchase equipment and site developments to establish or expand recycling access for multifamily units. The maximum award is $250,000.
- Multifamily Recycling Grant Program – OPEN
This special grant program offers funding to initiate or expand multifamily recycling programs within the state. Eligible applicants include local governments, recycling businesses or non-profits, multifamily property owners, or multifamily property management companies. Grant funds may be used to purchase typical equipment needs to start or expand the collection of traditional household recyclables (paper, cardboard, metal cans, glass and plastic bottles and containers) from multifamily residences. Examples of eligible purchases include carts, dumpsters, collection vehicles, concrete pads, recycling corrals and education. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis with no due date. Approved grant applications will be funded in the order in which they are received until funding is exhausted.Download the Multifamily Recycling Grant request for proposals (RFP) by selecting one of the following links (PDF or Word). Please submit completed applications to Tara Nattress at [email protected].
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Take your Business to the Next Level with the Mission Accelerator Program
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Companies in 2022 will face a business landscape disrupted by a pandemic: staffing issues, supply chain issues, new business models, shift in consumer purchasing patterns, revenue disruptions, and new applications of tech just to name a few.
The 2022 Mission Accelerator class can help organizations you know develop new tools and strategies to proactively successfully navigate the ever changing business environment that 2022 will be.
Registration is open through January 24th. The program begins January 26th and will meet every-other Wednesday from 8:30 am – 1 pm through June 1st. The cost for the program is $295.
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Not sure if your business could benefit from this program? Take the self-assessment below to rate your success.
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Blue Ridge Community College and the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce have partnered once again to offer the Mission Acceleration Business Accelerator, a five-month, ten-course program.
January 26, 2022
Business Best Practices and KPI (Key Performance Indicators) Checklist by Department Identifying Opportunities for Acceleration
February 9, 2022
Management and Leadership
February 23, 2022
Human Resources, Legal and Insurance
March 9, 2022
Capital and Purchasing
March 23, 2022
Competition and Competitive Advantage
April 6, 2022
Branding, Marketing and Sales
April 20, 2022
Customer Service and Information Technology
May 4, 2022
Business Logistics: Best ways to meet customer needs
May 18, 2022
Accounting and Finance
June 1, 2022
Business Acceleration Plan Presentation and Graduation
Sessions run Wednesdays, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. except 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on January 26.
Cost for the course is $295.
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What: Stand up Comedy at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge
When: Thursday 6.2.22. 8p-11p
Where: The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $15 (available at door or theorangepeel.net)
For More info: contact Michele at [email protected]
*** If time allows, there will be a (3m ea) comedy open mic after the show***
Stand up comedy featuring Kylie Vincent with special guest feature Andy Sanford with Tamar Rubin & Petey Smith McDowell. Hosted by Cody Hughes
Special guest: Andy Sandford is a comedian who got funny in Atlanta, moved to New York City, established himself as one if NY’s top tier comics and moved back to Atlanta in 2021 to record his latest album with 800lbs Gorilla Records. It’s called “Basket Case” and comes out June 10th. Andy has performed his jokes on Conan and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Andy’s debut album, Me the Whole Time; was one of Splitsider’s “9 Best Standup Albums of The Year.“ His hour special, “Shameful Information,” is currently featured on Amazon Prime. Sandford even played an animated version of himself on Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The Village Voice called him, “one of New York’s comedic gems;” a nice gesture, but not enough to keep him in New York. Andy is out of Atlanta now (sorry NY).
Kylie Vincent is a 22 year old stand-up, activist, and theater artist in New York City, currently traveling with her solo show BIRD and performing stand-up across the United States. New York audiences say Vincent is “a hilarious, thoughtful, badass” and BIRD is “honest, hilarious and tear jerking.” Vincent has sold out her solo show in Los Angeles (Lyric Hyperion Theatre), Austin (Fallout Theatre), & as a guest artist at LSU & Sewanee University. Other favorite credits include Adult Swim, NBC, Amsterdam Tour & headlining in Atlanta.
Host Cody Hughes is a comedian who cut his teeth in Chicago and Atlanta. He is now based out of West North Carolina and tours the Southeast. He has opened for Lewis Black, John Oliver and Maria Bamford among others and hosts the regular Slice of Life Comedy shows at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge.
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Tour Thatchmore Farm’s ingenious use of forested land into diverse agricultural opportunities, including mushroom, timber, and energy sources for greenhouse use. Hands-on work showing nursery cuttings and propagation of woodland species.
Join us to explore the world of forest farming during farm tours and workshops to develop an understanding of the wealth and history of woodland botanicals and forest products. Participants will dive into plant propagation and production, forest stewardship and observation, and alternative & value-added products. These tours will include hands-on workshops and site visits to offer beginning and advanced forest farmers valuable learning opportunities. Space is limited! Register today.
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Since 2012, the Appalachian Energy Summit (AES) — a three-day, annual event envisioned and hosted by App State — has gathered faculty, staff and students from colleges and universities, energy managers and visionaries, and government and industry leaders to share ideas and put into action ecological, financial and social processes designed to improve energy efficiency across the UNC System, the state and beyond. Support from sponsors and private donors has allowed participants to attend free of charge.
Throughout the year, working groups sponsored and supported by the summit continue to advance energy saving initiatives.
Listen to notable AES speakers
- Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute co-founder and chief scientist; 2013 AES.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a world-recognized environmentalist and energy policy expert; 2015 AES.
- Bill McKibben, a best-selling author and environmental activist; 2016 AES.
- McKibben and Lovins, an armchair discussion at the 2016 AES.
- Leith Sharp, director of executive education for sustainability leadership, Harvard University; 2017 AES.
- Michael Regan, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality; 2017 AES.
- David Orr, environmentalist, activist and the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics Emeritus at Oberlin College; 2017 AES.
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- Bryan Traylor, VP of Operations – Gaia Herbs
- Phillip Stokes, Director – Henderson County Salvation Army
- Brent Graves, CEO – Cane Creek
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| Business and community leaders come together for this crowning event of the Chamber year!
Join us Wednesday, June 8 at the Omni Grove Park Inn for an evening of celebration, honoring local business and community leaders and featuring two-time Paralympian John Register as our keynote!  John Register is a two-time Paralympian, Paralympic Games Silver Medalist, Persian Gulf War veteran, and TEDx Motivational Speaker. He embraced a “new normal mindset” in becoming an amputee following a misstep over a hurdle while training for the 1996 Olympic Games, after participation in two consecutive Olympic trials. Register teaches business professionals through his “Hurdling Adversity” speeches and podcasts to “amputate fear and embrace their new normal,” as they discover “stories within themselves.” He finds that “it is the personal stories that inspire teams more profoundly with greater impact.” We’ll also be presenting the following awards at our Annual Meeting:
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