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.
Member Mixers a great way to learn more about a fellow downtown business and they provide an opportunity to get to know other members. Plus, you’ll get the inside scoop on what’s going on with the Asheville Downtown Association, upcoming events and projects we’re working on. All while enjoying delicious food, beers from Asheville Pizza and Brewing and wines from the Weinhaus!
The Down the Hatch Festival at Highland Brewing Company begins with an afternoon full of live music, the latest in outdoor and fly-fishing gear, great food and world-class beer, and a chance to watch the best of the best showcase their skills in the Orvis Guide Olympics. As evening falls, follow the crowd into Highland’s taproom to take part in a screening of the celebrated Down The Hatch Film Festival! Proceeds from ticket sales and a fifty cents from each beer pull go to the Land O’ Sky Chapter of Trout Unlimited and their efforts on several local stream conservation projects.
Each film festival ticket includes entry into an incredible raffle… and when we say raffle, we don’t …
A fundraising 5k that all proceeds will benefit the Fuente de Vida Ministry in Honduras that rescues girls, ages 2-18, from abusive homes and educates these young girls.
Race will go on rain or shine
Race is not timed but does have a time limit of 1 hour and 15 minutes
The race will start at 9:30am but packet pick up and paper registration will start at 8am.
Charity event: NO Refunds
Asheville is a known power center for the Craft Brewery Revival, which is why we are excited to partner with Hi-Wire Brewing to bring you an unique 8k chip timed race through the Heart of Asheville.
- 8k Race starts at South Slope Tasting Room and finishes at the Big Top Brewery in Asheville, NC
- Music and Beer Festival 10:00AM-2:00PM
- Free Pilsner Glass and custom metal coaster to all finishers.
- Lawn game zone with Cornhole, Life Size Beer Pong and Kan Jam
- Beer specials all afternoon.
- Food Truck festival at the finish line!
Don’t miss out on the only 5K race in Asheville that ends with a Falafel sandwich. Run with us on Sunday, April 15 at 10 am at the Asheville Jewish Community Center at 236 Charlotte Street! A local favorite, the Falafel 5K was voted one of WNC’s BEST road races in the 2015 Mountain Xpress “Best of WNC” poll. All registered participants for the 5K will receive a race shirt (unless the t-shirt free option is chosen).
Come on out to West Asheville on Monday Nights for Contra Dancing and Waltzes from 7:30 PM to 9:45. No partner needed just bring yourself. $7 or more.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com
Manna Food Distribution every third Tuesday at 2:30pm
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: BC Sports Park – 58 Apac Cir, Asheville, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com
Welcome Table Free Meal every Wednesday 11:30am-1:30pm
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com
Leicester History Gathering, meets every 3rd Thursday of the month at 7pm. Different local history topic discussed each month.
Come on out and Contra Dance with the Old Farmer’s Ball. Free lesson starts at 7:30 PM and the dance starts at 8.
Join NRC for a fun weekend of Clinics and Competition in the discipline of Freestyle. This event is designed for people of all ages and abilities and will offer advanced as well as beginner categories. Saturday will offer clinics to paddlers covering the rules, offering handy competition tips, and allowing time for practice runs to prepare for the event. Both days will consist of competitions with high end judges, great prizes, and fun for all. If you are and NRC member or volunteer, contact the race directors for a discount code.
This run benefits the Hall Fletcher Elementary PTO and Physical Education department.
Event details and schedule
The 5K race begins promptly at 9 AM on Saturday, April 21, 2018. The Kids Fun Run begins at 8:30AM. Runners should meet at Carrier Park in West Asheville (220 Amboy Rd, Asheville, NC 28806).
Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.
Join NRC for a fun weekend of Clinics and Competition in the discipline of Freestyle. This event is designed for people of all ages and abilities and will offer advanced as well as beginner categories. Saturday will offer clinics to paddlers covering the rules, offering handy competition tips, and allowing time for practice runs to prepare for the event. Both days will consist of competitions with high end judges, great prizes, and fun for all. If you are and NRC member or volunteer, contact the race directors for a discount code.
Run for the Paws is the only 5K in Western North Carolina where dogs aren’t just allowed, they’re invited! Join hundreds of animal lovers and their four-legged friends as we run and walk to raise money for pets in need.
We’re excited to be at Carrier Park in Asheville for the 7th Annual Run for the Paws event! Participants can choose to compete in the chip-timed 5K or stroll in the one mile walk. Afterwards, relax with us and enjoy the afternoon on the Carrier Park lawn with food vendors, music and fun activities.
All proceeds raised from the Run for the Paws event goes directly to the life-saving programs run by Brother Wolf Animal Rescue.
Organic Growers School is pleased to announce a screening of the award-winning documentary Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry for the 5th annual Earth Day Film event on April 22, 2018 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Asheville Campus in downtown Asheville. The event is by donation at the door. There are no advanced sales or reservations required.
Look and See is a cinematic portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America in the era of industrial agriculture, as seen through the mind’s eye of writer, farmer, and activist, Wendell Berry. Filmed in and around the rolling hills of Henry County, Kentucky – where Berry has lived and farmed since the mid-1960’s, filmmaker Laura Dunn skillfully weaves Berry’s poetic and prescient words with gorgeous cinematography and the testimonies of his family and neighbors, all of whom are being deeply affected by the industrial and economic changes to their agrarian way of life.
The beginning of the film describes the transformation of small-scale farming into an industrialized food system, with just 4% of the population producing food for all. Berry states that “when the people disappear, the values disappear with them. With the transformation of farming into an industrial system, it has lost its appeal and connection to the land.”
In a 2016 interview with Laura Dunn in The Bluegrass Situation, Dunn asserts that “there’s a huge disconnect between urban and rural … You can buy all the organic food you want at Whole Foods, but if you have a total disregard for the culture where that food is made, there’s a degradation of the people, there’s a degradation of the land, and ultimately, your consumption is not going to have any effect, if the economics are such that people think they can’t farm.”
Often called “a prophet for rural America,” Berry has long been a voice for the communities that are so often overlooked by the media. LOOK AND SEE subverts biopic conventions and immerses audiences into Berry’s world, providing a space for talking about the land and those who sustain it.
Following the film, Organic Growers School will host a panel of our region’s leading organic farming and environmental activists to discuss the film’s relevance to Western North Carolina. The panel will be emceed by local filmmaker and activist, Hannah Furgiuele. Follow the links to learn more about each of our panelists and the important work they are doing.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: BC Sports Park – 58 Apac Cir, Asheville, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com
Welcome Table Free Meal every Wednesday 11:30am-1:30pm
Highland Brewing Company in Asheville
Gather your friends and family for FREE live music at Highland Brewing Company for the release of their newest seasonal brew, Highland Stargazer White Ale. Highland will donate $1.00 per pour at the release party to the SAHC, to support ongoing conservation efforts across the region. Stop by our table to ask questions or check out our “For Love of Beer & Mountains” merchandise!
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com
Community Roast Beef Supper prepared by Steve Roberson. Plates are $8, kids under 5 eat free.
Phone: 828-774-3000
Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.
Celebrate spring in the Smoky Mountains with a free, family-friendly event in the Nantahala Gorge. Don’t miss the NOC 8 Ball Race and gear raffle, demos, and specials at NOC’s Outfitter’s Store.
This year’s Spring Fling will feature a carnage-filled 8 Ball competition! We will run competitors in heats of six from the NOC Founder’s Bridge to the Old Highway Bridge on the NOC Campus. There will be three 8 ball paddlers scattered along the course trying to stop the racers progression downriver. We will take the top competitor from each heat and run them all against each other in the final heat to determine the top 3 paddlers and champions of the NOC Spring Fling 8 Ball Race. The awards ceremony will take place after the final heat is completed.
To read more about what an 8 Ball Competition is all about, click here.
Scheduled releases of the Cascades and Upper sections of the Nantahala River round out this Bryson City weekend. Free NOC shuttles will run from the commercial Nantahala put-in from 9:30am – 3:30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: Charles Owen Park – 875 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org
$10 for Kids 15 and under. Prizes awarded for the Most fish caught, the largest fish and the smallest fish.
Local Food Truck on site
registration is the day of the event. Registration will be open 7:30am
Come out to Nantahala Outdoor Center to hear some of NOC’s Stories, shared by founder and author Payson Kennedy, along with several co-authors. This book describes Nantahala Outdoor Center’s history, with a focus on the first 25 years, a time of explosive growth in whitewater sports and instruction. These stories have become NOC’s legacy, and this book is an attempt to collect and make sense of them. However, the book also features a very human element, a tinge of adventure that sets it apart from your standard history text. The stories in this book, in addition to their historical value, offer a testament to the experiential aspect of working at NOC.
Revelry Unique Downtown Events and Carolina Music Planner are proud to present Upland Drive with The Moon and You. The Asheville Masonic Temple’s theatre is a truly awe-inspiring space. It’s intimate, seating 400, but carries historical significance and charm. We hope that you experience the true feeling of an era gone by, and join us for a night of entertainment in the heart of downtown Asheville.
Doors will open at 7pm. Tickets are available online for $10 via EventBrite (plus processing fee), and will be $15 at the door, cash or card.
The show will begin at 7:30pm.
This is an all ages show. Beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase.
Upland Drive is a provocative and edgy Asheville-based band with an inspired take on a variety of genres including rock, reggae, jazz, and hip hop. Fueled by the intoxicating sound of the cello and nuanced with soulful vocal harmonies, Upland Drive creates an inviting soundscape full of rich detail, poetic lyricism, adventurous harmonies, and inventive structure. Featuring singer/songwriter/cellist Franklin Keel, vocalist Debra Darling, composer/bassist Ryan Kijanka, and drummer/trumpeter C. Scott Shaw, Upland Drive presents virtuosic and venturesome live performances with a fresh musical approach.
The Moon and You is an Americana duo based in Asheville, NC. Cellist Melissa Hyman and guitarist/banjo player Ryan Furstenberg sing in “voices that sound like they were made for one another” (Bill DeYoung, Connect Savannah). Each is an accomplished songwriter with a distinctive and memorable style. Though they bring to the table the seamless vocal blend and heartfelt lyrics characteristic of folk music, this ain’t your basic folk duo; audible influences include jazz standards, classic country, indie rock and classical music. All of these sources combine to find sweet harmony in The Moon and You’s warm and unconventional arrangements. Perfect for fans of Shovels & Rope, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and Norman & Nancy Blake
Oakley United Methodist Church, 607 Fairview Road in Asheville
A feast for the eyes as well as the ears, the highly decorated instruments of Joachim Tielke will be featured on this concert of virtuoso viola da gamba duos from 18th-century Germany.
Asheville Baroque Concerts’ artistic director Gail Ann Schroeder, and Annalisa Pappano from Cincinnati’s Catacoustic Consort, will be joined by harpsichordist Barbara Weiss to perform this exciting program of works by Johannes Schenck, Johan Gottlieb Graun and Christoph Schaffrath.
Tickets: $5-$25
Purchase here: http://panharmonia.org/product/april-29-chiaroscuro-asheville-baroque-concerts/
The Haen Gallery, 52 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville
Come downtown in the calm of a Monday evening, enjoy a glass of wine with snacks and incredible art before the concert (doors open at 6:45). Iconic harpist Jacquelyn Bartlett and flutist Kate Steinbeck combine their expressive music mastery to create a program of sweeping sensations with music by GF Handel, Osvaldo LaCerda, Henk Badings, Dana Wilson and Witold Lutoslawski. Bassoonist Rosalind Buda will join in trios by Adrienne Albert and Andre Jolivet.
MUSIC – ART – WINE
Seating is very limited for this special concert. Don’t wait too long to purchase your tickets, this event is likely to sell out.
Tickets: $5-$25
Purchase here: http://panharmonia.org/product/april-30-asheville
Easy, expensive parking is available across the street under the Aloft Hotel.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: BC Sports Park – 58 Apac Cir, Asheville, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com
Community Art Nights – First Tuesday of each month. Different project each month. For Children and Adults.