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.
Tuesday, August
4, 2020
Check the WILD book club’s Facebook page for COVID-19 related updates. Please RSVP the moderator at [email protected] for the Zoom meeting passcode for the meetings.
Join former Malaprop’s General Manager Linda-Marie Barrett for this woman-only book club that seeks to have fun by reading books (fiction & non) by women writers. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!
The club meets at 6:30 P.M. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Battery Park Book Exchange. It will be held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Event date:
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 – 6:30pm
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 – 6:30pm
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 – 6:30pm
Tuesday, November 3, 2020 – 6:30pm
Wednesday, August
5, 2020
Find locations around Buncombe County working hard to feed our community.
FOR STUDENTS: text FOODNC to 877-877 to locate nearby free meal sites. The texting service is also available in Spanish by texting COMIDA to 877-877.
View meal sites by geographical area, day of the week, and/or service type offered.
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Enjoy a relaxing 20 minute guided meditation with didgeridoo from Robin and Corey, recorded live from their home in Asheville.
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You don’t need to give up your fitness or workout routine just because COVID-19 has you spending more time at home. If you’ve got a library card and access to WiFi, it’s easy to stay active with digital resources. (If you need a new library card or renewal, call Ask a Librarian at (828) 250-4700 or follow these steps.)
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Free Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing For the Uninsured
The Brevard Music Center in association with the Pisgah Health Foundation announces a free drive-thru COVID-19 testing site exclusively for those on Medicare and those who are uninsured.When: Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 – 11:00 a.m. Testing begins on Wednesday, July 15.
Where: Brevard Music Center Main Parking lot (entrance on Music Camp Road off Probart Street)
Who: Testing available exclusively to those who are uninsured and those on Medicare. (Please note: This testing is not available to persons holding private health insurance or on Medicaid. Please consult your doctor for testing.)
Questions: For more information, visit our website or email [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Keystone Laboratory of Asheville will administer the COVID-19 tests and antibody tests, with results available within 96 hours.
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Buncombe County Public Libraries will begin offering appointments for computer use on July 1. Forty-five minute appointments are available 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays at all library locations except the Oakley/South Asheville branch.
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Due to Covid-19, we are live streaming Storytime in lieu of an in-store event. Join us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/malapropsbookstore/ to tune into Miss Malaprop’s Storytime from your home.
Join us with your wee ones every week on Wednesdays at 10 am for classic and contemporary stories sure to enchant and entertain. Together, we’ll introduce children to the wonderful world of books! Recommended for ages 3-9.
Event date:
Wednesday, July 29, 2020 – 10:00am
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 – 10:00am
Wednesday, August 12, 2020 – 10:00am
Wednesday, August 19, 2020 – 10:00am
This event is free but registration is required and attendance is limited. If you elect to attend, we will email you on the day of the event with the link and password required to attend on Zoom.
Karen Salyer McElmurray won an AWP Award for creative nonfiction for her book Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s Journey and the Orison Award for creative nonfiction for her essay “Blue Glass.” She has had other essays recognized as “Notable Essays” in Best American Essays, while her essay “Speaking Freely” was nominated for a Pushcart Award. She currently teaches at Gettysburg College and at West Virginia Wesleyan’s Low-Residency MFA. She will be in conversation with Abigail DeWitt, author of News of Our Loved Ones.
Like most of our events, this event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase the author’s book(s), we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work and keeping more dollars in our community. Thank you!
Thursday, August
6, 2020
Find locations around Buncombe County working hard to feed our community.
FOR STUDENTS: text FOODNC to 877-877 to locate nearby free meal sites. The texting service is also available in Spanish by texting COMIDA to 877-877.
View meal sites by geographical area, day of the week, and/or service type offered.
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Enjoy a relaxing 20 minute guided meditation with didgeridoo from Robin and Corey, recorded live from their home in Asheville.
|
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You don’t need to give up your fitness or workout routine just because COVID-19 has you spending more time at home. If you’ve got a library card and access to WiFi, it’s easy to stay active with digital resources. (If you need a new library card or renewal, call Ask a Librarian at (828) 250-4700 or follow these steps.)

VISIT:
https://thebloodconnection.org/outback/?fbclid=IwAR1atg5dOe3gxhuljqpCF1myxtpVmhy9iw-I60scxKkk_U69G-iZjO5fYCU to find your nearest location and timea!
Give back, Outback, repeat. Every Thursday during August, all blood donations made at a TBC Center will receive 400 reward points and a FREE Bloomin’ Onion voucher! You can also cash in those points for an Outback Steakhouse – National gift card and make it a whole meal! To find out more or to make an appointment: thebloodconnection.org/outback/
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Free Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing For the Uninsured
The Brevard Music Center in association with the Pisgah Health Foundation announces a free drive-thru COVID-19 testing site exclusively for those on Medicare and those who are uninsured.When: Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 – 11:00 a.m. Testing begins on Wednesday, July 15.
Where: Brevard Music Center Main Parking lot (entrance on Music Camp Road off Probart Street)
Who: Testing available exclusively to those who are uninsured and those on Medicare. (Please note: This testing is not available to persons holding private health insurance or on Medicaid. Please consult your doctor for testing.)
Questions: For more information, visit our website or email [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Keystone Laboratory of Asheville will administer the COVID-19 tests and antibody tests, with results available within 96 hours.
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Buncombe County Public Libraries will be opening three additional locations for curbside pickup service, the Fairview, Leicester, and Oakley/South Asheville branches. These locations will operate from 1-5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, in addition to our current curbside pickup service locations at the Black Mountain, North Asheville, South Buncombe, and West Asheville locations. For more information about library curbside pickup service or to place an item on hold for pickup, please call your local library or the Ask-A-Librarian line (828-250-4700) or visit buncombecounty.org/library. We hope to see you soon!
Opening day for ECTM at our new location at AB Tech Enka. We will be in the parking lot of the Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Road (across from Ingles, at the traffic light). Please share and invite your friends and family! We know this second season of ECTM is going to be amazing. Thank you for supporting local!
Vendors for 5/7:
Rainbow Ridge Gardens
Myseanica Farm
Bonny Bath natural body products
Whisk bakery
Saturnia Farm and Nursery
Jake’s Farm
Asheville Microgreens
Throwing Copper
Cornerstone Tea
Sustainabillies Nursery and Farm
Sister of Mother Earth herbal products
HeadShrink Farm heritage beef
The Real Molloy Food Truck
Sugar Whirled cotton candy – AB Tech Small Business featured booth.
*Many more vendors as the season goes on! Check out our website for a full list of vendors for the season. https://www.ashevillefarmstead.org/enka-candler-tailgate-market
COVID-19 Precautions:
To start, we will be holding fast to safety precautions listed below. As the CDC and NC governmental regulations soften, we will follow suit. Please know that we are making every effort to keep both our vendors and our community safe and well.
*No-contact payment: Tap’n’Pay , Venmo, Paypal payments only. No cash payments or card swipes will be accepted.
*Handwashing station upon entering Market
*Limited shopper numbers (car queue will be used, if necessary)
*1 customer at vendor table at a time
*Only touch what you are purchasing
*6ft Social Distancing required
*Masks highly encouraged. All vendors and Market staff will wear masks.
*No Music or Kids tent (yet)
*No craft/artisan vendors until non-essential businesses are allowed to open. We are hopeful this will be by June, or earlier.

Odie Lindsey is the author of Some Go Home and We Come to Our Senses: Stories. He received an NEA fellowship for combat veterans, holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MA from the University of Mississippi, and is writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt University’s Center for Medicine, Health, and Society. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He will be in conversation with Chanelle Benz, author of The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead.
Like most of our events, this event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase the author’s book(s), we ask that you purchase from Malalprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work and keeping more dollars in our community. Thank you!
Friday, August
7, 2020

Recognizing and understanding racism, and actively unlearning the everyday, built-in mechanisms of systemic racism is an ongoing effort that must be made by every single one of us. It can be difficult to navigate issues, origins, and solutions surrounding systemic racism, especially with so many different angles portrayed by the media.
There are countless truthful resources to help us find our way to social justice and equity. Here are just a few educational resources and ways to help our Black communities:
Educational reading:
The above photo has an excellent list of books!
Community:
Media:
Follow Black activists and voices on social media! Please reach out to us if you’d like suggestions on whom to follow.
Find locations around Buncombe County working hard to feed our community.
FOR STUDENTS: text FOODNC to 877-877 to locate nearby free meal sites. The texting service is also available in Spanish by texting COMIDA to 877-877.
View meal sites by geographical area, day of the week, and/or service type offered.
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Enjoy a relaxing 20 minute guided meditation with didgeridoo from Robin and Corey, recorded live from their home in Asheville.
|
|

You don’t need to give up your fitness or workout routine just because COVID-19 has you spending more time at home. If you’ve got a library card and access to WiFi, it’s easy to stay active with digital resources. (If you need a new library card or renewal, call Ask a Librarian at (828) 250-4700 or follow these steps.)

Health-e from Home is a free 8-week program designed to help you make a few small changes to your everyday health habits – and it can be done at home, or anywhere. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are evaluating the acceptability and usage of this free online program that is designed to help people who are spending more time at home due to COVID-19 build healthier habits. Those who join the study will receive access to weekly lessons and tailored feedback from the study team that will encourage small changes to their eating, small increases in activity, and simple activities to promote well-being. Participants will complete a brief, 20-minute survey at the beginning and end of the program, as well as weekly check-in questions to help the study team provide personalized feedback to help individuals meet their health goals. Those who are interested in focusing on maintaining or losing weight will also be invited to a private Facebook group to join other study members working to meet weight goals during the study. To learn more and find out if you are eligible to participate, please visit http://healthefromhome.org.
MANNA’s mission is to involve, educate, and unite people in the work of ending hunger, and an important part of this mission is advocating for those living in and experiencing the effects of poverty.
As a non-partisan organization, dedicated to sharing information about the issues affecting the people we serve together, MANNA does not endorse political parties or candidates. We simply ask people to work with our elected officials to make legislation that works for us all, and makes our region, our state, and our country stronger from the ground up.
If you are interested in receiving advocacy-related emails from MANNA FoodBank, please follow link. By clicking here, you are signing up to receive information from MANNA about ways you can use your voice, and actions you can take, to help work towards our vision of a hunger-free Western North Carolina.
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Buncombe County Public Libraries will begin offering appointments for computer use on July 1. Forty-five minute appointments are available 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays at all library locations except the Oakley/South Asheville branch.
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Join us a for a fun, socially distanced story time!
A brand new story time video will be posted every day. Keep checking back!
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The Hemp X Hot Box:Roll with us Fridays from 5-10pm as we coast a route through West Asheville and Downtown. Stops at UpCountry Brewing, One World Brewing West, Foggy Mountain, and The One Stop. We’ll have smokable and edible hemp products for purchase to enjoy alongside any wine or beer you bring yourselves (closed containers only). We’re happy to provide an affordable way for locals and visitors to Roll Up, Stay Safe and Party Down! Cruisin Asheville July 10th, July 31st, August 7th, August 21st. More dates to come!
Purchase Tickets on board! One Way Pass $3 and All Night Unlimited Pass $5
Private Rentals: Spark up your next Asheville area celebration with our personalized rental platform! We offer several packages at different price tiers to best cater to your party’s needs! Our team is dedicated to working with you to create an experience that will leave your guests (and your smoke) blown away!
The Hemp Xpress is dedicated to the safety of the Asheville community; public routes and experiences are operating at half capacity within social distance guidelines. Hand sanitizer is readily available to riders, and surfaces are regularly sanitized. Buncombe County requires a face mask be worn in public places.
Saturday, August
8, 2020

Recognizing and understanding racism, and actively unlearning the everyday, built-in mechanisms of systemic racism is an ongoing effort that must be made by every single one of us. It can be difficult to navigate issues, origins, and solutions surrounding systemic racism, especially with so many different angles portrayed by the media.
There are countless truthful resources to help us find our way to social justice and equity. Here are just a few educational resources and ways to help our Black communities:
Educational reading:
The above photo has an excellent list of books!
Community:
Media:
Follow Black activists and voices on social media! Please reach out to us if you’d like suggestions on whom to follow.
Find locations around Buncombe County working hard to feed our community.
FOR STUDENTS: text FOODNC to 877-877 to locate nearby free meal sites. The texting service is also available in Spanish by texting COMIDA to 877-877.
View meal sites by geographical area, day of the week, and/or service type offered.
Meet Brian Bullman of Carolina Hemp Company. What better way to kick back and relax and help keep your immune system up then with some local hemp. Brian tells us all about the newest additions to their lineup of immunity-boosting and anxiety-reducing hemp. Find out more by checking out the video.
See the video interview here!
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While we’ve all had to adjust to the “new normal” (whatever that is), our local business owners and managers each have their own story to tell about how they’ve been affected and what they are doing during these unprecedented times. Dig Local is proud to partner with our friend, Ann Smith, at Leap Frog Tours to interview some of the awesome folks who make Asheville, Asheville.
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As our community responds to COVID-19, our staff are monitoring the situation and working to bring you information and resources. Please watch this page for news updates and emerging resources.
COVID-19 Testing in Buncombe County
COVID-19 testing is suggested for people experiencing symptoms, those who have been identified as a close contact to a confirmed case regardless of symptoms, and for those who work in congregate living settings with concerns of a potential outbreak.
Testing is widely available at urgent cares, federally qualified health centers, and through some primary care providers for those who need it however, it remains important to focus on the prevention of COVID first and foremost to keep the virus from spreading further into the community and to loved ones.
FIND TESTING NEAR YOU:
If you DO NOT HAVE a healthcare provider who offers testing for COVID-19 and you need to get tested, there are several ways to find testing near you.
- Visit the Find My Testing Place website to find a clinic or pop up testing site near you.
- People in Buncombe County can access testing by completing the Buncombe County Self-Checker online to set up an appointment at one of the county’s open-air, drive-through sites. People can also call the Ready Team at (828) 419-0095 from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm., Monday – Friday to be pre-screened for testing at these sites.
- You can call the Buncombe County nurse line at (828) 250-5300 to find out where you can get tested (Press OPTION #1 to speak with a nurse) from 8 am to 5:30 pm.