Nantahala Outdoor Center’s premier Mountaintop Zip Line Tour takes the heart-pounding intensity up a notch when it’s under the night time sky! On dates near a full moon, NOC offers limited trips on this stunning Moonlight Mountaintop Zip Line Tour.

Zip under the night sky while taking in the sights and sounds of the calm Blue Ridge Mountains. NOC’s expert aerial guides use glow sticks to signal you, and you use glow sticks to paint the night sky. This adventure truly feels magical.

NOC’s Moonlight Mountaintop Zip Line Tour consists of two-miles of mountaintop-to-mountaintop zip lines, culminating in the heart-pounding 1/2 mile Mega Zip underneath the stars – silhouetting stunning 360-degree views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Highlights

• NOC’s Moonlight Mountaintop Zip Line is an unparalleled experience of mountaintop-to-mountaintop zips under a full moon.
• Glow sticks are used by Aerial Guides to signal you forward through the course.
• Participants use glow sticks to paint the star-filled sky.
• The 1/2 Mile Mega Zip is the true gem of the trip – offering silhouetted 360-degree views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the starry night sky.

What to Expect

Please check-in for your trip 30 minutes prior to your reservation at the Adventure Deck. All guests should have prior zip lining experience. Once being fitted for equipment, guests will shuttle to a ground school where they will receive instructions on how to use glow sticks to signal with the Aerial Guides. Guests will be required to demonstrate proficiency in zip lining including breaking.

OUTPACE HUNGER

FEED PEOPLE AND YOUR PASSION!

What Is Outpace Hunger?

Looking for a way to make a real impact this spring and summer? Feed people while pursuing your passion through Outpace Hunger, an action-based fundraising campaign that turns a favorite activity into meals!

For decades, MANNA FoodBank has been working to outpace hunger and food insecurity all across 16 counties of Western North Carolina, including the Qualla Boundary. The 2022 campaign runs May 1 through September 30, and we invite you join the growing community of folks who are Outpacing Hunger alongside of us!

How It Works

Participating in Outpace Hunger is easy!

You decide your level of commitment, so every participant can create their own path to helping provide food to our community. Participants also decide how, when, and where they complete their goal, any time now through the campaign end on September 30.

Outpace Hunger participants:

(1) Register to be a part of MANNA’s Outpace Hunger community. The $20 registration fee includes a t-shirt for you and provides 80 MEALS for neighbors facing food insecurity in WNC.

(2) Choose a favorite activity (run, walk, roll, stroll, hike, bike, paddle, climb, float, skate, golf, and everything in between!) to complete individually, or as a family/group/team.

(3) Set a goal to reach. This can be an activity-related goal, a fundraising goal, or both.

(4) Invite friends and family to support your fundraising efforts through your own, personalized Outpace Hunger webpage.

Whether running a 5K, walking your neighborhood, hiking the Mountains to Sea trail, or paddling the French Broad River, Outpace Hunger participants play a vital part in ensuring our WNC neighbors have access to healthy food. 

READY TO OUTPACE HUNGER WITH US?

REGISTER NOW!

ALREADY AN OUTPACE HUNGER PARTICIPANT?

VISIT YOUR PAGE

 NEED MORE INFORMATION?

OUTPACE HUNGER HOW-TO GUIDE

ReUse Contest Guidelines

WHEN
The contest begins on August 1, 2022 and ends on September 30, 2022. Winners will be announced in October.

WHO
Anyone! (Except employees of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity)

WHAT
The Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore is hosting the 11^th annual ReUse Contest to showcase innovative building projects constructed predominantly of used building materials.

Winners will be selected in the following categories:

• Furniture: $200 ReStore gift card
• Homesteading (i.e. chicken coop, raised bed): $200 ReStore gift card
• Live and/or work space: $200 ReStore gift card
• Art: $200 ReStore gift card
• Home Decor: $200 ReStore gift card
• Vans & Vehicles: $200 ReStore gift card
• Best in Show: $500 ReStore gift card

Winners will be announced in a press release, on Asheville Habitat’s website and social media pages, and featured in the Asheville Habitat ReStore.

OTHER DETAILS

• Entries must be submitted electronically using the form provided.
• Projects should have been completed within the last 2 years.
• You may submit up to three separate projects (individually).
• Re-submission of a project submitted in previous years will not be accepted.
• Incomplete entries will not be considered.
• Questions? Email [email protected].

JUDGING
There will be 5 judges, assessing entries based on:

• Quality of design and execution
• Replicability of concept
• Clarity of description
• Quality of photos (if we can’t see it well, we can’t judge it fairly)

Celebration and education of Blue Ridge Mountain culture, arts, & nature.
jacksonartsmarket.com for more information

Visitors to the Asheville Gallery of Art will be able to view Anne Marie Brown’s show from September 1st through September 30th.

Anne Marie Brown started her career as a florist in New Jersey in her 20’s. “I owned a shop with a boyfriend who was into houseplants, and I loved flowers! I would do an arrangement and fall so in love with it, that I would do a small watercolor of it.” Many careers later, Anne Marie again picked up a brush and started painting when, as a realtor in Florida in 2007, the market tanked. “I’m not sure how I started painting again, I guess it was sheer boredom.”

She started doing outdoor art shows with the Delray Art League in Delray Beach, Florida. And to her surprise and delight, the pieces were selling. Thus started a 10 year journey of the outdoor art circuit. She attended shows all over Florida, and eventually started travelling up the east coast.

“I went from watercolor to acrylic, and finally to oil. By the time I got to oil painting, I had moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and started participating in plein air events.” The rolling mountain ranges were exceptionally inspirational to her after all the ocean scenes she’d been exposed to. “I went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway in October, 2014, and that was it! I had to move here!”

Anne Marie’s first and strongest passion is painting, particularly flowers and landscapes. “I also create needle felted animals, and do jewelry work in silver, but painting is my first love, and I devote most of my time to it.” She has won numerous awards, participated in multiple juried shows, and even ran an artists’ cooperative in Delray Beach called “The Arts Arena”.

Now, her heart is settled within these Blue Ridge Mountains, and she hopes that the scenes that touch her heart, will touch yours, and thus, the circle is complete!

Anne Marie’s artwork can be found under “Fine Art by Anne Marie Brown” on Etsy, Fine Art America and Facebook and her website is www.anne-marie-brown.pixels.com

Fall registration is open for Youth Inline Hockey played at Carrier Park. Learn to skate and play or jump in with the kids who can. Registration for new players ends 9/12. Goto website for details on our organization www.ashevilehockey.org

Free rental gear for first year players. (See website for details) $120 fee. 10-week session 1 practice – 1 game per week

Evaluations for players with experience is 9/7 at 6pm Carrier Park Hockey Rink. (Next to Basketball Courts)

A great community of hockey families at Carrier Park, come join the fun!

ince 2003, the Bearfootin’ Art Walk has helped raise funding for Downtown Hendersonville and a variety of local non-profits. In addition to raising funds, the bears offer a window into good work being done by community organizations in Henderson County.

The Bearfootin’ Bears arrive as blank slates before local artists transform each in a spectacular fashion, with creative themes ranging from Mona Lisa to Blue Ridge Mountain scenery. After the “Reveal” event in early May, the bears then take up residence in downtown Hendersonville for the duration of the summer and fall, up until auction. Participants bid during the auction to raise funds for local non-profits and Downtown Hendersonville. Winning bids up to $3,000 are split evenly between the downtown program and the nonprofit chosen by the sponsor, while bid amounts exceeding $3,000 are directed entirely to the non-profit. In 2021, the Bears raised more than $100,000, and in 2022 we hope to continue the tradition of giving.

The Omni Grove Park Inn, an award-winning, 513-room resort set in the idyllic Blue Ridge Mountains just minutes from downtown Asheville, N.C., is celebrating The 30th National Gingerbread House Competition™, which is the nation’s largest, hosted at the resort annually. Beginning July 6, 2022 the competition registration is officially now open here through November 14, 2022. The competition will be held and winners will be announced on November 21, 2022.

New elements for The 30th National Gingerbread House Competition™ include:

• Introduction of 10th Judge, Ashleigh Shanti, chef/owner of Good Hot Fish & 2020 James Beard finalist.
• Addition of six brand-new specialty awards and increased prizes (60% increase to years past) across the four age categories, which include Best Use of Sprinkles, Most Unique Ingredient, Longest Standing Competitor, Best Use of Color, Pop Culture Star, Most Innovative Structure, and Best Use of Spice.
• All registered competitors will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite piece of the entire competition to determine the winner of the new People’s Choice: Best in Show award.

The full press release announcing the official rules and entry forms can be found here and below, and a highlight reel and hi-res imagery from last year’s competition can be found here. Please let me know if you will consider the news on behalf of The Omni Grove Park Inn!

Since 1977, the North Carolina Arts Council’s Grassroots Arts Program (GAP) has provided North Carolina citizens access to quality arts experiences. Using a per capita based formula, the program provides funding for the arts in all 100 counties of the state through partnerships with local arts councils. The Grassroots Grant Program is made possible by the Grassroots Arts Program of North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources, and Buncombe County Government.

The Grassroot Arts Program provides programmatic and operating support for nonprofit arts organizations in Buncombe County. Grants for FY23 will range from $2,500-7,500 dollars depending on the size of the organization. The deadline to apply is September 15, 2022.

Multicultural programs and organizations located outside of the City of Asheville will receive special consideration. To be considered a multicultural organization the mission of the organization must be focused on supporting African American, Asian American, Latino, or Native American cultures. For a program to be considered multicultural it must be conducted by artists, ensembles, or organizations of color.

Over the past two years, artist-researcher, community organizer, and Center for Craft grant recipient, Macon Reed has built Hello Death, Where Have You Been All My Life? an immersive installation that harnesses the social function of ritual space to reflect, process grief, heal, and envision alternative futures.

Listen. Dance. Feel the music and that will answer, “Why the “Legends of Africa?” Africa is the core and essence of where so much of humanity and music has originated. It has forever influenced music and cultures throughout the world with the diaspora of its people. Over the years, LEAF has connected deeply with many African artists and presented artists from 32 of the 54 countries on the continent. These bonds and our love of Africa, bring us back the magic of not just the continent, but its people, our family. So join us for a true gathering of friends and the rekindling of traditions that have made the past 27 years of LEAF memorable.

“The shortest distance between two people is a story, a song, or a dance.”
Masankho Banda from Malawi.

Who is an African Legend you admire? Chinobay of Uganda said he’s been inspired by the music he listened to during Apartheid. He spoke of Miriam Makeba (nicknamed Momma Africa) a South African singer, songwriter and activist whose music was socially responsible and carried so much power for the people. What makes you a Legend is the MESSAGE you carry to the world.

In flow with Chinobay’s reflection, the artwork is a masterpiece created by legendary artist Trek 6 inspired by his work in South Africa while producing a documentary. Trek spoke about how the sunrises and sunsets in Africa were surreal, thus he began with a beautiful sun design.  A wall of drums in South Africa, where they host people from different tribes bringing food, song and art inspired the drums. In Trek’s own words, “Africa is cosmic, colorful, and the center to our past. From it we radiated.”We are honored by his artistic vision.

• Sale!

  

  Festival Weekend PLUS Pass

  $175.00 – $203.00

  October 20-23, 2022 *Must be purchased by LEAF Member* Thursday 4:30pm to Sunday 7pm including overnight tent camping.

• Sale!

  

  Festival Weekend Pass

  $135.00 – $159.00

  October 21-23, 2022 Fri 9am – Sun 7pm. Includes overnight camping

• Sale!

  

  Festival Community Pass

  $95.00 – $105.00

  Fri 4:30pm – 2am, Sat 9am – 2am, Sun 9am – 7pm. No overnights / camping. No Thu. access. Must have alternate overnight accommodations nearby

• Sale!

  

  Festival Saturday Pass

  $53.00 – $59.00

  Saturday, October 22, 2022, 9:00 AM to 2:00 AM. No overnight camping.

Nantahala Outdoor Center’s premier Mountaintop Zip Line Tour takes the heart-pounding intensity up a notch when it’s under the night time sky! On dates near a full moon, NOC offers limited trips on this stunning Moonlight Mountaintop Zip Line Tour.

Zip under the night sky while taking in the sights and sounds of the calm Blue Ridge Mountains. NOC’s expert aerial guides use glow sticks to signal you, and you use glow sticks to paint the night sky. This adventure truly feels magical.

NOC’s Moonlight Mountaintop Zip Line Tour consists of two-miles of mountaintop-to-mountaintop zip lines, culminating in the heart-pounding 1/2 mile Mega Zip underneath the stars – silhouetting stunning 360-degree views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Highlights

• NOC’s Moonlight Mountaintop Zip Line is an unparalleled experience of mountaintop-to-mountaintop zips under a full moon.
• Glow sticks are used by Aerial Guides to signal you forward through the course.
• Participants use glow sticks to paint the star-filled sky.
• The 1/2 Mile Mega Zip is the true gem of the trip – offering silhouetted 360-degree views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the starry night sky.

What to Expect

Please check-in for your trip 30 minutes prior to your reservation at the Adventure Deck. All guests should have prior zip lining experience. Once being fitted for equipment, guests will shuttle to a ground school where they will receive instructions on how to use glow sticks to signal with the Aerial Guides. Guests will be required to demonstrate proficiency in zip lining including breaking.