From rescue vehicles and public works equipment to utility tractors and construction machines, community members have an excellent opportunity to “pull back the curtain” and learn about the equipment and skills required to maintain our cities and towns, foodways, and public safety systems when Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) brings Truck City AVL back to Asheville Outlets on April 15 from 1-4 p.m. This community event is open to the public and free to attend.

Kids and adults can sit in, explore, touch, and ask questions about their favorite trucks and cars in one place. A quiet hour (no horn honking) is scheduled from 1-2 p.m. to provide a positive experience for those with autism, dementia, PTSD, hyposensitivity, and other sensory considerations.

City of Asheville’s Fire, Parks & Recreation, Police, and Public Works departments plan to showcase several vehicles including a sweeper, excavator, and bearcat. Other unique vehicles including Blue Ridge Adventure‘s Mountain to Sea conversion van, a Humvee from the Army, Buncombe County’s emergency medical services vehicle, cranes from Asheville Arborists and Crane & Rigging Company, a concrete mixer from Carolina Ready Mix, and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s fish stocking truck will be on-site, among others. With over 30 vehicles, be sure to plan plenty of time to explore trucks of all shapes and sizes.

Asheville Outlets is located on 800 Brevard Road in Asheville. Truck City AVL takes place rain or shine in the back parking lot near the food court entrance.

Join a certified forest therapy guide for a relaxing 2.5-hour stroll through the forest on the peaceful Arboretum grounds. Through a series of invitations, you’ll have the opportunity to be present in the moment, deepening your connection with nature and community, and enjoying the many gifts nature has to offer. Your guide will share mindfulness practices designed to connect you more deeply to your inner landscapes, as well as the world around you. Inspired by Shinrin-Yoku, the Japanese art of immersing oneself in a forest environment, a forest bathing walk invites you to spend time in nature in a way that invites healing for ourselves, our fraught ecosystems, and our community. It is true nature therapy!

• Special, discounted rate of $45/person (includes parking!)
• Occurs on select dates each month
• Max group size is 15 for a more intimate experience

Hit the trails and learn more about The North Carolina Arboretum’s botanically diverse forest with a guided trail walk! April through October, this free hiking program is led by trained volunteer guides who take small groups of participants along woodland trails and through a variety of forest types. Depending on the season and each guide’s area of expertise, topics of discussion may include wildflowers, plant and tree identification, natural history and more.

Guided trail walks are limited to 15 people, including the guide, and are not recommended for guests under 16 years of age. Groups depart from the Baker Visitor Center Lobby on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m..

Walks last 1.5 – 2.5 hours, are approximately one to two miles in length. As this program is held rain or shine, all participants should dress appropriately for the weather.

There is no pre-registration; walks are first-come first served and sign up sheets are located in the Baker Visitors Center.

Walks are FREE; however, donations to The North Carolina Arboretum Society are appreciated. Regular parking fees apply. Arboretum Society Members always park free.

Know Before You Go

• Guided Trail Walks are not recommended for guests under 16 years of age.
• Guided Trail Walks are rain or shine and all participants should be dressed comfortably and for the weather.
• Hikes cover 1-2 miles and last 1.5-2 hours.
• Well-behaved leashed pets are welcome to accompany their owners. In the rare case that a pet is disruptive or negatively impacts the experience, the pet and its owner may be asked to excuse themselves from the guided walk.
• COVID-19 Safety: In order to hear the guide and fully participate in the trail walk, participants will be in close proximity to one another for extended periods of time. While face coverings are not required, participants should use their best judgement to keep themselves and others safe while enjoying the trails. Individuals who are experiencing flu-like symptoms or suspect they may have been exposed to COVID-19 should not participate.
• At this time, no more than 6 spaces may be filled by a single family/group through pre-registration for any one Guided Trail Walk. If additional spaces are available on the day of the Walk, additional members of the family/group may participate. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to welcoming larger groups in the future.

There’s no doubt that when it comes to rock & roll, the Rolling Stones define the genre and a generation. Jumping Jack Flash is considered by many to be the best Rolling Stones tribute band and has been wowing audiences for years performing on stages all over the world. Lead singer Joey Infante perfectly captures what it is about Jagger that makes him one of rock’s all-time icons.  Join us on the Rock and witness what made the original bad boys of Rock among the greatest showmen of their time. “…Jumping Jack Flash makes you feel that you are truly at a Stones concert.” –Music Arts Monthly

The 80’s tribute juggernaut brings the party to Forest City, NC presented by The Carolina Foothills Foundation! Expect eased hair, popped collars, fingerless gloves and a non-stop, high-octane cruise through time in this wild ride pulled straight from a page in your yearbook! Come see the new act that everyone’s talking about!

ALL PROFITS from this concert will go to the Carolina Foothills Foundation that supports elder care, youth development, and wellness in Polk and Rutherford Counties! Learn more at carolinaff.org.

The Best 80’s Tribute Band in WNC
#1 Guitarist – Mountain Xpress Best of WNC Readers Choice Award
#1 Best Thing to Happen – Mountain Xpress Best of WNC Readers Choice Award

RTS: The Good, The Bad, & The Guilty

Directed by Margaret Crowell

Friday and Saturday performances are held at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performances are held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Guilty is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

A Trio of One-Acts

What dramatic truths lie behind a woman’s strange laugh, a suitor’s palpitating heart, a whistle in the night, or an Irish ballad singer and a hundred pound reward? When will the small rise up and the big fall down? When will we all change places? Three one-act plays explore how we seek to embrace – or escape – the ties that bind us.

The Rising of the Moon by Lady Gregory
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
The Proposal by Anton Chekhov

David Wilcox brings his music to the beauty of Kanuga for what we think is a perfect combination of creation and spirit. Join us in our unique listening room set in our beautiful chapel on 1,400 acres of beauty. Ticket holders are invited to make a day of their visit to Kanuga by hiking the property, bring a picnic for lunch or rock in the rocking chairs of our porch overlooking the lake. Kanuga’s listening room is the perfect container for listening to the stories that David shares through his music, those stories of connection reminding us that we do not walk alone in this journey. Guests are encouraged to arrive early for a wooded walk around Kanuga Lake or a hike. Certified service animals are welcome.

Wanna hear the best local music ​and​ drink the best local beers? Hop aboard LaZoom’s Purple Bus and rock out with a local band while we take you on a journey to Asheville’s premiere local breweries.

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
– RAIN OR SHINE

GARCIA PEOPLES

Formed in New Jersey by guitarists Tom Malach and Danny Arakaki, the band took a few years to find their flying shape, solidifying into a lineup with Danny’s brother Cesar on drums and Derek Spaldo on bass by mid-2016. Ramping up their acceleration around the time of their 2018 Cosmic Cash debut on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records, they’ve blasted through residencies and new songs and sessions and collaborations, relocating to New York, picking up two new members in keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Pat Gubler and bassist Andy Cush, and leaving a trail of live tapes in their wake. This year, they’ve delivered not one but two new albums for BBiB: the sleek and song-oriented Natural Facts and the sprawling improvisatory opus of One Step Behind. 2019 also saw the first performances by the full Garcia Peoples lineup, a six-person behemoth with Spaldo on third guitar.

With a stash of live recordings accumulating at the Live Music Archive, Garcia Peoples’ music is very much a living entity. Since the release of their previous two albums, songs have started to expand, jam suites have grown, and experiments have been undertaken. The first part of 2019 has seen Garcia Peoples back Philadelphia guitarist Chris Forsyth (an expanded Solar Peoples Band has hit double-drummer overdrive several times now), and joined with guitarist Ryley Walker. They’ve improvised on WFMU, and jammed with the sounds of ocean waves and falling rain at strange late night happenings. Probably something else new and wonderful and weird has happened in the Garciaverse since I wrote this.

Whether or not you thought you knew Garcia Peoples’ music, One Step Behind is something new and beautiful, for new heads and old. No matter where you stand–behind, beyond, or another plane altogether–One Step Behind is ready. For those about to get on the Bus, we salute you.

Chris Forsyth

DIFFERENT STROKES! PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

THREE SIX NINE MONOLOGUE AND SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL features a curated selection of original pieces written by emerging Black Playwrights, primarily from our emerging Black Playwright’s program, A Different Myth. Join us for nine evenings of heart-warming, dramatic, funny, heart-breaking, and provocative short plays and monologues. Three Six Nine features represents 3 weekends, 6 short plays, and 9 monologues. No two weekends will be the same, and neither will you. Join us as we mix and match 12 pieces over the course of 90 minutes on 9 very different evenings.

April 6-8, 2023
April 13-15, 2023
April 20-22, 2023
at 7:30 p.m. each evening

Edvard Tchivzhel, conductor
John Wickey, harp
BRITTEN Soirées Musicales
RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez
R. STRAUSS Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite

John Wickey began his professional music career as a child with the Michigan Opera Theatre Children’s Chorus. At the suggestion of management, he was encouraged to study piano with Albert Fillmore with the goal that he would one day become a conductor of the company.

The idea of conducting was never realized, as John took up the harp after seeing Detroit’s Cass Technical High School Harp & Vocal ensemble perform at a local concert. He became enamored of the harp and after two years of study at Cass Tech, with Patricia Terry-Ross, John was awarded a full tuition Dean’s Scholarship from Boston University to work with Lucile Lawrence, one of the preeminent harp pedagogues of our time and co-author of the Salzedo Method Book.

John Wickey holds a diploma in piano performance from the Detroit Community Music School, a Bachelors in Harp Performance from Boston University and a Masters from the University of Michigan where he studied with Lynne Aspnes.

John currently serves as Principal Harpist with the Greenville Symphony and is on faculty at Converse College and Anderson University. He performs regularly throughout the southeast region, most recently with Pan Harmonia, a series centered in Asheville, NC.

There’s no doubt that when it comes to rock & roll, the Rolling Stones define the genre and a generation. Jumping Jack Flash is considered by many to be the best Rolling Stones tribute band and has been wowing audiences for years performing on stages all over the world. Lead singer Joey Infante perfectly captures what it is about Jagger that makes him one of rock’s all-time icons.  Join us on the Rock and witness what made the original bad boys of Rock among the greatest showmen of their time. “…Jumping Jack Flash makes you feel that you are truly at a Stones concert.” –Music Arts Monthly

FISH
By Cyndi Williams
Directed by Ashleigh Goff

When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy and the present.

In this Tony Award® winning comedy by Christopher Durang, middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha. Hilarity, a bit of pathos, and just a touch of Chekhovian ennui ensue as the family, neighbor, boyfriend, and housekeeper navigate the complexities of their relationships.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language
COVID protocol: masks still required in the theatre during the performance

By Christopher Durang

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.

Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old resentments flare up, eventually leading to threats to sell the house. Also on the scene are sassy maid Cassandra, who can predict the future, and a lovely young aspiring actress named Nina, whose prettiness somewhat worries the imperious Masha.

Discretionary Content: Adult themes and Language

Darko Butorac, conductor

Amit Peled, cello

Deeply rooted in American orchestral music is a sense of triumph over adversity. DuBois’ exploration of We Shall Overcome embodies that powerful and unifying sentiment. Followed by Herbert’s inspirational Cello Concerto No. 2, witness the dawn of American symphonic music with Dvořák’s New World Symphony, a uniquely American masterwork inspired by Native and Black melodies. 

Darko Butorac, conductor

Amit Peled, cello

Experience musical creativity with no bounds. Blind since birth, this renowned singer-songwriter lives in a world of sound, singing with the passion of the best classic soul singers and playing guitar with the instrumental chops of history’s most accomplished jazz musicians. As someone who has never experienced the world visually, his interpretation of his surroundings is limitless — and that comes through with unworldly vibrance in his work.

Skinny Puppy: Final Tour