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.

Bringing Black back to the Block: Noir Collective AVL

Dec 10 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Noir Collective AVL LLC

Noir Collective AVL located in the historic Black business district, referred to as The Block, is a Black-owned boutique shop and art gallery featuring Black entrepreneurs. Noir Collective AVL is a community network of wellness warriors, creative activists, and social justice visionaries, cultural keepers and peace makers. We believe that in order to achieve collective liberation, our community needs to focus on opening greater opportunities for access, especially economically, that has been historically denied to African Americans and other people of color. Noir Collective AVL supports Black Liberation through Arts, Culture, and Kinship by featuring the wares of local and regional artists, designers and craftspeople. Our mission is simple, Bringing Black back to the Block.

Entrepreneurs will have products and information on hand:

Jewelry. Original Art. Tea. Shea Butter. Prints. Black Soap. Cards. Books.

& Featured services:

Realty. Exercise & Fitness. Landscaping. Catering. Heritage Tours and more.

We have open spots for Makers and Creatives!

Categories: Community Holiday Market

Weaverville Library Used Book Store

Dec 10 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Weaverville Library

The Friends of the Weaverville Library (FOWL) are excited to announce the opening of their used bookstore in Weaverville on Thursday, July 8. Located in the lower level of the Weaverville Library at 41 N. Main St., the store will be open Thursdays 1-5 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m.-2 p.m., with expanded hours beginning in September. The store is stocked with thousands of books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs, and more. All adult books are priced at $1.50-$3.00, children and teen books at $1.00-$1.50, audio and video at $2.00.

There is also a bargain-priced area and a collection of special finds that are priced individually. Please feel free to contact us at 828-641-1812 or [email protected]. All proceeds from the store will benefit the Weaverville Library.

Categories: Bookclubs Community Market

COLLEGE STUDY HALL

Dec 10 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Grind Coffee House

Mon-Fri from 2-5pm. You have access to high speed internet, work space and HALF-OFF pastries when you present your college ID.

Categories: Community Education

OAKS Afterschool Program

Dec 10 @ 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Oakley Community Center

OAKS Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
September 7-December 17, 2021 | Monday-Friday | 2:30-5:30pm
An inclusive recreation program designed to support rising 1st5th graders and their families. OAKS will provide homework
assistance and opportunities to play through a variety of activities
and field trips. Participants will benefit from lower child to
staff ratios, continuation of scholastic goals (as applicable),
and individualized treatment plans (facilitated by LRT/CTRS
and program staff). Participants who cannot meet eligibility
requirements may attend with a 1:1 worker.
Location: Oakley

Categories: Community Family Fun

Asheville Parks and Rec Afterschool Programs: Afternoon Adventures

Dec 10 @ 2:45 pm – 6:00 pm

Asheville Area

Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 2:45-6pm
K-6th graders.
Does your child enjoy having fun and making new friends? Offering
arts, crafts, special events, homework assistance and more!
Families currently enrolled in the school system’s reduced or free
meal program, please contact your recreation center for discount
fee information.
Locations: Burton, Grant, Montford, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee

Categories: Community Family Fun

Montford Pre-Teen Afterschool Program

Dec 10 @ 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Montford Community Center

Montford Pre-Teen Afterschool Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021 – June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
5th-6th graders.
New program designed to meet the needs of your pre-teen.
Providing time dedicated to school assignments, life skills, arts,
communication, leadership, fitness, nutrition, and loads of fun.
Location: Montford

Categories: Community Family Fun

Teen Leadership Program

Dec 10 @ 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Asheville Area

Teen Leadership Program
Pre-registration required. FREE for the 2021-2022 school year
August 23, 2021-June 3, 2022 | Monday-Friday | 3:30-6pm
6th-9th graders.
Looking for a cool and enriching alternative for your Teen to attend
this school year? We offer creative activities, diverse projects,
field trips, and more.
Locations: Grant, Shiloh, Stephens-Lee

Categories: Community Family Fun

Holidaze for Habitat: A Community Concert to Help Build Homes, Communities, and Hope

Dec 10 @ 5:00 pm

The Orange Peel

WNCW is proud to announce our Holidaze for Habitat show, benefitting Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. Featuring The Freeway Jubilee, Abby Bryant & The Echoes, The Darren Nicholson Band, Jeff Sipe’s Electric Buddha, Travers Brothers and Friends, Webb Wilder, and our headliners Acoustic Syndicate. Come enjoy a great night of live music from 7 amazing bands, as we all come together to support a great cause in our community.

Categories: Benefit Community Food & Drink Holiday

The Local Kitchen: A Virtual Workshop with Sunil Patel

Dec 10 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

online

Join us for our next free educational workshop focusing on ways to set yourself and your kitchen up to be as local and seasonal as possible.

Topics:
What is the mindset and approach to
eating local and seasonal at home? Strategies and tips to make an
efficient Local Home Kitchen.
How to affect social and food systems change through your home kitchen.

Categories: Community Education Food & Drink Health & Wellness

Candlelight Stroll Weaverville

Dec 10 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Weaverville

Join the Town of Weaverville on Friday, December 10th, from 6-9 pm as we celebrate the spirit of the holiday season in a small town way. Main Street will be lined with luminaries and alive with music and entertainment. Stroll through our shops and restaurants, take a horse and carriage ride through town, enjoy musical performances, refreshments, and activities in local businesses. Our brand new Community Center will be filled with music, stories, cookies, and offering shuttle service back and forth to Main Street. Kids will enjoy holiday-themed crafting, a scavenger hunt, and a visit from Santa.

Categories: Community Family Fun Holiday Music

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Buncombe County Extends Indoor Mask Mandate to Jan. 4, 2022

Dec 11 all-day

Buncombe County

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners has extended the county-wide face covering requirement for all indoor public spaces through Jan. 3, 2022. The indoor mask requirement also extends to Asheville, Biltmore Forest, Black Mountain, Montreat, Weaverville, and Woodfin.
In Buncombe County, COVID-19 case rates continue to be high, and per the CDC definition, the County remains an area of high transmission. The percent positivity remains in the moderate category, and the death rate remains in the substantial category.

“Unfortunately, COVID-19 cases continue to increase after a high level plateau. The percent positivity is now consistently above 5% again, and we are likely to see a further increase after the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Public Health Director Stacie Saunders. “Transitioning to living with COVID-19 means doing what we can now to reduce transmission and burden of new infections. Our goal is to dampen as much as possible any surge we may see during this holiday season with the hope of achieving decreasing case rate and spread as we enter the new year.”

Categories: Community Health & Wellness

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Dec 11 all-day

online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library puts books into the hands and hearts of children across the world. The Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. DPIL is now mailing a free book each month to over 4,400 registered children in Buncombe County. Here is the online registration form.

Categories: Community Education Family Fun

Driving Tour with Smith-McDowell House

Dec 11 all-day

Online w/ Western North Carolina Historical Association

The residents of the Smith-McDowell House and grounds were woven in to the fabric of Asheville.

This driving tour begins at the Smith-McDowell House Museum on the campus of A-B Tech and continues through historic sites related to early occupants of the house.

Categories: Community Education Outdoors Tours

Elida Homes: Sponsor A Child for the Holidays

Dec 11 all-day

online

Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. This year, due to the ongoing pandemic and job insecurity, our children and youth need support more than ever.

Many children who are living at Eliada may be restricted to campus and won’t have the opportunity to go home for the holidays. Families in our child development center face financial hardship. Our older youth transitioning to adulthood have children of their own, and are struggling to find work and safe housing during this time.

With community support, Eliada can help parents and guardians provide a bright and joy-filled Christmas to their kids. For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

How to sponsor a child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a wish list. Wish lists include information that help you get to know the child such as their favorite sports team, color, and movie. Wish lists also include their top three most need and most wanted items. Needed items include winter clothing, shoes, and hygiene products. Wanted items often include things like music, art supplies, and developmentally appropriate toys and games.

The value of a wish list is around $150. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

To sign up to sponsor, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected].

Sponsor multiple children with a program wish list:

We also have wish lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada throughout 2022.

Cottage wish lists are for youth living at Eliada. They include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases, and kitchen utensils. Many children will arrive at Eliada in 2021 with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can ensure they feel at home at Eliada.

Other wish lists are for our Child Development, Day Treatment, Campus Farm and Equine Therapy programs with needed classroom and playground supplies.

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until late November-early December. If you can shop at the last minute, we can use your support.

If you don’t have time to shop, Eliada will use your donation to purchase gifts for children who may arrive at Eliada very close to Christmas or right after Christmas. It shouldn’t matter when you arrive at Eliada–your wishes should be fulfilled! You can make a donation here. In the comment field, write “holiday wishes.”

To sign up to sponsor multiple children or a teen at the last minute, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected] or by phone at (828) 254-5356, ext. 306.

Categories: Community Donations Holiday

Farm to School Jumpstart Grants from Growing Minds

Dec 11 all-day

online

Growing Minds has announced a new Jumpstart Grant for farm to school projects. Pre-K through 12 schools, homeschool groups, teacher and nutrition education programs, and community organizations serving children and families within the 23 westernmost counties of North Carolina may apply for $500-$1,000 to provide children with positive local food and agriculture experiences. Eligible projects include edible school gardens, farm field trips, local food taste tests, or meals. In addition to funding, grantees may request supplemental training and/or technical assistance from the Growing Minds staff to help implement their project.

Grant applications are due Jan. 15, 2022.

Categories: Community Grants

GivingTuesday with Homeward Bound

Dec 11 all-day

online

Giving Tuesday 2021 is only two weeks away. This year, every dollar you donate on Giving Tuesday will be matched up to $50,000.

Let me tell you about Zach.

When Zach was 23 he was involved in a horrific car crash. He sustained a traumatic brain injury, severed his spinal cord, and was paralyzed from the neck down. Along with tremendous pain came addiction to prescription pain-killers, depression and anxiety. Eventually Zach lost his job, his marriage, and soon after he was homeless.

$27 a day will provide housing and case management support for one person for a year. Your Giving Tuesday donation to Homeward Bound will help folks like Zach get into their own homes this holiday season.

Donate Today and Double Your Gift!

Here’s how you can best prepare to help folks like Zach this year:

Mark your calendar. Giving Tuesday is two weeks from today, on November 30, 2021.

Give! Now through December 31, 2021, your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000 as part of our Creating Hope and Homes Matching Gift Challenge!

Spread the word! Encourage friends, family, and colleagues to join you in Giving Tuesday 2021. Share on social media what our mission means to you, and tag us on Facebook [@homewardboundwnc] or Instagram [@homeward_bound_wnc] so we can share it!

Categories: Community Donations

Help Make a Child Smile this Holiday Season!

Dec 11 all-day

Eliada Homes

Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. You can help bring a smile to their face by fulfilling their holiday wishes!

Sponsor a Child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a Wish List that a young person created. Wish Lists include their favorite things, clothing sizes, and most needed and wanted items. The value of a Wish List is around $150. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

Sponsor Multiple Children:

We also have Wish Lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada depending on what program they are in.

Cottage wish lists for youth living at Eliada, for example, include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases and kitchen utensils. Many children come to Eliada with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can provide them things that every home should have!

Other wish lists are for our Child Development programs, Foster Care program, Farm program, Summer Camp program, and Recreation programs. Our Equine Therapy program also has some needs this holiday season! We never know when we’ll get a call for a child in Foster Care who needs a home immediately. Let’s help Foster Parents provide these children everything they deserve!

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until mid-late November. Can you sign up to help one of these teens at the last minute?

Categories: Community Donations Holiday

History @ Home – Visit Virtually Western North Carolina Historical Association

Dec 11 all-day

online w/ Western North Carolina Historical Association

Deep Dive into Archives is a living exhibit shining a light on the individuals who were once enslaved at the Smith-McDowell House through primary documentation.

Douglas Ellington: Asheville’s Boomtown Architect presents a look at Ellington’s iconic Asheville creations along with other buildings he completed throughout his career in other cities.

HillBilly Land explores the power, prevalence, and persistence of the hillbilly stereotype from the days of its beginnings in the late 19th century to the present day.

In 1918 vs 2020, we take an in-depth look at the 1918 influenza epidemic in Western North Carolina through newspaper clippings, advertisements, ephemera, photographs, and oral history and place the events of 1918 into context with our present-day response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Categories: Community Education

Make the Holidays Brighter for a Senior, Adult with a Disability, or a Child in Foster Care

Dec 11 all-day

online

Your favorite giving opportunity is back! Help make this holiday special for a child in Foster Care or a Senior in Buncombe County by becoming a Holiday Sponsor.

Foster Care Wish List

Each year, the Buncombe County Foster Care Team organizes a gift drive for children in foster care in Buncombe County. Bringing a smile to a child’s face this year is easier than ever. Just follow the link below, select the child you would like to sponsor, and check your email for confirmation, a reminder of what your child would like this holiday season, and drop-off instructions. We are taking extra precautions due to COVID-19 so be sure to read the follow-up email in its entirety.

Click here to sponsor a child.

Senior Wish Tree

There are a lot of seniors and adults with disabilities in Buncombe County who look forward to the sense of community the holiday season brings. Spread the love this year by supporting one of our adults or seniors. Signing up to sponsor an adult is easy. Just follow the link below, select the adult you would like to sponsor, and check your email for confirmation, a reminder of what your adult would like this holiday season, and drop-off instructions. We are taking extra precautions due to COVID-19 so be sure to read the follow-up email in its entirety.

Click here to sponsor a Senior or Adult with a Disability.

Give the gift of community this year by becoming a Holiday Sponsor for a child in foster care or a senior in Buncombe County. Nearly 2 years of limited social opportunity has left many feeling isolated this holiday season. Your sponsorship is more than a few gifts under the tree, it’s a sense of belonging for those in our community who need it the most. Thank you for your generosity and for bringing the spirit of the season to our community.

Categories: Community Donations Holiday

On this Day in WNC History Tidbit

Dec 11 all-day

online

On this Day in WNC History Tidbit

Do you follow us on social media? If not, you’ve missed our new 2021 series –
On This Day in WNC History!

Every week we explore the headlines and overlooked events that happened
on a particular day in Western North Carolina history.

ON THIS DAY in WNC history: On October 2, 1929, deputies fired into a crowd of striking workers in Marion, NC. Six were killed and even more wounded at the Marion Manufacturing Company in one of the deadliest acts of strike busting in the South.

This year marked an apogee of strikes and labor organization in southern textile mills. Eight years prior, over 100 miners were killed at the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia in a period of coal clashes and unionization attempts. Later in the 1920s, many textile workers reacting to grueling and dirty work conditions under the “stretch-out” system, along with a reduction of their pay in company scrip, began organizing and demanding better conditions. Spearheaded by the National Textile Workers Union (an organization supported by the Communist Party), concurrent strikes began early in 1929 at the Bemberg-Glanzstoff Rayon Corporation in Elizabethton, Tennessee and at Loray Mills in Gastonia, North Carolina. Female employees were key to the organization of both strikes, and the latter is most famously remembered for the death of Ella May Wiggins. National Guard members, local police, and union-busting mobs were called to both of these events.

The Marion strikes (which occurred at the neighboring Clinchfield Mill as well) began July 11. Workers struck without official union support, resisting involvement by communist organizers. After frequent violence and threats, with two National Guard units present, workers returned to these mills September 11, with no raise in pay and a mandated 55-hour workweek. Marion Manufacturing Mill refused to rehire 114 of the strikers, leading to further anger. Workers struck again on October 2, and deputies were dispatched by the local sheriff. Though some details are murky, deputies shot into a crowd of strikers, killing four on site, wounding at least fifteen, with two others dying later. Nearby hospitals refused medical care to strikers, and churches of the mill village refused to administer their funerals. Eight deputies were charged, but acquitted in December. They contended the strikers were armed, but no guns were found, and the New York Times reported those killed were shot in the back.

The memory of these events will be examined in our upcoming event, Marion Mill Massacre in Memory, on Thursday, Oct 14.

Image: Raleigh News and Observer, Oct. 4, 1929

Categories: Community Education

RAIL: The Railroad and Incarcerated Laborer Memorial Project

Dec 11 all-day

Online w/ Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA)

The construction of the Mountain Division of the Western North Carolina Railroad is widely considered one of the greatest human accomplishments in regards to both engineering and construction ever undertaken at the time it occurred. The project took place over a period of several years in the late 1800s. Many people are aware that the railroad provided the first dependable access to and from much of Western North Carolina for the rest of the state as well as much of the nation. Many also know the names of some of those who were instrumental in seeing through the completion of this ambitious project. Names such as Colonel Alexander Boyd Andrews, of Andrews’ Geyser fame. However, what most people are unaware of is that at least 95% of the labor which built the railroad across the Blue Ridge Escarpment was completed by inmates from the North Carolina State Penitentiary… and approximately 98% of those inmates were African American men… the majority of whom were unjustly imprisoned…

This project was created to share the true story behind this human endeavor and to honor the memory of those who labored and those who died here.

Categories: Community Education

Regional Resources: Historical Research

Dec 11 all-day

Online w/ Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA)

Western North Carolina has a rich assortment of county historical societies, archives, and museums. The Western North Carolina Historical Association seeks to help researchers, historians, genealogists, and the general public take full advantage of these resources.

Categories: Community Education

Volunteer at MANNA during the holidays

Dec 11 all-day

MANNA’s Volunteer Center

Holiday Season Volunteering

During the holiday season, our volunteer shifts usually fill up very quickly. If you are interested in volunteering during the holidays, please contact us as early as possible (at least 6-8 weeks in advance). Due to increased call and email volumes at this time, please allow for 4-5 business days to receive a reply.

Hunger does exist year-round, and we often have a greater need for volunteers during January and February. If you have flexibility in your volunteering schedule, please consider volunteering after the holidays.

Categories: Community Food & Drink Volunteers

Unearthing Our Forgotten Past

Dec 11 @ 10:30 am – 4:00 pm

Smith-McDowell House Museum

The exhibit was developed as part of the celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Juan Pardo expeditions. Several years ago, archaeologists identified a site near Morganton as the location of Joara, one of the largest Native American towns in what is today Western North Carolina.

Joara was occupied from approximately 1400-1600 A.D. Two Spanish expeditions led respectively by Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo visited the town in the 1500s. The Pardo expedition was part of a larger effort to establish a string of forts from the coast of present-day South Carolina all the way to Mexico. In 2013, archaeologists confirmed that Joara was also the site of Fort San Juan, established by Pardo in 1567, nearly 20 years before the English settlement at Roanoke on the coast of North Carolina and 40 years before the settlement at Jamestown.

Through various artifacts uncovered by the archaeology, the exhibit showcases the Spanish occupation of Fort San Juan and the lives of the native people who lived in the Joara area.

The exhibit is on loan from the Exploring Joara Foundation Inc. Exploring Joara engages the public in archaeology in the Carolinas, and emphasizes the discovery of the Native American town of Joara and Fort San Juan. The exhibit will be on display at the Western North Carolina Historical Association’s gallery inside the Smith-McDowell House through December 15.

The gallery is open for visitation Thursday, Friday, and Saturday between 10:30am and 4:00pm. Reservations are recommended.

Categories: Community Education

BBQ Bears’ Smokehouse Industry Of The Week: Retail

Dec 11 @ 11:00 am – 9:00 pm

BBQ Bears' Smokehouse

Stop by the restaurant to enjoy 15% off of your order!

Categories: Community Food & Drink

Bringing Black back to the Block: Noir Collective AVL

Dec 11 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Noir Collective AVL LLC

Entrepreneurs will have products and information on hand:

Jewelry. Original Art. Tea. Shea Butter. Prints. Black Soap. Cards. Books.

& Featured services:

Realty. Exercise & Fitness. Landscaping. Catering. Heritage Tours and more.

We have open spots for Makers and Creatives!

Categories: Community Holiday Market

Weaverville Library Used Book Store

Dec 11 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Weaverville Library

Categories: Bookclubs Community Market

FREE SANTA PHOTOS

Dec 11 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Asheville Outlets

FREE SANTA PHOTOS

Visit Asheville Outlets for FREE photos with Santa by TapSnap Phototainment from on Saturdays and Sundays, November 27 & 28, December 4 & 5, December 11 &12, and December 18 & 19, located in the center circle in front of Nike Factory Store.

Visitors receive one FREE 4” by 6” photo and digital download of a single image (while supplies last).

Categories: Community Family Fun Holiday

Welcome to The YMI Cultural Center’s Winter Wonderland!

Dec 11 @ 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm

YMI Cultural Center

wonderland .jpg

Categories: Community Family Fun Holiday

Global Kwanza

Dec 11 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

LEAF Global Arts

This event will allow you to explore the holiday season globally.

Categories: Community Family Fun Holiday

December 2021 Dec 2021

Calendar of Events

Foster Care Wish List

Senior Wish Tree

Holiday Season Volunteering

FREE SANTA PHOTOS