Calendar of Events

Who:                Caldwell Arts Council, Lenoir, North Carolina

When:              Labor Day Weekend: August 31, September 1 and 2, 2018.

Where:            Jones Farm, 3590 NC-268, Historic Happy Valley, Caldwell County, NC

Cost:                Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15

Experience a perfect Labor Day Weekend on the banks of the Yadkin River being surrounded by mountain music, dance, food and beautiful scenery.   Festival music begins at 7:00 PM Friday featuring Pam and Brett Riggs, The Sunny Mountain Serenaders, and Jason Cade along with cakewalks and simple mountain dances ($5 adults, 15 & under free).   Gates open for primitive camping on Thursday.

Saturday is packed with great entertainment!  The music competition begins at 10:00 AM and includes 12 separate categories.  The Youth Tent offers music performances by some extremely talented youngsters. Non-music and children’s activities include hayrides, storytelling, children’s crafts, and rock stacking in the river.

The weekend ends with a Sunday concert starting at 10:00 AM featuring an all-star lineup of folk, blues, gospel, old-time, Cajun and bluegrass musicians including the Kruger Brothers, The Harris Brothers, Strictly Clean and Decent, Irish folk music plus other performances and workshops.   This fantastic weekend ends approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday.  Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15, $25 for Weekend Pass, children under 16 free.

When was the last time you had the privilege of sitting on the banks of a mountain river with music echoing throughout the hills around you.  So come for a day or camp for the weekend.

Check out the details and directions at www.happyvalleyfiddlers.org .

Learn about the historic Happy Valley at http://explorecaldwell.com/happy-valley

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Who:                Caldwell Arts Council, Lenoir, North Carolina

When:              Labor Day Weekend: August 31, September 1 and 2, 2018.

Where:            Jones Farm, 3590 NC-268, Historic Happy Valley, Caldwell County, NC

Cost:                Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15

Experience a perfect Labor Day Weekend on the banks of the Yadkin River being surrounded by mountain music, dance, food and beautiful scenery.   Festival music begins at 7:00 PM Friday featuring Pam and Brett Riggs, The Sunny Mountain Serenaders, and Jason Cade along with cakewalks and simple mountain dances ($5 adults, 15 & under free).   Gates open for primitive camping on Thursday.

Saturday is packed with great entertainment!  The music competition begins at 10:00 AM and includes 12 separate categories.  The Youth Tent offers music performances by some extremely talented youngsters. Non-music and children’s activities include hayrides, storytelling, children’s crafts, and rock stacking in the river.

The weekend ends with a Sunday concert starting at 10:00 AM featuring an all-star lineup of folk, blues, gospel, old-time, Cajun and bluegrass musicians including the Kruger Brothers, The Harris Brothers, Strictly Clean and Decent, Irish folk music plus other performances and workshops.   This fantastic weekend ends approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday.  Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15, $25 for Weekend Pass, children under 16 free.

When was the last time you had the privilege of sitting on the banks of a mountain river with music echoing throughout the hills around you.  So come for a day or camp for the weekend.

Check out the details and directions at www.happyvalleyfiddlers.org .

Learn about the historic Happy Valley at http://explorecaldwell.com/happy-valley

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Program Highlights:
The evening will feature pianist, Christopher Tavernier. “Exploring New Horizons” with the “Great Piano Classics” and Christopher will astound the classical purists with his grace and technique. The program will begin with some of the most demanding classical music written by the world’s greatest composers and will combine his passion for classical music with today’s musical themes from Hollywood’s Greatest Mega-Hits.

The Music Foundation of WNC is sponsoring its Sixth Annual World Masterwork Series – Exploring New Horizons… the Great Piano Classics from Classical Music to Popular Hollywood Mega-Hits. The performance, an unprecedented and technically challenging piano concert is sure to sell out weeks prior before it comes to the Diana Wortham theatre on Saturday September 1, at 6:45 p.m.

“We are doing something that is very seldom done anywhere in the world,” says Joann Freeburg, Music Foundation of Western North Carolina founder. “You won’t have to be a classical music fan to enjoy this concert. You can appreciate it from a historical, technical and performance perspective. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where you can experience the classical style with today’s current popular music.

The evening will feature pianist Christopher Tavernier. “Exploring New Horizons” with the “Great Piano Classics” and Christopher will astound the classical purists with his grace and technique. The program will begin with some of the most demanding classical music written by the world’s greatest composers and will combine his passion for classical music with today’s musical themes from Hollywood’s Greatest Mega-Hits.

The piano that Tavernier will be playing on is especially noteworthy. Made in Boston, MA provided by Freeburg Pianos in Hendersonville, is the latest American-made Mason and Hamlin model CC-94 Concert Grand piano and is making its premier “Main Stage” performance at the Diana Wortham Theatre this September. It is the third longest handmade piano in the world at nine-feet-four-inches long. The piano will be tuned to the Equal-Beating Victorian temperament, a tuning method that was preferred in Europe during the 1800s and still by many classical performers. The resulting rich sound to both the trained and untrained ear is often described as more vibrant that tuning commonly used today.

Christopher Tavernier made his orchestral debut with the Tar River Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of thirteen in Rocky Mount, NC, performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in the opening concert of the orchestra’s Fall 2013 season. Since then he has won the Hendersonville, Asheville, Augusta, and Charlotte Symphony concerto competitions, and second prize in the National Elizabeth Harper Vaughn Concerto Competition in Kingsport, Tennessee, where he was the youngest performer in the history of the competition. In the summer of 2017 he was one of two pianists who won the Brevard Music Festival Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition, competing in a field that included college undergraduate and graduate students.

In addition to a growing solo repertoire, Christopher has performed concerti by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev. Also, a dedicated chamber musician, he performs frequently with the Rutherford Chamber Consort. In addition, he has performed benefit concerts in support of the Mission Foundation’s “Ladies Night Out” — a collaboration of women helping women who provide free mammograms and health screenings for uninsured/underinsured women, the Hunger Coalition of Henderson County and Music Education Programs throughout Western North Carolina.

Christopher has been featured on ABC affiliate television station WLOS, CBS affiliate WSPA in Spartanburg (Scene on 7), Carolinas CW62 (Studio 62), and Carolina Live NPR radio, and WCQS in Asheville, NC. In 2015 he was named the first International Perzina Artist in the company’s 147 year history. Christopher has published recordings in DVD and CD formats.

Who:                Caldwell Arts Council, Lenoir, North Carolina

When:              Labor Day Weekend: August 31, September 1 and 2, 2018.

Where:            Jones Farm, 3590 NC-268, Historic Happy Valley, Caldwell County, NC

Cost:                Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15

Experience a perfect Labor Day Weekend on the banks of the Yadkin River being surrounded by mountain music, dance, food and beautiful scenery.   Festival music begins at 7:00 PM Friday featuring Pam and Brett Riggs, The Sunny Mountain Serenaders, and Jason Cade along with cakewalks and simple mountain dances ($5 adults, 15 & under free).   Gates open for primitive camping on Thursday.

Saturday is packed with great entertainment!  The music competition begins at 10:00 AM and includes 12 separate categories.  The Youth Tent offers music performances by some extremely talented youngsters. Non-music and children’s activities include hayrides, storytelling, children’s crafts, and rock stacking in the river.

The weekend ends with a Sunday concert starting at 10:00 AM featuring an all-star lineup of folk, blues, gospel, old-time, Cajun and bluegrass musicians including the Kruger Brothers, The Harris Brothers, Strictly Clean and Decent, Irish folk music plus other performances and workshops.   This fantastic weekend ends approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday.  Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15, $25 for Weekend Pass, children under 16 free.

When was the last time you had the privilege of sitting on the banks of a mountain river with music echoing throughout the hills around you.  So come for a day or camp for the weekend.

Check out the details and directions at www.happyvalleyfiddlers.org .

Learn about the historic Happy Valley at http://explorecaldwell.com/happy-valley

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Asheville VegFest, presented by the Asheville Vegan Society, is a celebration of compassionate eating and sustainable living, where vegetarians, vegans, and the veg-curious alike can explore and celebrate the benefits of plant-based eating. Held in gorgeous Pack Square Park in beautiful downtown Asheville, this family-friendly event will feature live music, speaker sessions, local beer, a kids’ activity area, and best of all—food!

Who:                Caldwell Arts Council, Lenoir, North Carolina

When:              Labor Day Weekend: August 31, September 1 and 2, 2018.

Where:            Jones Farm, 3590 NC-268, Historic Happy Valley, Caldwell County, NC

Cost:                Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15

Experience a perfect Labor Day Weekend on the banks of the Yadkin River being surrounded by mountain music, dance, food and beautiful scenery.   Festival music begins at 7:00 PM Friday featuring Pam and Brett Riggs, The Sunny Mountain Serenaders, and Jason Cade along with cakewalks and simple mountain dances ($5 adults, 15 & under free).   Gates open for primitive camping on Thursday.

Saturday is packed with great entertainment!  The music competition begins at 10:00 AM and includes 12 separate categories.  The Youth Tent offers music performances by some extremely talented youngsters. Non-music and children’s activities include hayrides, storytelling, children’s crafts, and rock stacking in the river.

The weekend ends with a Sunday concert starting at 10:00 AM featuring an all-star lineup of folk, blues, gospel, old-time, Cajun and bluegrass musicians including the Kruger Brothers, The Harris Brothers, Strictly Clean and Decent, Irish folk music plus other performances and workshops.   This fantastic weekend ends approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday.  Friday $5, Saturday $10, Sunday $15, $25 for Weekend Pass, children under 16 free.

When was the last time you had the privilege of sitting on the banks of a mountain river with music echoing throughout the hills around you.  So come for a day or camp for the weekend.

Check out the details and directions at www.happyvalleyfiddlers.org .

Learn about the historic Happy Valley at http://explorecaldwell.com/happy-valley

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Join Dogwood Alliance on Saturday, September 8th for our annual Woods & Wilds Storytelling event at the Grey Eagle in Asheville from 7-11pm! The evening will feature regional storytellers, live music from Earthcry! Join us as we celebrate 22 years of standing with the people and forests of the South!

Asheville Outlets (www.shopashevilleoutlets.com) will team up with the Blue Ridge EV Club, Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to celebrate the 5th annual Drive Electric Car Show on September 9, 2018 from 12 noon to 4 p.m.

The show will include local EV (electric vehicle) drivers displaying the latest in electric vehicle technology, showcasing the Tesla model 3, the Chevy Bolt, the 2018 Nissan Leaf, the Chrysler Pacifica Plug in Electric Hybrid (PHEV) and the Mini Cooper Countryman PHEV, among others and some surprise electric vehicles as well. Owners will be available to answer questions about the EV lifestyle from charging, costs, performance and more. The event is free and open to the public. Event rain date is September 16, 2018.

New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat Brings the Party Back
Humankind’s greatest invention – the bike – takes center stage once again

(FORT COLLINS) New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat, a traveling beer, music and bicycle festival, will turn the party out in six cities this year, offering a one-of-a-kind way to raise money for local non-profits, celebrate self-propelled two-wheel travel and dress up as your alter ego while enjoying world-class beers and action-packed entertainment. It all kicks off on June 30 in Chicago, IL, and wraps up in Tempe, AZ, on October 6.

“Our love for bikes runs deep at New Belgium, all the way back to our founding, “explained Tour de Fat Brand Manager, Sam Sawyer. “Tour de Fat is our Bike Love manifested in a way that uniquely blends fundraising, beer, bikes and bemusement. We’re anxious to get this spectacle back on the road this summer and we hope everyone joins us in giving back to local communities.”

Now in its 19th year, New Belgium’s Tour de Fat has raised more than $5 million for partnering non-profits since its inception. Tickets will cost $15 (children 12 & under are free) and will be available in advance online at www.newbelgium.com/tdf or at any of the box offices for Tour de Fat venues (pending availability).

Most tour stops will feature the wildly popular costumed bicycle parade, headlining musical acts and other revelry, including a touring ensemble of comedians, cirque performers, and general mayhemists. The touring ensemble cast includes Handsome Little Devils, Sedan Halen, Daredevil Chicken, and KOLARS. All world-class performers, Daredevil Chicken are celebrating a particularly big year after delivering a winning performance on ABC’s “The Gong Show.”

“The goal for this year’s tour is to provide a low-cost, family-friendly event that’s jam packed with quality entertainment and amazing beers,” said Sawyer. “Tour de Fat is ever-evolving, and New Belgium’s employee owners are proud of the Tour de Fat’s carnival of creativity that gives back to communities.”