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.

Saturday, April 21, 2018
Live Like Maria Freestyle Classic
Apr 21 all-day
Nantahala Outdoors Center

Join NRC for a fun weekend of Clinics and Competition in the discipline of Freestyle.  This event is designed for people of all ages and abilities and will offer advanced as well as beginner categories. Saturday will offer clinics to paddlers covering the rules, offering handy competition tips, and allowing time for practice runs to prepare for the event.  Both days will consist of competitions with high end judges, great prizes, and fun for all.  If you are and NRC member or volunteer, contact the race directors for a discount code.

Frostbreaker 5K
Apr 21 @ 9:00 am
Carrier Park

This run benefits the Hall Fletcher Elementary PTO and Physical Education department.

Event details and schedule

The 5K race begins promptly at 9 AM on Saturday, April 21, 2018.  The Kids Fun Run begins at 8:30AM.  Runners should meet at Carrier Park in West Asheville (220 Amboy Rd, Asheville, NC 28806).

Harvest Moon Folk Society Contra Dance At River Falls Lodge
Apr 21 @ 7:30 pm
River Falls Lodge

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

Sunday, April 22, 2018
Live Like Maria Freestyle Classic
Apr 22 all-day
Nantahala Outdoors Center

Join NRC for a fun weekend of Clinics and Competition in the discipline of Freestyle.  This event is designed for people of all ages and abilities and will offer advanced as well as beginner categories. Saturday will offer clinics to paddlers covering the rules, offering handy competition tips, and allowing time for practice runs to prepare for the event.  Both days will consist of competitions with high end judges, great prizes, and fun for all.  If you are and NRC member or volunteer, contact the race directors for a discount code.

Run for the Paws
Apr 22 @ 10:00 am
Carrier Park
Run for the Paws @ Carrier Park | Asheville | North Carolina | United States

Run for the Paws is the only 5K in Western North Carolina where dogs aren’t just allowed, they’re invited! Join hundreds of animal lovers and their four-legged friends as we run and walk to raise money for pets in need.
We’re excited to be at Carrier Park in Asheville for the 7th Annual Run for the Paws event! Participants can choose to compete in the chip-timed 5K or stroll in the one mile walk. Afterwards, relax with us and enjoy the afternoon on the Carrier Park lawn with food vendors, music and fun activities.

All proceeds raised from the Run for the Paws event goes directly to the life-saving programs run by Brother Wolf Animal Rescue.

5th Annual Earth Day Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Apr 22 @ 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Organic Growers School is pleased to announce a screening of the award-winning documentary Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry for the 5th annual Earth Day Film event on April 22, 2018 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Asheville Campus in downtown Asheville. The event is by donation at the door. There are no advanced sales or reservations required.

Look and See is a cinematic portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America in the era of industrial agriculture, as seen through the mind’s eye of writer, farmer, and activist, Wendell Berry. Filmed in and around the rolling hills of Henry County, Kentucky – where Berry has lived and farmed since the mid-1960’s, filmmaker Laura Dunn skillfully weaves Berry’s poetic and prescient words with gorgeous cinematography and the testimonies of his family and neighbors, all of whom are being deeply affected by the industrial and economic changes to their agrarian way of life.

The beginning of the film describes the transformation of small-scale farming into an industrialized food system,  with just 4% of the population producing food for all. Berry states that “when the people disappear, the values disappear with them. With the transformation of farming into an industrial system, it has lost its appeal and connection to the land.”

In a 2016 interview with Laura Dunn in The Bluegrass Situation, Dunn asserts that “there’s a huge disconnect between urban and rural … You can buy all the organic food you want at Whole Foods, but if you have a total disregard for the culture where that food is made, there’s a degradation of the people, there’s a degradation of the land, and ultimately, your consumption is not going to have any effect, if the economics are such that people think they can’t farm.”

Often called “a prophet for rural America,” Berry has long been a voice for the communities that are so often overlooked by the media. LOOK AND SEE subverts biopic conventions and immerses audiences into Berry’s world, providing a space for talking about the land and those who sustain it.

Following the film, Organic Growers School will host a panel of our region’s leading organic farming and environmental activists to discuss the film’s relevance to Western North Carolina.  The panel will be emceed by local filmmaker and activist, Hannah Furgiuele. Follow the links to learn more about each of our panelists and the important work they are doing.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Adult League Kickball
Apr 24 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
BC Sports Park

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: BC Sports Park – 58 Apac Cir, Asheville, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org

Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Leicester Comm. Ctr. Welcome Table FREE Meal
Apr 25 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Welcome Table Free Meal every Wednesday 11:30am-1:30pm

Friday, April 27, 2018
Leicester Community Center Roast Beef Supper
Apr 27 @ 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Community Roast Beef Supper prepared by Steve Roberson.  Plates are $8, kids under 5 eat free.
Phone: 828-774-3000

City Dance
Apr 27 @ 7:30 pm
Landmark Hal

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

Saturday, April 28, 2018
NOC Spring Fling
Apr 28 all-day
Nantahala Outdoors Center

Celebrate spring in the Smoky Mountains with a free, family-friendly event in the Nantahala Gorge. Don’t miss the NOC 8 Ball Race and gear raffle, demos, and specials at NOC’s Outfitter’s Store.

This year’s Spring Fling will feature a carnage-filled 8 Ball competition! We will run competitors in heats of six from the NOC Founder’s Bridge to the Old Highway Bridge on the NOC Campus. There will be three 8 ball paddlers scattered along the course trying to stop the racers progression downriver. We will take the top competitor from each heat and run them all against each other in the final heat to determine the top 3 paddlers and champions of the NOC Spring Fling 8 Ball Race. The awards ceremony will take place after the final heat is completed.

To read more about what an 8 Ball Competition is all about, click here.

Scheduled releases of the Cascades and Upper sections of the Nantahala River round out this Bryson City weekend. Free NOC shuttles will run from the commercial Nantahala put-in from 9:30am – 3:30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

Kids Fishing Derby OWEN PARK
Apr 28 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm
Charles Owen Park

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: Charles Owen Park – 875 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org

$10 for Kids 15 and under. Prizes awarded for the Most fish caught, the largest fish and the smallest fish. 
Local Food Truck on site

registration is the day of the event.  Registration will be open 7:30am

Book Release: NOC Stories
Apr 28 @ 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Nantahala Outdoors Center

Come out to Nantahala Outdoor Center to hear some of NOC’s Stories, shared by founder and author Payson Kennedy, along with several co-authors. This book describes Nantahala Outdoor Center’s history, with a focus on the first 25 years, a time of explosive growth in whitewater sports and instruction. These stories have become NOC’s legacy, and this book is an attempt to collect and make sense of them. However, the book also features a very human element, a tinge of adventure that sets it apart from your standard history text. The stories in this book, in addition to their historical value, offer a testament to the experiential aspect of working at NOC.

Sunday, April 29, 2018
Asheville Baroque Concerts season finale: Chiaroscuro
Apr 29 @ 3:00 pm

Oakley United Methodist Church, 607 Fairview Road in Asheville

A feast for the eyes as well as the ears, the highly decorated instruments of Joachim Tielke will be featured on this concert of virtuoso viola da gamba duos from 18th-century Germany.

Asheville Baroque Concerts’ artistic director Gail Ann Schroeder, and Annalisa Pappano from Cincinnati’s Catacoustic Consort, will be joined by harpsichordist Barbara Weiss to perform this exciting program of works by Johannes Schenck, Johan Gottlieb Graun and Christoph Schaffrath.

Tickets: $5-$25

Purchase here: http://panharmonia.org/product/april-29-chiaroscuro-asheville-baroque-concerts/

Monday, April 30, 2018
Pan Harmonia: Pink Moon in the Sky
Apr 30 @ 7:15 pm

The Haen Gallery, 52 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville

Come downtown in the calm of a Monday evening, enjoy a glass of wine with snacks and incredible art before the concert (doors open at 6:45). Iconic harpist Jacquelyn Bartlett and flutist Kate Steinbeck combine their expressive music mastery to create a program of sweeping sensations with music by GF Handel, Osvaldo LaCerda, Henk Badings, Dana Wilson and Witold Lutoslawski. Bassoonist Rosalind Buda will join in trios by Adrienne Albert and Andre Jolivet.

MUSIC – ART – WINE

Seating is very limited for this special concert. Don’t wait too long to purchase your tickets, this event is likely to sell out.

Tickets: $5-$25

Purchase here: http://panharmonia.org/product/april-30-asheville

Easy, expensive parking is available across the street under the Aloft Hotel.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Adult League Kickball
May 1 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
BC Sports Park

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: BC Sports Park – 58 Apac Cir, Asheville, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org

Leicester Comm. Ctr. Art Night
May 1 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Community Art Nights – First Tuesday of each month. Different project each month.  For Children and Adults.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Leicester Comm. Ctr. Welcome Table FREE Meal
May 2 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Welcome Table Free Meal every Wednesday 11:30am-1:30pm

Thursday, May 3, 2018
Special Olympics Spring Games-TC Roberson High School
May 3 @ 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
Other

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: Other

Saturday, May 5, 2018
Meeting Street Academy 5K
May 5 @ 8:30 am
Duncan Park
A free 5K and fun run for the community. Proceed’s from t-shirts, medals, and food will go to MSA’s running club and wellness team. Register at:
https://meetingstreetschools.revtrak.net/5k-run-walk-and-1-mile-fun-run-registration-/
Buncombe Outdoors HIKE Snowball Trail Barnardsville
May 5 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Other

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: Other
Link: https://www.hikewnc.info/trails/blue-ridge-parkway-section-4/snowball

Snowball Trail
Distance: 6 miles out and back
Degree of Difficulty: Moderate,Hilly, Some Obstacles

Trail Description: https://www.hikewnc.info/trails/blue-ridge-parkway-section-4/snowball
Meetup Location: Beetree Gap

Hike Leader:Buncombe CountyRecreation Services, 828.250.4260, [email protected]

Tiny Home Community Open House
May 5 @ 10:00 am – May 6 @ 4:00 pm
The Village at Flat Rock, NC
Tiny Home Community Open House @ The Village at Flat Rock, NC | Flat Rock | North Carolina | United States

The Village at Flat Rock, NC a tiny home community, is hosting an open house sales event May 5 – 6, 2018.

The community is under new ownership and has seen an incredible transformation! Visitors will find over 100 tiny homes, a poolside pavilion, fitness center, and beautiful parks and green spaces. Tour new tiny home models for sale and explore our upscale, pet-friendly grounds and resort-style amenities.

Special promotions are now underway and will continue through the event! Place a deposit and sign a lease on or before May 6 to receive $8K in house and property upgrades.

The event is free and open to the public, reservations are encouraged, call 828.707.0969 for more information.

WHERE AND WHEN
The Village at Flat Rock, NC
24 Empire Lane
Flat Rock, NC 28731

OPEN HOUSE HOURS
Saturday May 5, 2018 | 9 AM – 6 PM
Sunday May 6, 2018 | 10 AM – 4 PM

RESERVATIONS
For more information or to make a reservation please call 828. 707.0969 or email [email protected].

Harvest Moon Folk Society Contra Dance At River Falls Lodge
May 5 @ 7:30 pm
River Falls Lodge

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Adult League Kickball
May 8 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
BC Sports Park

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: BC Sports Park – 58 Apac Cir, Asheville, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org

Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Leicester Comm. Ctr. Welcome Table FREE Meal
May 9 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Welcome Table Free Meal every Wednesday 11:30am-1:30pm

Saturday, May 12, 2018
Kids Fishing Tournament – Lake Julian Park
May 12 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm
Lake Julian Park

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: Lake Julian Park – 406 Overlook Extension Arden, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org

Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Leicester Comm. Ctr. Manna Food Bank Distribution
May 15 @ 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Manna Food Distribution every third Tuesday at 2:30pm

Adult League Kickball
May 15 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
BC Sports Park

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 250-4260
Event Location: BC Sports Park – 58 Apac Cir, Asheville, NC
Link: http://buncomberecreation.org

Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Leicester Comm. Ctr. Welcome Table FREE Meal
May 16 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Welcome Table Free Meal every Wednesday 11:30am-1:30pm

Thursday, May 17, 2018
Leicester Comm. Ctr. History Gathering
May 17 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 774-3000
Link: http://www.leicestercommunitycenter.com

Leicester History Gathering, meets every 3rd Thursday of the month at 7pm.  Different local history topic discussed each month.