Calendar of Events

You adult child won’t speak to you? Find support through our weekly meetings, every Saturday, Sept. 7 – Nov. 9, 2019, 8:30 am to 9:45 am, at First Congregational Church Library, 1735 Fifth Avenue West.  It’s not about who’s right or wrong.  It’s about getting on with life.

Community Garden located at the Buncombe County Sports Park.
The mission of Sand HIll Community Garden is to share in garden space, knowledge, and labor with all members of the community.  Using organic growing practices we promote community health and wellness by providing fresh produce for garden members and local people in need of food.

Known for their stately colors and elegant wings, millions of monarch butterflies travel more than 2,000 miles from across North America to Mexico each fall, where they cluster in about a dozen small areas. Unfortunately, the monarch population has declined from 556 million in 2004 to a historic low of 33.5 million in 2014. This is due to the butterflies’ dramatic loss of habitat and food sources, including the milkweed plant.

As part of a national effort to stave off the decline of monarch butterflies, The North Carolina Arboretum will host its fifth annual Monarch Butterfly Day on Saturday, September 28, inside the Arboretum’s Education Center and throughout its gardens. As part of this free event, participants will learn ways to help monarch butterflies, have the opportunity to purchase milkweed, create make-and-take butterfly crafts and witness monarch butterfly releases.

Swannanoa was once home to a thriving downtown, known to locals as “The Station.” Bordered by the Beacon Blanket mill and the railroad tracks, Swannanoa’s downtown included cafes, grocery stores, a drug store, a bank, a movie theater, a five-and-dime, and other variety stores. Join us for a walking tour of the old downtown area and the historic buildings that were once a part of the mill town. Learn about the history of this area, and see what’s happening in the old downtown today.

Difficulty: Easy, less than 0.5 miles on paved road

Blue Ridge Pride is back and better than ever! The festivities begin on Friday evening with Friday in the Park, an opportunity for youth performers to showcase their talents on the stage at Pack Square Park!

A procession from Scandals Nightclub on Grove St. kicks off Saturday’s event at 10:00 a.m., come out and show your pride all the way from Scandals to Pack Square Park!

Finally, the festival begins at Pack Square Park at 11:00 a.m. The family-friendly environment features exciting vendors of all kinds, food, music at two different stages, dancing, performances, an inflatable bounce house, educational and community resources, and more!

Bring the kids and have a fun afternoon with face painting, children’s books and a dragon puppet! Jeff will be signing copies of “The Last Dragon and Other Tales” for purchase.

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The East Asheville Library will be closing this fall to make way for construction of the new and improved East Asheville Library, opening in early 2021. We don’t have exact dates for the closing and reopening of the library, but the East Asheville Friends of the Library will be holding a farewell party for our old building on Saturday, September 28 from 3 to 6pm.

The current East Asheville Library was built in 1966. While the building has been well-loved and well-used over the past 53 years, we’re looking forward to moving into a new facility that will be almost 5 times bigger, with several meeting and study rooms, expanded children and teen areas, an enhanced playground area and much more parking.

Help us say farewell to our beloved old library building in preparation for construction of the new one with food, games, music, and lots of fun! This event is free and everyone is invited.

Join us for “Saturday Night Lights,” a family-friendly event at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, NC, happening every Saturday evening May through October featuring FREE carousel rides, pony rides, bounce house, face painting, entertainers and live music, plus horse show competition. General admission and parking are also free and open to the public. With onsite dining options, concessions, shopping, and lodging, come for the night or for a vacation getaway! Learn more at Tryon.com/SNL.

Phone: 828-863-1000

Email: [email protected]

Artrageous is a troupe of misfits artists, singers, dancer and musicians who started as friends doing street theatre in Vancouver. Together they started the All and Everything Theater, a non-profit Children’s Theater focusing on Children’s Entertainment, Street Theater and Life-sized Bunraku Puppetry. In the late 80’s on Christmas Day, their hand built theater building, with all their props and puppets, burnt to the ground. Instead of packing it in, they created a new act; this troupe has performed for the likes of Sir Richard Branson, Steve Forbes, General Colin Powell… and in venues and events all over the world from India to Thailand, Paris to Austria performing at over 2000+ events in their History. As people who live and breathe the Arts, Creativity, Community, and Inspiration, they created ARTrageous to pay tribute to their roots and share their passion with the world. A Show that focuses on all the things they believe in and everything that got them to this place. Art, Music, Theater, Singing, Dancing, Audience Interaction- all on one stage. All done as a team of friends seeing the world and sharing a love of the Arts. Imagine witnessing the creativity of an artist creating a masterpiece before your eyes in mere moments. Combined with captivating vocals, intricate choreography and exciting music, Artrageous takes you on a visual journey and a high energy ride of inspiration, creativity, and engagement. The ARTrageous troupe of artist, musicians, singers and dancers pay tribute to a variety of art forms, icons and musical genres throughout the evening. The result ~ A uniquely entertaining, masterpiece show culminating in a gallery of fabulous finished paintings. A signature of the Artrageous Troupe, from the very beginning of their long history, is interaction and engagement… so be prepared to be a part of the show. Each show is as unique as each audience and is not to be missed!
Ticket Prices: $18, $22, $25

Spend some time with your family detoxing naturally in the Salt Cave. Adults $25, 4-12 years old $15, 3 and younger are free.

This September marks Asheville Humane Society’s 35th Anniversary, and they want to thank our animal-loving community for making their lifesaving work possible! Come cheers to 35 years on Sunday, September 29 from 3 – 7 PM at The Meadow, Highland Brewing’s outdoor space. Pack your fold-up chair or blanket and bring the whole family (pets included!) for a fun-filled day, including:
• Live performances by Ben Phan and the Jim Arrendell Dance Band
• Vegetarian & vegan fare from Gypsy Queen Cuisine, Papa John’s & The Hop Ice Cream will be available for purchase
• Contests and games for you and your pet including Most Talented Pet and Pet/Person Look-alike Contest
• Kid-friendly activities
• Raffle items with proceeds benefiting AHS
• Craft beer will be available for purchase from Highland Brewing
All well-behaved, leashed (or safely contained) pets are welcome!

Earlier this year, the Friends of Woodfin Greenway & Blueway merged into RiverLink and we are honored and humbled to continue to work with the Friends group and leaders like Marc Hunt and Rick Lutovsky. We are also inspired by the Town of Woodfin for taking on such an ambitious project and to be involved in a larger partnership with Buncombe County for the construction of the Greenways and the Woodfin Whitewater Wave. This project furthers RiverLink’s traditional work to connect communities to the River and its Watershed.

This will be an exciting opportunity to learn more and to show your support for this important project.

Join us for a night of celebration and fun October 2nd for our second annual Catch the Wave event hosted by RiverLink! We’ll have live music provided by The Barsters, awesome raffles, food, refreshments, and informational sessions providing updates on the project.

All proceeds from the event will help build the Greenway & Blueway so grab your friends and get ready for a good time!

For more information and tickets please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/woodfin-greenway-blueway-2nd-annual-catch-the-wave-celebration-tickets-69998580639

Special thanks to our amazing co-hosts: Asheville GreenWorks, MountainTrue, Connect Buncombe, and French Broad River Academy

RiverLink is the proud fundraising partner of the Town of Woodfin and Buncombe County Greenways.
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AWESOME RAFFLE PRIZES
Grand Prize Items:
Homeslice Whitewater Kayak from Liquidlogic Kayaks
Raft, Zipline, Yurt Package from Wildwater Ltd.
Bike from Motion Makers Bicycle Shop
Jackson Cruise FlexDrive Fishing Kayak from Southern Raft Supply
Alloy Rim Wheelset and stem by Industry Nine

There will also be a dozen additional runner-up prizes

There will be a separate drawings for each. Raffle participants will put their ticket(s) toward whichever item(s) they wish.

**** YOU NEED NOT BE PRESENT TO WIN**** For those unable to attend the event, tickets for the raffle may be purchased online, and we’ll enter them for you. Winners will be notified by email.
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*Children 12 and under may attend at no charge.

Learn more about the project at https://riverlink.org/

Community Garden located at the Buncombe County Sports Park.  
The mission of Sand HIll Community Garden is to share in garden space, knowledge, and labor with all members of the community.  Using organic growing practices we promote community health and wellness by providing fresh produce for garden members and local people in need of food.

– The Venardos Circus, a unique Broadway-Style Circus will return to Asheville, NC with performances at Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC from October 2-20, 2019. Created by former Ringling Bros. Ringmaster Kevin Venardos (veh-NARR-dos) in 2014, the Venardos Circus wraps world-class animal-free circus acts into a Broadway musical-style format dubbed, “The American Circus with the heart of a Broadway Show.” A big hit with local families in 2018, The Venardos Circus is excited to be back in town!

Guests can expect to be transported back in time to the center ring of a centuries-old tradition; but one that has been reinvented for the next generation. With an amazing assortment of aerialists, acrobats, juggling, hand-balancing/contortion, comedy, daredevilry, magic, musical production and much more, this amazing circus experience will truly delight adults and kids of all ages. Venardos Circus proudly features its own custom-made big-top, a classic red-and-white striped tent, with an intimate feel and limited seating. The circus performers also are the crew in this 15-person traveling tour who are completely self-contained, much like the original circus tradition.

“Circus is part of America’s cultural fabric and we want to keep that tradition alive for generations to come,” explained Ringmaster Kevin Venardos. “We look forward to bringing our Broadway-style circus show into Asheville again!”

An interactive pre-show party begins one hour before each show time with opportunities to meet the cast, snap selfies and play games. Classic circus treats like popcorn, nachos, fresh-made cotton candy and natural pink lemonade and more are available. The main event lasts approximately 90 minutes, with a brief intermission. Complete show schedule available at www.VenardosCircus.com.

General Admission Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for youth under 12 yrs. Babes in arms are free with a paying adult (24 months and younger). Premium Reserved seating is priced from $35 to $45.

Full details at www.Liveyourcircusdream.com.

About Venardos Circus
The Venardos Circus, a unique Broadway-Style Circus performance, has been touring the U.S. since its debut at the L.A. County Fair in 2014. It is reinventing the American Circus tradition for a new generation with Broadway-style flair; bringing joy to people across the U.S. Theatre lovers and nostalgic circus fans alike will appreciate the intimate experience and sentimental way the show pays homage to circus traditions through the lens of high-quality entertainment for a modern family audience