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.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Latin Night Wednesday
Aug 11 @ 9:00 pm – 11:59 pm
One World Brewing West

Latin Night Wednesday

MTN VIBEZ Presents Latin Night-every Wednesday.  Free Dance Lessons 8:30-9PM-All Skill Levels and All Latin Genres-Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cumbia, Reggaeton.

DJ Ephcto spins cultural bass music from 6:30pm-9pm and is a perfect time to come for some dinner prior to the start of Latin night.

Move On Up: Soul/R+B
Aug 11 @ 9:00 pm – Aug 12 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

“Move On Up” is a night of your favorite and forgotten Soul/RB cuts right after Comedy Night.

Thursday, August 12, 2021
Salsa Night Thursday
Aug 12 @ 9:30 pm – Aug 13 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

Spice up your life with Latin sounds by local DJs Nex Millen & Mtn Vibez every Thursday.

Super bonus if you come early and get Dance Lessons from our knowladable instructors and get your body ready with sabor for the night. NO COVER All events 21+

Friday, August 13, 2021
Music On Main: Emporium
Aug 13 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Hendersonville Visitor Center

Music on Main features a diverse line-up ranging from pop, oldies, rock, to contemporary music – there’s something for every musical taste! The family-friendly event offers concessions such as hot dogs, ice cream, pretzels and lemonade for sale.

Classic car shows are held in conjunction with Music on Main. The car shows are located in front of the Wells Fargo between Barnwell and Caswell Streets, which will be closed to traffic. For more information about the classic car shows, contact the Carolina Mountain Car Club.

Bring a chair and enjoy an evening of live music from 7 pm-9 pm.  The audience seating area opens after 5:30 pm, early admission is prohibited.  Admission is free. Alcoholic beverages, backpacks, or coolers are prohibited.

In case of inclement weather, the concert will be postponed until 8pm.  If the weather does not improve by 8 pm the performance will be canceled.

Everybody Free Dance Party
Aug 13 @ 10:00 pm – Aug 14 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

DJ Dance Party with Meseret & Zati 🎧 Every Friday Nigh it’s you, it’s dark house and the dance floor. NO COVER 21+

Saturday, August 14, 2021
Chow Chow Culinary Festival: IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Aug 14 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
MAKING WHOLE

Community is central to the human experience, giving us a sense of belonging to something
greater than ourselves. Connecting with others through shared experiences directly impacts
our physical, emotional and mental health. Join Chow Chow for a delicious meal and
discussion celebrating how community is created and nourished in our region, specifically
around the essential element of food. As you dine, you’ll hear from neighbors Sunil Patel,
who created the village-scale Patchwork Urban Farms in West Asheville; April Jones, founder
of Pinehurst Farmers Market, which addresses food sovereignty in Columbia, SC; and
Jeremy French and his team at Making Whole, a fine furniture studio and addiction recovery
program built into the framework of a traditional apprenticeship program, where every day
includes preparing and enjoying a shared meal around a communal dining table.

Jump Off Rock Music Festival
Aug 14 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Jump Off Rock
Black Box Dance Theatre presents PATRIOT
Aug 14 @ 7:00 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

In 2019, partnering with the NC Arts Council and the USO, Black Box Dance Theatre (BBDT) began the creation of PATRIOT, an evening-length work of multimedia dance, theater, and storytelling that is a living memorial of emotionally charged, virtuosic dancing examining the service and sacrifice of US veterans, active-duty military and their families. In 2021 BBDT will premier PATRIOT in veteran and military communities throughout NC and beyond. BBDT has a long history with the USO of NC as part of its nationally recognized Warrior, Spouse and Family Reset Programs. Aimed to build resiliency, Resets support military service members and their families through movement, dance and storytelling workshops to help them deal with the ongoing mental wellness challenges of military life, including deployment and reintegration. In addition to the Resets, PATRIOT is an invitation for participants to bring their experiences and stories to a larger platform.

The performance of PATRIOT is inspired by the non-fiction stories collected during Resets and first-hand experiences of BBDT dancers. The choreographed framework of PATRIOT allows for the integration of community performers. The lens of hero, veteran, spouse, and protestor are threads that have emerged. Alfredo, a Purple Heart Veteran injured by a 400 lb bomb in Iraq; Roy, a non-combat veteran who was drafted out of school; Nikki, a military spouse and mother who carries the stress of her husband’s deployments; and Steven, a war protestor who struggles with supporting his brother who recently joined the Army all bring authentic voices to the art-making. Moments of pageantry, humor, physicality, and humility have surfaced in the making of PATRIOT. Differing views, differing abilities, differing voices are given stage.

Wortham Center Presents Black Box Dance Theatre in “PATRIOT”
Aug 14 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wortham Center

A living memorial of emotionally charged, virtuosic choreography, “PATRIOT” by Black Box Dance Theatre examines the service and sacrifice of U.S. veterans, active-duty military and their families — turning real, submitted accounts into moving stories told through modern dance. Using movement, multimedia, theater and storytelling to address the ongoing mental wellness challenges of military life, Black Box Dance Theatre shares these powerful, lived experiences at Wortham Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets: $35, with discounts available for military service members and their families. Box office: 828-257-4530 or worthamarts.org.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Aquanet: Goth Night
Aug 17 @ 9:00 pm – Aug 18 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Latin Night Wednesday
Aug 18 @ 9:00 pm – 11:59 pm
One World Brewing West

Latin Night Wednesday

MTN VIBEZ Presents Latin Night-every Wednesday.  Free Dance Lessons 8:30-9PM-All Skill Levels and All Latin Genres-Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cumbia, Reggaeton.

DJ Ephcto spins cultural bass music from 6:30pm-9pm and is a perfect time to come for some dinner prior to the start of Latin night.

Move On Up: Soul/R+B
Aug 18 @ 9:00 pm – Aug 19 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

“Move On Up” is a night of your favorite and forgotten Soul/RB cuts right after Comedy Night.

Thursday, August 19, 2021
PERFORMANCE: CHRISTOPHER-RASHEEM MCMILLAN
Aug 19 @ 7:00 pm
Online

Thursday, August 19 at 7 PM Eastern

Streaming to the event page, FB live + IGTV (@bmcmuseum)

“The Long Way Home,” a new solo work by Christopher-Rasheem Mcmillan, poses a way of contending with the Black body as a composite body, one that is connected to, affirms, and disrupts the archive and Historiography. Through this solo dance performance, McMillan tracks the Merce Cunningham technique through diaspora, emphasizing that the diaspora is never the homeland: it’s never home, it’s always somehow both exile in migration and in travel; different from, yet somehow always in dialogue with, its genesis.

Christopher-Rasheem McMillan, is a performance-related artist and scholar. He has a joint appointment between Dance and Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. McMillan received his BA from Hampshire College, his MFA in Experimental Choreography from the Laban Conservatoire, London, and his PhD in Theology and Religious Studies from King’s College, London (2017).

His interests concern choreography in an expanded field, something that he has approached through experimental practices and creative processes in a multiplicity of formats and expressions. He uses video, performance, photography, and oral storytelling to explore themes of race, memory, queer desire, religion, personal and public mythology. McMillan’s performance works have been seen at venues such as the Bates Dance Festival of Bates College, Providence International Arts Festival (PVD), and The Dance Complex, and Green Street Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in performance platforms such as the 2011 participatory event Beyond Text, London. He was a Five College Fellow for the 2013–14 academic year and the recipient of the McGreggor-Girand Dissertation Fellowship for the 2014–15 academic year. His writing has been published in The Journal of DanceMovement & SpiritualitiesKinebago, and Contact Quarterly. Currently, McMillan is a fellow and visiting assistant professor at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale College’s Theater and Performance Studies department.

Salsa Night Thursday
Aug 19 @ 9:30 pm – Aug 20 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

Spice up your life with Latin sounds by local DJs Nex Millen & Mtn Vibez every Thursday.

Super bonus if you come early and get Dance Lessons from our knowladable instructors and get your body ready with sabor for the night. NO COVER All events 21+

Friday, August 20, 2021
Everybody Free Dance Party
Aug 20 @ 10:00 pm – Aug 21 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

DJ Dance Party with Meseret & Zati 🎧 Every Friday Nigh it’s you, it’s dark house and the dance floor. NO COVER 21+

Saturday, August 21, 2021
Chow Chow Culinary Festival: EMBROIDERED NAPKINS WITH ECHOVIEW FIBER MILL
Aug 21 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Online

Learn to add a special touch to your dinner or cocktail napkins with an embroidery
demonstration and class with Echoview Fiber Mill. Attendees will also learn about natural
dyes, including dyes that can be made from kitchen scraps and plants in your own
backyard. Attendees will receive a kit with naturally dyed threads (five colors), one cloth
napkin, one embroidery needle and stitch templates from Echoview Fiber Mill in the mail
prior to the class. (Must register by August 1 to receive kit).

Sunday, August 22, 2021
16th Annual Come to Leicester Studio Tour
Aug 22 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Community of Leicester, NC

For the 16th year in a row, artists in this small community will open their studios to the public for the annual Come to Leicester Studio Tour. This free, self-guided event is held every third weekend in August, with this year’s tour dates being August 21st and 22nd, 10 AM to 6PM each day.

Visitors choose their own tour stops using a printed brochure with a full-color map of the area, and bold signs direct to the individual studios. The tour route travels through some of the most scenic rural countryside in Western North Carolina. Along the way, visitors can view beautiful, hand-crafted work and meet the artists who create it. The variety of arts and crafts includes brooms, pottery, painting, furniture, iron work, fiber art, and stained glass. Come join the tour on August 21 & 22!

Monday, August 23, 2021
2021 Street Dances: Blue Ridge Tradition with Southern Connection Cloggers
Aug 23 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

 

The Street Dances have been a tradition for over 100 years in Downtown Hendersonville! They began in 1918, at the end of World War I, when the city welcomed home its soldiers from the War by celebrating in the streets, and became nationally known after they were included in the guidebook Blue Ridge Music Trails, Finding A Place In The Circle, written by Fred S. Fussell. The guidebook was winner of the first PRESERVE AMERICA Presidential Award for Heritage Tourism.

The sounds of fiddles and banjos playing at the Street Dances have been a part of Henderson County’s heritage for more than 100 yearscalling people of all ages to journey to downtown Hendersonville to enjoy toe-tapping-good mountain music.

Hendersonville comes alive with people listening to the traditional mountain and bluegrass music performed by a live band, square dancing and special appearances are often made by area clogging teams for a foot stomping evening.

Bring a chair and enjoy an evening of live music from 7 pm-9 pm. The audience seating area opens after 5:30 pm, early admission is prohibited.  Admission is free. Alcoholic beverages, backpacks, or coolers are prohibited.

Enjoy free, live music at the Visitor Center every Monday & Friday evening in July and August! Click here to learn more about Monday Night Live! and here to learn more about Music on Main Concerts.

Click to download a copy of the 2021 Summer Music Series brochure.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021
STOMP
Aug 24 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Center

stomp

Explosive. Inventive. Utterly Unique.

STOMP doesn’t have a storyline or dialogue like traditional musicals or plays. Instead, the eight-member troupe uses everything but percussion instruments – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, and hubcaps, to name a few – to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms.

Over the past 20 years, STOMP has grown into an international sensation. A fan-favorite amongst television hosts and audiences, STOMP members have performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and “The Today Show.” All the while, the production has accumulated awards and recognition, including an Olivier Award for Best Choreography, a New York Obie Award, and a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatre Experience (and unique, it is!).

You may have seen STOMP before, but with two new pieces, you’ve never seen it like this! Join in on the journey through sound, a celebration of the every day, and a comic interplay of characters wordlessly communicating through dance and drum. STOMP – see what the noise is all about.

STOMP has a beat that just won’t quit!” – San Francisco Chronicle

“If you haven’t seen STOMP, GO! If you have seen it, take someone and share the pleasure!” – Boston Globe

Official Website

Aquanet: Goth Night
Aug 24 @ 9:00 pm – Aug 25 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
STOMP
Aug 25 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Center

stomp

Explosive. Inventive. Utterly Unique.

STOMP doesn’t have a storyline or dialogue like traditional musicals or plays. Instead, the eight-member troupe uses everything but percussion instruments – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, and hubcaps, to name a few – to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms.

Over the past 20 years, STOMP has grown into an international sensation. A fan-favorite amongst television hosts and audiences, STOMP members have performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and “The Today Show.” All the while, the production has accumulated awards and recognition, including an Olivier Award for Best Choreography, a New York Obie Award, and a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatre Experience (and unique, it is!).

You may have seen STOMP before, but with two new pieces, you’ve never seen it like this! Join in on the journey through sound, a celebration of the every day, and a comic interplay of characters wordlessly communicating through dance and drum. STOMP – see what the noise is all about.

STOMP has a beat that just won’t quit!” – San Francisco Chronicle

“If you haven’t seen STOMP, GO! If you have seen it, take someone and share the pleasure!” – Boston Globe

Official Website

Latin Night Wednesday
Aug 25 @ 9:00 pm – 11:59 pm
One World Brewing West

Latin Night Wednesday

MTN VIBEZ Presents Latin Night-every Wednesday.  Free Dance Lessons 8:30-9PM-All Skill Levels and All Latin Genres-Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cumbia, Reggaeton.

DJ Ephcto spins cultural bass music from 6:30pm-9pm and is a perfect time to come for some dinner prior to the start of Latin night.

Move On Up: Soul/R+B
Aug 25 @ 9:00 pm – Aug 26 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

“Move On Up” is a night of your favorite and forgotten Soul/RB cuts right after Comedy Night.

Thursday, August 26, 2021
Chow Chow Culinary Festival: FERMENTING CHANGE
Aug 26 @ 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Funkatorium

Explore the world of fermented foods with us! Fermentation is transformation. Fermentation
preserves both our food and our cultural diversity and connects us to thousands of years
of hands-on knowledge and ingenuity. The Southern Appalachian culinary and beverage
community includes many devotees of this time-honored process. Join us for a delicious
and informative dinner that showcases the many creative fermentation processes that are
practiced in our region: kimchi, beer and kombucha, cheeses, chocolates, breads, coffee, sake,
charcuterie, kefir, sour beers, hot sauces, natural wines, miso and pickled Appalachian produce.
Meg Chamberlain of Fermenti will lead an engaging discussion, and guests will enjoy the
opportunity to meet and shop with local makers, to bring some fermented goodness home!

City Dance
Aug 26 @ 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.

Salsa Night Thursday
Aug 26 @ 9:30 pm – Aug 27 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

Spice up your life with Latin sounds by local DJs Nex Millen & Mtn Vibez every Thursday.

Super bonus if you come early and get Dance Lessons from our knowladable instructors and get your body ready with sabor for the night. NO COVER All events 21+

Friday, August 27, 2021
5th Annual Cat Fly Film Fest
Aug 27 all-day
Multiple Venues Including The Orange Peel, The Funkatorium and the Grail Moviehouse

Experience Asheville’s premiere independent film festival! We are a non-profit, competitive festival with the mission to cultivate a spirited collective of homegrown filmmakers. We uplift up-and-coming filmmakers of Asheville and the Southeast with screenings, workshops, music performances and after parties throughout the weekend.

BYOF – Bring Your Own Film

8pm at Fleetwood’s Chapel

496 Haywood Rd
West Asheville, North Carolina

It’s like an open mic, but movies. Bring a USB drive with a film 7 minutes or less and share with the community. First come, first service. 

Open to the public and donations go to future festival screenings.

WORKSHOP #1 – INQUEERY

10am-11:30am at Asheville School of Film

45 S French Broad Ave #120, Asheville, NC 28801

INQUEERY is a creative workshop designed for LGBTQIA2S+ people to connect and reflect on their lived experiences through visualizations, creative writing and story. This offering also includes time to read an excerpt from and discuss Asheville-based feature film script Whistle Down Wind, which is currently in development.

Open to the public and 100% of donations go to the instructors.

WORKSHOP #2 – Comrades Help Comrades Make Movies

12pm-3pm at Asheville School of Film

45 S French Broad Ave #120, Asheville, NC 28801

Running an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable set on a hyper indie budget.

Private Work in Progress screening of the feature film E IS FOR with the Co-Writer/Director, Writer/Producer/Lead, DP and EP in attendance with discussion and feedback opportunities.

Pull up a seat at the table and we’ll deep dive into how we made a feature film during the time of COVID and how our intention to honor the insight and labor of our comrades shaped everything from the budget, size of the crew and much of the creative while preserving and sustaining the mental health and experience of everyone on set. We’ll outline resources, cover funding hurdles, pre-production workflow, paperwork and set ethics.

Open to the public and 100% of donations go to the instructors.

SCREENING – Opening Night

Doors at 7pm, Screening at 8pm at The Barrelhouse at the Funkatorium

147 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Arrive dressed to impress in (encouraged) black tie attire to witness the “best of” in indie drama, comedy, and documentary short films.

Buy Tickets Here

AFTER DARK

Doors at 10pm at Cultivated Cocktails Tasting Room

25 Page Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Keep the party going into the night. Featuring a local DJ and exclusive Cat Fly projection installation and living gallery highlighting local and regional animated films.

Included with purchase of any screening.

Rooftop Pool Party

12pm-5pm at Aloft Air Level

51 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina 28801 USA

Present your VIP badge or ticket to any screening to hotel check-in for a key to access the pool.

Included with purchase of any screening.

WORKSHOP #3 – Gillybear Presents: “Garbage Monsters”

3pm-5pm at Asheville School of Film

45 S French Broad Ave #120, Asheville, NC 28801

A look at low-budget, big-impact Special Effects for filmmakers who ain’t got two nickels to rub together.

Open to the public and 100% of donations go to the instructors.

SCREENING – Community Night

Doors at 7pm, Screening at 8pm at The Orange Peel

101 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Weird, experimental and off-the-beaten path shorts from up-and-coming filmmakers of Asheville and the Southeast.

Buy tickets here

Everybody Free Dance Party
Aug 27 @ 10:00 pm – Aug 28 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

DJ Dance Party with Meseret & Zati 🎧 Every Friday Nigh it’s you, it’s dark house and the dance floor. NO COVER 21+

Saturday, August 28, 2021
5th Annual Cat Fly Film Fest
Aug 28 all-day
Multiple Venues Including The Orange Peel, The Funkatorium and the Grail Moviehouse

Experience Asheville’s premiere independent film festival! We are a non-profit, competitive festival with the mission to cultivate a spirited collective of homegrown filmmakers. We uplift up-and-coming filmmakers of Asheville and the Southeast with screenings, workshops, music performances and after parties throughout the weekend.

BYOF – Bring Your Own Film

8pm at Fleetwood’s Chapel

496 Haywood Rd
West Asheville, North Carolina

It’s like an open mic, but movies. Bring a USB drive with a film 7 minutes or less and share with the community. First come, first service. 

Open to the public and donations go to future festival screenings.

WORKSHOP #1 – INQUEERY

10am-11:30am at Asheville School of Film

45 S French Broad Ave #120, Asheville, NC 28801

INQUEERY is a creative workshop designed for LGBTQIA2S+ people to connect and reflect on their lived experiences through visualizations, creative writing and story. This offering also includes time to read an excerpt from and discuss Asheville-based feature film script Whistle Down Wind, which is currently in development.

Open to the public and 100% of donations go to the instructors.

WORKSHOP #2 – Comrades Help Comrades Make Movies

12pm-3pm at Asheville School of Film

45 S French Broad Ave #120, Asheville, NC 28801

Running an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable set on a hyper indie budget.

Private Work in Progress screening of the feature film E IS FOR with the Co-Writer/Director, Writer/Producer/Lead, DP and EP in attendance with discussion and feedback opportunities.

Pull up a seat at the table and we’ll deep dive into how we made a feature film during the time of COVID and how our intention to honor the insight and labor of our comrades shaped everything from the budget, size of the crew and much of the creative while preserving and sustaining the mental health and experience of everyone on set. We’ll outline resources, cover funding hurdles, pre-production workflow, paperwork and set ethics.

Open to the public and 100% of donations go to the instructors.

SCREENING – Opening Night

Doors at 7pm, Screening at 8pm at The Barrelhouse at the Funkatorium

147 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Arrive dressed to impress in (encouraged) black tie attire to witness the “best of” in indie drama, comedy, and documentary short films.

Buy Tickets Here

AFTER DARK

Doors at 10pm at Cultivated Cocktails Tasting Room

25 Page Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Keep the party going into the night. Featuring a local DJ and exclusive Cat Fly projection installation and living gallery highlighting local and regional animated films.

Included with purchase of any screening.

Rooftop Pool Party

12pm-5pm at Aloft Air Level

51 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina 28801 USA

Present your VIP badge or ticket to any screening to hotel check-in for a key to access the pool.

Included with purchase of any screening.

WORKSHOP #3 – Gillybear Presents: “Garbage Monsters”

3pm-5pm at Asheville School of Film

45 S French Broad Ave #120, Asheville, NC 28801

A look at low-budget, big-impact Special Effects for filmmakers who ain’t got two nickels to rub together.

Open to the public and 100% of donations go to the instructors.

SCREENING – Community Night

Doors at 7pm, Screening at 8pm at The Orange Peel

101 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Weird, experimental and off-the-beaten path shorts from up-and-coming filmmakers of Asheville and the Southeast.

Buy tickets here

Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Aquanet: Goth Night
Aug 31 @ 9:00 pm – Sep 1 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy