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, July 29, 2023
Heather Maloy’s Cleopatra
Jul 29 all-day
Dinana Wortham Theatre

Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance is a professional contemporary ballet company that has been delighting Asheville with cutting-edge dancing over the summer and is celebrating their 20th Anniversary with Heather Maloy’s Cleopatra.

Team esports video gaming – Open House
Jul 29 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
XP League Asheville

We are excited to share that XP League Asheville will have its Open House activities over the next few Saturdays where early sign-ups will receive a Founding Member discount for life. Are you thinking “What is XP League?” 🙂 A few years ago the founders of this NC based franchise recognized that online video game environments could be extremely toxic, so they created a league where kids ages 7-17 could join a team and play in person against other youth teams across the country while enjoying a safe environment, PCA certified coach-led sessions, and receive training on how to play with a positive mindset. Please scroll down to the calendar on this website to book the session that you want to attend:
https://asheville.xpl.gg/home

XP League Asheville – Open House, free trial coaching sessions
Jul 29 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
XP League Asheville - youth team esports

We are excited to share that XP League Asheville will have Open House activities on 7/29 from 10-2pm where you can book a free coaching session. All early registrations will receive a Founding Member discount – for life!
Team games we play include Fortnite, Minecraft (bed-wars), Rocket League, Valorant, Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, and League of Legends.
The founders of this NC based franchise created a league where kids ages 7-17 could join a team and enjoy high-level league play against other youth teams across the country, all while enjoying a safe environment, PCA certified coach-led sessions, and receive training on how to play with a positive mindset.
Please scroll to the calendar on this website to book the free coaching session that you want to attend:
https://asheville.xpl.gg/home

Social Game Night @ Hi-Wire Brewing (River Arts District)
Jul 29 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Hi-Wire Brewing (River Arts District)

Drinks, foods, gaming, and relaxing with great company!

Everyone is invited to Bring Your Own Games (optional). I’ll be bringing some card/board games and the Brewery has bocci ball, cornhole, and more! Kick some ass at your favorite game or pick up something entirely different while making new friends.

TERPSICORPS THEATRE OF DANCE PRESENTS Cleopatra
Jul 29 @ 8:00 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

Recommended for ages 12+ (adult content).

Truly a one-of-a-kind dance theater spectacle, Heather Maloy’s ‘Cleopatra’ is the crowning jewel of Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance’s 20th Anniversary Season. Featuring a cast of critically acclaimed dancers from ballet and contemporary companies across the US and abroad, the story of history’s first sex symbol is filled with intrigue, violence, splendor, love and tragedy.

The innovative dance theater’s most lavish production to date, ‘Cleopatra’ embodies the opulence and wonder of Cleopatra’s Alexandria, a city whose riches and scientific innovations were centuries ahead of their time. Runway worthy costumes with a contemporary flair inspired by ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, plus a two story set, multiple projection screens and the incomparable Terpsicorps dancers bring to life a true story more exciting than any piece of fiction.

Originally intending to title the work Antony & Cleopatra, Maloy’s research into the history of Egypt’s last Pharaoh introduced her to a woman much too complex, powerful and brilliant to share a title with any man. A scholar and scientist, diplomat and single mother, lover and calculating strategist… Cleopatra seduced the most powerful men in the world with her wit, intellect and sexuality. Let yourself be seduced. We dare you!

Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance has been producing cutting edge, world class dance in Asheville since 2003. Utilizing hand picked professional dancers in the summers when they are off contract from critically acclaimed dance companies, has given the dance lovers in our community the opportunity to enjoy performances of a caliber seldom seen outside of major metropolitan cities.

Foundy Street Full Moon Dance Party and Market under the Stars
Jul 29 @ 9:00 pm
Wedge at Foundation

Get ready for another epic night of dancing, witchy wonders, mystic vibes, and eclectic energy under the stars at Foundy Street’s next Full Moon Party!

Sunday, July 30, 2023
Game Day: Perspective Café
Jul 30 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Join Us This Sunday for a Traditional Game Day. Sunday Funday the Old-Fashioned Way!

The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang!  Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.

The Perspective Cafe will be offering special snacks and cocktails including $6 local beers and ciders, and freshly popped old-fashioned popcorn to enjoy while you play and enjoy a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.

Sundays Traditional Game Day
Jul 30 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.

The Perspective Café will be offering special snacks and cocktails to savor while you play and make a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Latin Night at Continuum
Aug 2 @ 12:00 am – 2:00 am
Continuum
Have you always wanted to learn Latin dances? Come join us for a fun night of salsa, bachata, merengue, cumbia, kizomba, and more! A free lesson will be offered in the back room, followed by social dancing on the huge, beautiful wood floors in the main room with an incredible DJ on the stage.

 

No partner or rhythm is needed and dress is casual!

 

This event will begin immediately after Swing night).

 

9:15-10:00pm Salsa lesson by Rafael Torres and Tola Sun (back room)

 

10:00-2:00am Social Dancing (main floors)

 

$10 (cash, card, Venmo, PayPal accepted) on the day of the event.

 

$22 for both events (swing and Latin)

 

This event is BYOB, but liquor and other beverages above 16% alcohol content are strictly prohibited.
Saturday, August 5, 2023
BMC Dance Performances + conversations w/ choreographers Eleanor Hullihan, Rashaun Mitchell, Silas Riener + Mina Nishimura
Aug 5 @ 11:00 am
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

11am roundtable conversation | 7pm performances

This event brings together accomplished dance artists Eleanor Hullihan, Rashaun Mitchell, Silas Riener and Mina Nishimura for a series of performances and conversations that examine Black Mountain College’s continuing influence on the world of dance. Join us for a roundtable conversation at 11am and dance performances beginning at 7pm.

BMC Dance is curated by Eleanor Hullihan.

Performances:

Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener
Performed by Mitchell and Riener, this performance draws from their embodied “Desire Lines” practice that combines movement, vocalization, and object manipulation into site-responsive, community-oriented performance installations. A desire line in landscape architecture refers to an unofficial route or social trail that breaks protocol with prescribed pathways, sometimes the shortest distance between two points, sometimes simply a good way to follow one’s curiosity. Desire lines represent an accumulated record of transformation in public space, a model for a permissive dance-making process that invites us to reimagine the self and its environment.

Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener are New York-based dance artists who create collaborative performance installations using improvisational techniques, digital technologies, audio scores, and material construction. They use movement to build speculative worlds which expose and reconcile the unfamiliar. Their physical practice synthesizes improvisation, formal dance training, athletic sports, building and construction. Their collaborative process involves the blurring of a professional and romantic relationship. Two very different sensibilities and experiences of race and culture synthesize and clash in ways that suggest comparative models for how to co-exist, assimilate, or reimagine society.

Since 2010 they have created over 25 multidisciplinary dance works including site-responsive installations, concert dances, gallery performances and dances for film. They have been artists-in-residence at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Mt Tremper Arts, pieter, Jacob’s Pillow, New York City Center, The Watermill Center, MANCC, Headlands Center for the Arts, BOFFO, Center for Ballet and the Arts, Petronio Residency Center, and Baryshnikov Arts Center. Their work has been commissioned by BAM/Next Wave, The Barbican, REDCAT, EMPAC, The Walker Art Center, MCA Chicago, The Wexner, On The Boards, Danspace Project, Madison Square Park Conservancy, The Joyce Theater, The LAB, Marfa Sounding, Gagosian Premieres, SFMOMA, and MoMA PS1. Mitchell and Riener are currently Caroline Hearst Artists in Residence, and inaugural members of NCC Akron’s multi-year Creative Administration Residency.

Photos of Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener by Paula Lobo and Alex John Beck.

Mina Nishimura
Untitled (confined madness / glorious zombie/ colored lines) is a practice of becoming a glorious zombie. No will power. No tangling thoughts. Supported by astral projection practice, peripherals of a performance site and images of marginalized beings, a body will keep being moved around without establishing anything. The work may incorporate colored line drawing in order to dig a well while flying high.

Mina Nishimura is a dance artist originally from Tokyo. Buddhism-influenced philosophical concepts are reflected across her somatic, performance and choreographic practices. She has been performing and collaborating with a number of groundbreaking artists, most recently including John Jasperse, Kota Yamazaki, Dean Moss, Yasuko Yokoshi and Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener. Nishimura is a recipient of Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award 2019, and was the 2021-22 Renewal Residency Artist at Danspace Project in NY, where she premiered Mapping a Forest while Searching for an Opposite Term of Exorcist in 2022. She currently teaches at Bennington College where she completed her MFA fellowship in 2021.

Photos of Mina Nishimura by Shane Prudente.

Eleanor Hullihan + Zach Cooper
miniatures 2023
A series of miniature studies performed by Eleanor Hullihan and Zach Cooper.

Eleanor Hullihan is a movement artist living in Asheville after many years dancing, teaching and creating performances in NYC. Her work is a journey of uncovering and physicalizing the delicate and magical internal world. She has performed with John Jasperse, Beth Gill, Andrew Ondrejcak, Sufjan Stevens, Jessica Dessner, Sarah Michelson, Miguel Gutierrez,  Jennifer Monson, Tere O’Connor, The Merce Cunningham Trust and Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener among others. Eleanor makes performances with Katy Pyle, Asli Bulbul, Emma Judkins, Adam Schatz, Zach Cooper and Jimmy Jolliff. She has been a contributing writer and curator for Movement Research. She is a movement coach for musicians and actors and maintains a pilates-based teaching practice for professional dancers and non dancers alike who seek deep and subtle support. Eleanor owned and operated two pilates studios in NYC and was on faculty at the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and Sarah Lawrence College. Eleanor attended UNCSA as a high school student and has a BFA from NYU Tisch Dance.

Zach Cooper is a Grammy award winning composer, producer and songwriter based in Black Mountain, North Carolina. He has contributed to works by Leon Bridges, Jazmine Sullivan, Jon Batiste, Moses Sumney, Billy Porter, and Ellie Goulding, among others. Zach is also a founding member of experimental soul group King Garbage. His work has been featured in Pitchfork, The Fader, Rolling Stone, and Guitar World magazine, and he’s released records with RVNG Int’l, Styles Upon Styles and Mike Patton’s Ipecac Recordings.

Sunday, August 6, 2023
Sundays Traditional Game Day
Aug 6 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.

The Perspective Café will be offering special snacks and cocktails to savor while you play and make a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.

Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Flatfoot Clogging Class for Beginners with Linda Block
Aug 8 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Pack Memorial Library

Join us for the final installment of our summertime series, the History of WNC/Appalachian Music with Buncombe County Special Collections.

Flatfoot clogging for beginners!

We’ll have two dance classes at Pack Memorial Library to teach you how to Appalachian clog/flat foot dance. Learn from one of the best instructors in the area, Linda Block, from the Green Grass Cloggers.

Classes are free to attend, but registration is required. Adults and families are welcome (recommended for ages 8 and up). Children should be accompanied by an adult.

Make sure to wear comfortable clothing and shoes that can slide but stay on your feet! Open toed shoes are not recommended.

The programs are held in the Pack Memorial Library auditorium on Tuesday, August 8 from 6-7 PM and Tuesday, August 29 from 6-7 PM.

Please wear comfortable clothing, water bottles with lids are welcome.

Sunday, August 13, 2023
Sundays Traditional Game Day
Aug 13 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.

The Perspective Café will be offering special snacks and cocktails to savor while you play and make a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.

Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Summer BINGO at Fairview Library
Aug 15 @ 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Fairview Library
Friday, August 18, 2023
Black Box Dance Theatre presents PATRIOT
Aug 18 @ 7:30 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

Black Box Dance Theatre’s PATRIOT returns to the Diana Wortham Theatre at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts with Asheville’s Brothers and Sisters Like These and local veterans for an encore performance of an evening length work of multimedia dance, theatre and story-telling that examines the service and sacrifice of veterans, active-duty military, their families and those they serve.

Saturday, August 19, 2023
GRAND OPENING – youth team esports league
Aug 19 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
XP League Asheville

We are excited to share that XP League Asheville will have its GRAND OPENING on August 19th where all registrations will receive a Founding Member discount = for life. We plan to have Food Trucks, free chair massages for the parents, and fun activities for kids too young to play on the gaming laptops!
Games we play include Fortnite, Minecraft (bed-wars), Rocket League, Valorant, Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, and League of Legends.
A few years ago the founders of this NC based franchise recognized that online video game environments could be extremely toxic, so they created a league where kids ages 7-17 could join a team and play in person against other youth teams across the country while enjoying a safe environment, PCA certified coach-led sessions, and receive training on how to play with a positive mindset.
Please scroll down to the calendar on this website to book the session that you want to attend:
https://asheville.xpl.gg/home

Sunday, August 20, 2023
Sundays Traditional Game Day
Aug 20 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.

The Perspective Café will be offering special snacks and cocktails to savor while you play and make a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.

Fringe Summer Nights Vol. 3: Strange Daughters Butoh, The Accidentals + Justin Evans
Aug 20 @ 6:00 pm
Wedge at Foundation

The last of our 3 Fringe Summer Nights will have pop up performances, Asheville Fringe announcements, cold beverages and weirdo camaraderie. Join us!
Featuring:
Strange Daughters Butoh
The Accidentals
Justin Evans

Donations go to artists. Donate to Asheville Fringe at https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?donation=afs

Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Ping-Pong Tuesday Tournament
Aug 22 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Shakedown Kava Lounge

Players of all skill levels gather at Shakedown Kava Lounge (Hendersonville’s kava
bar) every Tuesday for the kava bar’s weekly Table Tennis Tournament, Games to 11, best of 3, double elimination, paddles
included, winner receives eternal glory and a $25 bar tab, Entry is free.

Thursday, August 24, 2023
City Dance
Aug 24 @ 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.

Friday, August 25, 2023
Pardee Hospital Foundation’s Casino Night
Aug 25 @ 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Burntshirt Vineyards

Mark your calendar for Pardee Hospital Foundation’s first-ever Casino Night,

featuring casino games with live dealers, musical entertainment, delicious food

and locally sourced beer and wine on August 25 at Burntshirt Vineyards. Proceeds from this special event will support UNC Health Pardee’s growing cardiology program.

A limited number of tickets will be available. Don’t miss the fun! Buy your ticket today.

You or your business can also become part of the action by sponsoring one of our game tables or food and beverage tables, or by serving as our prestigious “High Roller” presenting sponsor! Benefits are numerous and include recognition on the Pardee Hospital Foundation website, in media leading up to the event, and in the event program.

SHREK RAVE
Aug 25 @ 7:00 pm
The Orange Peel

Shrek Rave Tickets | Asheville, NC | The Orange Peel (etix.com)

Ages 18+

IT’S DUMB JUST COME HAVE FUN. WHO CARES. COOL IS DEAD.

Saturday, August 26, 2023
Funk Show with Boogi Therapi
Aug 26 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Hickory Nut Gap Farm

It’s time to raise the barn roof, shake the tailfeathers and Boogi! We welcome for the first time BOOGI THERAPI to the Big Barn here at Hickory Nut Gap Farm in gorgeous Fairview, NC! Come out from 6pm-9pm to to enjoy some R&B, Funk & More from one of Asheville’s best funk party bands in the area, fronted by Ryan ‘R&B’ Barber this group of talented entertainers will keep y’all

You’re gonna need fuel to get down- we have ROOT DOWN FARM food truck! Headed by Ben Holt out of Yancey County and his family, this food truck will be slinging some truly fabulous farm-to-table fare featuring all local and seasonal delights from the area.

Hickory Nut Gap will have a bar serving local beers, ciders, seltzers and non-alcoholic beverages to slake your thirst between bumps. We cannot wait to get down and have some Boogi Therapi at the farm, it’s gonna be a booty-ful night…

PET POLICY: While we normally allow leashed pets on the grounds, we ask you leave your furry friends at home for the Barn Dances.

Learn more about the Band & their music HERE

Learn more about the Food Truck & their food HERE

Game Night!
Aug 26 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Hi-Wire Brewing RAD

Game night is back on Saturday nights!!

Come prepared to laugh, make new friends, and most of all have fun!

We will be hosting every other Saturday (or so) at Hi-Wire RAD!

Time is 7:00PM-9:00ish

Now that its SUMMER (woohoo!!!) look for us when you first walk in. We are setup and playing outside. Even if a little rain, it’s mostly covered..

If the weather seems more on the sketchy side we can always move to the tables inside if need be.

Look for us there if you dont see us setup outside.

This is rain or shine—–weather is not a factor😎

We have a mix of games, but you can being your favorites too~~

This will be a public event so feel free to invite friends!

SILENT DISCO: HEY YA! OUTKAST DANCE PARTY
Aug 26 @ 9:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Rabbit Rabbit

SILENT DISCO: HEY YA! OUTKAST DANCE PARTY

DJ CAMARO & DJ SPENCE

SILENT DISCO: VIDEO DJ/MASHUP NIGHT
Aug 26 @ 9:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Rabbit Rabbit

Ages 18+ (under 18 must be accompanied by a parent)

Sunday, August 27, 2023
Sundays Traditional Game Day
Aug 27 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.

The Perspective Café will be offering special snacks and cocktails to savor while you play and make a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.

Monday, August 28, 2023
7 Wonders Board Game Tournament
Aug 28 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Well Played
Dust off your crown, outshine Babylon & build Rome in a day! Join the 7 Wonders Board Game Tournament on Aug 28th at Well Played.
Hear ye, hear ye! Adventurers of all realms are summoned to the epic 7 Wonders Board Game Tournament at Well Played Board Game Cafe on the 28th of August.
Unearth your strategic prowess, outbuild the Pyramids, outshine Babylon, and prove that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but your victory can be. As you stake your claim on world wonder after world wonder, remember: It’s all fun and games until someone loses a civilization! So don your thinking caps, arm yourself with tactics, and may the best empire builder reign supreme in this thrilling duel of wits and whimsy!
In partnership with Asmodee Games, we’re offering each entrant a glittering token of appreciation – a free promo/discount from Asmodee Games just for playing! All participants will also receive a free game pass for the day.
But for those with an insatiable thirst for glory, grander rewards lie in wait. From the ancient ruins of victory, winners will rise with their hands heavy with awesome prizes. So don’t just sit there. Build an empire!
The game is afoot, the dice are waiting, and glory could be but a play away!
Weekly Ping Pong Tournament
Aug 28 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Sovereign Kava

Asheville’s best ping-pong players join Asheville’s worst table-tennis players at Sovereign Kava every Thursday at 7 p.m. to battle for glory and a $50 bar tab. No charge.
Whether you learned to play in the basement as a kid, or in a prison as a young adult, or in a rehab facility as an older adult, this is the tournament for you.
Located just down the hill on the Asheville-side of Mission Hospital, we are convenient walking distance to medical help after you get your heart broken on our Butterfly table.
Bring your paddle or borrow one of ours. Open to all skill levels and clothing styles. Beginners welcome. Hell, we’re ALL rusty after not playing during the Pandemic so don’t let that stop you.
Our table-tennis table is open for play 7 days a week, noon to 11 p.m. unless there’s a music event.
Here’s a link to a video from our 2019 table tennis tourney:
https://youtu.be/w_1EFEzx9sA

Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Flatfoot Clogging Class for Beginners with Linda Block
Aug 29 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Pack Memorial Library

Join us for the final installment of our summertime series, the History of WNC/Appalachian Music with Buncombe County Special Collections.

Flatfoot clogging for beginners!

We’ll have two dance classes at Pack Memorial Library to teach you how to Appalachian clog/flat foot dance. Learn from one of the best instructors in the area, Linda Block, from the Green Grass Cloggers.

Classes are free to attend, but registration is required. Adults and families are welcome (recommended for ages 8 and up). Children should be accompanied by an adult.

Make sure to wear comfortable clothing and shoes that can slide but stay on your feet! Open toed shoes are not recommended.

The programs are held in the Pack Memorial Library auditorium on Tuesday, August 8 from 6-7 PM and Tuesday, August 29 from 6-7 PM.

Please wear comfortable clothing, water bottles with lids are welcome.