Calendar of Events
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.
New Year, Tiki This: Gather your friends and loved ones to ring in 2020. Indulge in paradise-themed sips at our grandiose holiday themed, tropical oasis at our rooftop bar. Revel in a champagne toast at midnight while taking in sparkling city views.
Tickets are $135 per/person and include:
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Three drinks of your choice
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Two small plate offerings
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One midnight champagne
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New Year’s-themed party favors
*This is a capped event in our intimate rooftop space, so tickets are limited
**Take the Elevator Home: buy 2+ tickets & receive a discounted Hyatt Place Asheville Downtown hotel rate
Say goodbye to 2019 and toast in the New Year with us, live music, sweet treats, and of course, lots of bubbly! Rustic Grape is hosting a ticketed date night event in our cozy, intimate wine bar with Lindsey Meyers, an incredibly talented local musician who will be singing all of our favorite songs. Bring your date or bestie for a fun NYE!
We will be offering a fun & festive drink menu which includes the cutest half bottles of Champagne, sparkling wines, rich fruity red wines, full-bodied whites, house-made mocktails, and our fabulous Pomsettia Champagne Cocktail. All of these drinks pair sweetly with our array of dark chocolates, local cheeses, and other decadent bites!
$50 per couple, What your ticket includes: (ticket includes gratuity)
- Reserved seating for your sweet treat, Artisan dessert board for two filled with Patty’s house-made sweet bites, Melissa’s chocolate truffles, along with local gourmet cheeses.
- A complimentary midnight bubbles toast!
- Live local music with Lindsey Meyers.
Can’t make our festive night? Wine bar opens at 6pm to start your celebratory night out! Come grab a cozy glass of wine before dinner or swing by after to catch some fantastic live music and toast to 2020!
*A limited number of event tickets will be available at the door for $60 IF available, but we expect this event to sell out! Walk-ins welcome for free music and our regular menu.
Ready to go WILD? Join us for a trip “off the eaten path.” You’ll learn how to safely gather edible wild plants, mushrooms, and other “extreme cuisine.” Stay for a stunning view of the sunset and enjoy dinner at Vue 1913 featuring a free appetizer with the edibles you met on your tour. Suitable for all ages and abilities. To register or for more info, see here. Three-hour foraging tours also available, year-round, by arrangement.
Wild food is the ultimate natural food: ultra-local, fresher, more flavorful, 10 to 100 times more nutritious than its garden-variety descendants, AND it’s free! With over 300 wild edibles, Western North Carolina is the richest temperate ecosystem on Earth. For a taste of the wild life, forage ahead and experience the life of a modern hunter-gather firsthand. It’s a unique experience in self-catering, a memorable lesson in high-class survival.
Join Integrative Physician, Cynthia Libert, M.D. to learn body, mind and soul care practices for vibrant emotional health and resilience during times of stress.
Dr. Libert is a board certified Family Physician and diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine.
She specializes in Functional Medicine, with an emphasis on nutrition, the gut-brain connection, hormone balance, mood disorders, and the prevention of memory loss and cognitive decline.
Please let us know if you are planning to attend. Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or by calling the office at 828.490.1545. Let us know your name, phone number, e-mail address and if you are bringing any friends so that we can plan ahead and contact you in case the event is cancelled due to inclement weather.
9:00 am – 10:30 am
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
| Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23 |
 The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.
Details include: * About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads. It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba. Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
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On holiday break from a 100-city world tour, Justin Ray is home in Asheville for the release of his first big band recording. Join us for this live performance from Justin & his 18-piece orchestra!
The Justin Ray Big Band plays original music deeply rooted in the swing of Ellington and Basie, with lyrical themes that are both current and timeless.
Justin Ray started his musical career as a bebop trumpet player, performing in venues all over the country. In 2003, he began to tour the world with the Michael Bublé band as the trumpet soloist. While with Bublé, Justin was given the opportunity to perform the works of some of the great composers/arrangers of the big band genre (Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones, etc.), and he began working for Bublé in that capacity as well, becoming the primary orchestrator for the band in 2008. In 2015, Justin founded Elephant Sword Studios. The studio’s initial focus was to produce and record original big band arrangements of the standard American songbook repertoire, but that focus changed in 2017. Elephant Sword is now dedicated to original music for big band. Style and swing are still at the center, but no musical or lyrical influence is out of bounds. This is big band music for the millennium.
9:00 am – 10:30 am
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
What ingredients go into making sausage? How do you grind, mix, and stuff a sausage by hand? What’s the difference between an Italian sausage and a bratwurst?
Learn about these topics and more in one of our most popular classes: DIY Sausage & Beer!
WHAT TO EXPECT
- MIX & MINGLE: Before the sausage-making begins, we’ll give you an overview of the process while you sample local and house-made charcuterie and sip on beer from a local brewery (TBA) or a glass of wine. You’ll also get to mingle and chat with other students in the class.
- MIX, GRIND & STUFF: Next, we’ll head into our cut room. (Dress warmly! It’s chilly in there!) You’ll learn about the ingredients and spices that go into different kinds of sausages. Then, our butchers will show you how to mix, grind, and stuff sausages. This is a hands-on class and you’ll get to make your own sausages from start to finish.
- LEARN: During the class, we’ll explain how to cook sausages and pair them with other foods and beverages. Questions are not only welcome, but encouraged!
- TAKE IT HOME: Take home the sausage you make, plus PDF notes and recipes from the class.
Would you like to learn more about how literacy changes our students’ lives?
Please join us for coffee and a one-hour tour of the Literacy Council.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES for 2020
Friday, January 10 – 9am | Monday, February 10 – 4pm | Friday, March 13 – 9am
Monday, April 13 – 4pm | Friday, May 8 – 9am | Monday, June 8 – 4pm
Ready to go WILD? Join us for a trip “off the eaten path.” You’ll learn how to safely gather edible wild plants, mushrooms, and other “extreme cuisine.” Stay for a stunning view of the sunset and enjoy dinner at Vue 1913 featuring a free appetizer with the edibles you met on your tour. Suitable for all ages and abilities. To register or for more info, see here. Three-hour foraging tours also available, year-round, by arrangement.
Wild food is the ultimate natural food: ultra-local, fresher, more flavorful, 10 to 100 times more nutritious than its garden-variety descendants, AND it’s free! With over 300 wild edibles, Western North Carolina is the richest temperate ecosystem on Earth. For a taste of the wild life, forage ahead and experience the life of a modern hunter-gather firsthand. It’s a unique experience in self-catering, a memorable lesson in high-class survival.
Auditions will be held at the Education Building located at 1855 Little River Road in Flat Rock on Friday, Jan. 10th and Saturday, Jan. 11th. Participants from all experience levels are welcome, from the young to the young at heart, rookies or seasoned veterans. Roles are both human and animal characters. For more information, including character lists and audition materials, visit www.flatrockplayhouse.org.
Friday, January 10 th 4pm-7pm Saturday, January 11 th 10am-2pm Callbacks will be held Tuesday, January 14th 4pm-7pm
| Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23 |
| The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.
Details include: * About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads. It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba. Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
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Auditions will be held at the Education Building located at 1855 Little River Road in Flat Rock on Friday, Jan. 10th and Saturday, Jan. 11th. Participants from all experience levels are welcome, from the young to the young at heart, rookies or seasoned veterans. Roles are both human and animal characters. For more information, including character lists and audition materials, visit www.flatrockplayhouse.org.
Friday, January 10 th 4pm-7pm Saturday, January 11 th 10am-2pm Callbacks will be held Tuesday, January 14th 4pm-7pm
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ENJOY YOUR LIFE Asheville
| Enjoy Your Life GAME NIGHT at the ARCHETYPE Come join us for a Game Night! Bring your favorite game (board game, cards, dominoes, etc.) and your favorite snack. There are also restaurants nearby where you can purchase food and bring it… |
| Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23 |
| The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.
Details include: * About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads. It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba. Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
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On Sunday, January 12th, 2020 1 PM – 5 PM we will gather at Penny Cup Coffee (River Arts District) for a Townsend & Roney Canvass Blitz. With a short primary season before the March 3rd primary, we need your help knocking on doors. At this canvas blitz, we will hold a canvass training followed by boots on the ground door knocking. For more information and to RSVP, use the following link: https://actionnetwork.org/events/townsend-roney-canvass-blitz
In order to get the Asheville we all deserve, we must work together. We hope you and your neighbors will join us in 2020.
Learn about how their hogs are pasture raised from their farm director Asher Wright. He will discuss heritage breeds, health benefits of pasture raised pork and how various inputs on the production side impact the quality of the meat. Enjoy a beautiful spread of their in-house made charcuterie & a locally crafted adult beverage of your choice. Watch head butcher Brian Bermingham demonstrate how to break down each part of a Heritage breed hog, explaining each step of the process along the way. Class is $100 per person.
Ready to go WILD? Join us for a trip “off the eaten path.” You’ll learn how to safely gather edible wild plants, mushrooms, and other “extreme cuisine.” Stay for a stunning view of the sunset and enjoy dinner at Vue 1913 featuring a free appetizer with the edibles you met on your tour. Suitable for all ages and abilities. To register or for more info, see here. Three-hour foraging tours also available, year-round, by arrangement.
Wild food is the ultimate natural food: ultra-local, fresher, more flavorful, 10 to 100 times more nutritious than its garden-variety descendants, AND it’s free! With over 300 wild edibles, Western North Carolina is the richest temperate ecosystem on Earth. For a taste of the wild life, forage ahead and experience the life of a modern hunter-gather firsthand. It’s a unique experience in self-catering, a memorable lesson in high-class survival.
This class will explain how Medicare works, the enrollment process, how to avoid penalties, and ways to save money. People who are new to Medicare, caregivers, and others who help senior citizens with their Medicare insurance should consider attending this informative class. The information presented is unbiased and accurate. No products are sold, recommended, or endorsed.
| Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23 |
| The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.
Details include: * About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads. It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba. Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
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Join Black Bear Jan. 18 for a pop-up brunch featuring Candied Pork Belly Burnt Ends, Tasso & Grits, Smoked Trout Toast and more. This will be an open seating even and quantities are limited.
The 19th Annual Fletcher Chili Cook-Off is free to enter, all types of chili will be accepted and awards given out, donations will be accepted to make improvements at Bill Moore Community Park, Veritas Christian Academy,
Meetup members pay just $10 at the door! Join the Western North Carolina based podcasters from Mountain Murders for an afternoon of true crime, comedy, booze and live audience participation!
| Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23 |
| The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.
Details include: * About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads. It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba. Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
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Retreatants will be invited to pause, to stop running, to stop ‘doing’, to calm minds and bodies and be at ease. During this retreat, the focus is on reconciliation, transformation, healing and how to bring quantitative change in one’s life by the mindfulness practices of walking, eating and sitting meditation, connecting with ancestors, deep listening, loving speech and the practice of touching the earth. A retreat is an opportunity to let go of worry and anxiety about the past and the future, rest, and begin to be present for what is happening in the present moment.
The retreat is being led by Sister True Moon of Clear Grace, a resident nun at Heartwood who received her novice ordination in the Plum Village Vietnamese Zen tradition headed by the Venerable Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Sister Clear Grace shares that, “the practice of mindfulness has been the greatest source of insight and transformation to heal from injustices of all kinds. It has helped me to learn truths and unlearn deeply embedded beliefs that have kept me away from the liberation of such sufferings in my daily life.”
This retreat is suitable for both beginning and experienced mindfulness practitioners. Participants may register to stay at Heartwood or sign up for the commuter option. More information, registration and other retreats at www.heartwoodrefuge.org.
Sister Clear Grace is a member of the Care Taking Council for the Earth Holder Community, a mindful Earth/Social justice initiative in the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. She is a Core member for ARISE Sangha (Awakening through Race, Intersectionality, and Social Equity), a community of mindfulness practitioners and monastics who come together to heal the wounds of racial injustice and social inequity, beginning with looking deeply within oneself and using energy of compassion, understanding, and love in action.
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center, located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, provides interfaith meditation and wellness retreat. Heartwood is neither defined by a single lineage, nor confined by any single sect or practice. Heartwood hosts teachers from all faiths and wisdom traditions to share teachings and activities that promote compassion and clarity, whether through traditional wisdom or new thought.