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, July 29, 2020
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Jul 29 all-day
Online

Old Farmer's Ball

What:  Local musicians, singers, callers, and technicians have given us joy as they shared their love of music and dance with us.  We now ask our community to return that joy as they struggle financially during this difficult time by donating to our “Spread the Joy” fundraiser.

Who:  All donations will be paid directly and equally to local talent.  Your contributions will support local callers, musicians, and technicians who participated, a minimum of 4 times, either in the past year (March 2019 – March 2020) or were scheduled in the near future (March – June 2020) for OFB events and who indicated a financial need to the OFB Board.

When:  The OFB will distribute donations on a regular basis while dances continue to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so please give early and often. Consider donating the price you would have paid for admission to the dances for you, maybe several friends, and remembering that the dances were cancelled back in early March.

How:  Click the link below to donate via Paypal and please add the note: “Spread the Joy fundraiser”. Donate conveniently via your credit card, debit card or your Paypal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PYS3WHNV76CWA&source=url

Staff Picks of the Week BMC: Tap-Dancing Noses At The Royal Opera House
Jul 29 all-day
Online

Tap-Dancing Noses At
The Royal Opera House

Don’t miss this scene from Shostakovich’s surreal and vibrant first opera, featuring tap-dancing noses.

Tour Flat Rock Playhouse’s Garden
Jul 29 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

Despite the cancellation of the Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2020 season due to COVID-19, folks are being encouraged to take time to enjoy the lush gardens on the grounds of the historic campus.

With a QR code reader on any smartphone, garden visitors can tap into information about the individual plants wherever they’re standing. The codes direct the phone to webpages on a Muddy Sneakers site that the garden volunteers control.

The Master Gardners have been hard at work adding some tech to our gardens! QR codes can now be found on the 62 garden beds that make up the Playhouse gardens. Visitors can use their smartphones to learn more about the plants they are seeing. Congratulations and thank you to Tamsin Allpress and all of our gardening volunteers who work to keep our gardens beautiful! Photo by volunteer Mary Smit

Yellow and
                            black striped caterpillar on orange flowers

Strolling through History Online Tour
Jul 29 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Online

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, sky and outdoor

This year, we weren’t able to host our “Strolling through History” series of walking tours, but thanks to some awesome work by interns we hosted from UNC Asheville this spring, they will be partially available virtually!

Enjoy “Scrolling” through history from your couch, or grab your tablet or smartphone and follow the tour in real life. (Make sure to follow local safety guidelines!)

The tours will be posted as links in this event discussion. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Thursday, July 30, 2020
Self-Guided Driving and Walking Tours Smith-McDowell House
Jul 30 all-day
Smith-McDowell House Museum

The residents of Buck House were woven in to the fabric of Asheville.

This driving tour begins at the Smith-McDowell House Museum on the campus of A-B Tech and continues through historic sites related to early occupants of the house.

Staff Picks of the Week BMC: Tap-Dancing Noses At The Royal Opera House
Jul 30 all-day
Online

Tap-Dancing Noses At
The Royal Opera House

Don’t miss this scene from Shostakovich’s surreal and vibrant first opera, featuring tap-dancing noses.

Tour Flat Rock Playhouse’s Garden
Jul 30 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

Despite the cancellation of the Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2020 season due to COVID-19, folks are being encouraged to take time to enjoy the lush gardens on the grounds of the historic campus.

With a QR code reader on any smartphone, garden visitors can tap into information about the individual plants wherever they’re standing. The codes direct the phone to webpages on a Muddy Sneakers site that the garden volunteers control.

The Master Gardners have been hard at work adding some tech to our gardens! QR codes can now be found on the 62 garden beds that make up the Playhouse gardens. Visitors can use their smartphones to learn more about the plants they are seeing. Congratulations and thank you to Tamsin Allpress and all of our gardening volunteers who work to keep our gardens beautiful! Photo by volunteer Mary Smit

Yellow and
                            black striped caterpillar on orange flowers

Strolling through History Online Tour
Jul 30 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Online

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, sky and outdoor

This year, we weren’t able to host our “Strolling through History” series of walking tours, but thanks to some awesome work by interns we hosted from UNC Asheville this spring, they will be partially available virtually!

Enjoy “Scrolling” through history from your couch, or grab your tablet or smartphone and follow the tour in real life. (Make sure to follow local safety guidelines!)

The tours will be posted as links in this event discussion. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Mitch’s Totally Rad Trivia
Jul 30 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The One Stop at Asheville Music Hall

Scoop: Mitch's Totally Rad TRIVIA

Mitch Fortune brings you an irreverent and nostalgia filled night of pop culture trivia every Thursday night 7-9 pm at the One Stop in Downtown Asheville. A potpourri of movies, music, TV show trivia just for you!

Friday, July 31, 2020
Blue Ridge Craft Trails Month
Jul 31 all-day
Throughout Henderson County

July is the Blue Ridge Craft Trails Month in Henderson County, hosted by the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. Explore three distinct trails guide visitors through the towns of Hendersonville and Flat Rock, and into the Blue Ridge Mountain countryside, showcasing 18 nationally-renowned artists in their studios and galleries on this self-guided tour.

Self-Guided Driving and Walking Tours Smith-McDowell House
Jul 31 all-day
Smith-McDowell House Museum

The residents of Buck House were woven in to the fabric of Asheville.

This driving tour begins at the Smith-McDowell House Museum on the campus of A-B Tech and continues through historic sites related to early occupants of the house.

Staff Picks of the Week BMC: Tap-Dancing Noses At The Royal Opera House
Jul 31 all-day
Online

Tap-Dancing Noses At
The Royal Opera House

Don’t miss this scene from Shostakovich’s surreal and vibrant first opera, featuring tap-dancing noses.

Tour Flat Rock Playhouse’s Garden
Jul 31 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

Despite the cancellation of the Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2020 season due to COVID-19, folks are being encouraged to take time to enjoy the lush gardens on the grounds of the historic campus.

With a QR code reader on any smartphone, garden visitors can tap into information about the individual plants wherever they’re standing. The codes direct the phone to webpages on a Muddy Sneakers site that the garden volunteers control.

The Master Gardners have been hard at work adding some tech to our gardens! QR codes can now be found on the 62 garden beds that make up the Playhouse gardens. Visitors can use their smartphones to learn more about the plants they are seeing. Congratulations and thank you to Tamsin Allpress and all of our gardening volunteers who work to keep our gardens beautiful! Photo by volunteer Mary Smit

Yellow and
                            black striped caterpillar on orange flowers

Hemp Xpress Trolley:  Cruisin’ Asheville 
Jul 31 @ 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Carolina Hemp Company

 The Hemp X Hot Box:Roll with us Fridays from 5-10pm as we coast a route through West Asheville and Downtown. Stops at UpCountry Brewing, One World Brewing West, Foggy Mountain, and The One Stop. We’ll have smokable and edible hemp products for purchase to enjoy alongside any wine or beer you bring yourselves (closed containers only). We’re happy to provide an affordable way for locals and visitors to Roll Up, Stay Safe and Party Down! Cruisin Asheville July 10th, July 31st, August 7th, August 21st. More dates to come! 

Purchase Tickets on board! One Way Pass $3 and All Night Unlimited Pass $5

Private Rentals: Spark up your next Asheville area celebration with our personalized rental platform! We offer several packages at different price tiers to best cater to your party’s needs! Our team is dedicated to working with you to create an experience that will leave your guests (and your smoke) blown away!

The Hemp Xpress is dedicated to the safety of the Asheville community; public routes and experiences are operating at half capacity within social distance guidelines. Hand sanitizer is readily available to riders, and surfaces are regularly sanitized. Buncombe County requires a face mask be worn in public places.

Drive-Up Dance Performance at the Asheville Outlets- Stewart/Owen Dance
Jul 31 @ 7:00 pm
Asheville Outlets

Experience an immersive dance performance from the comfort of your car at the Asheville Outlets. Drive-In passes are sold per car and include a parking space to enjoy the performance from inside your vehicle. Wearing of face-masks is required at any Wortham Center performance and event. All guests will be required to wear masks except when in personal vehicle.

Stewart Owen Dance

Stewart/Owen Dance: What Remains


Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart are the co-founders of the WNC based Stewart/Owen Dance, where they co-produce original dance, film and music. Their careers span many genres of concert dance, and most notably took them across the globe on fifteen U.S. State Department tours to teach, perform and choreograph contemporary dance with Washington DC-based Company E. Their work abroad influences them to share dance as a universal language that can connect people across different cultures and beliefs and they use this as a driving force in their collaborations. They won the Audience Choice Award at the Dance Gallery Festival 2018 in New York City and were commissioned to create new work as Level UP Artists for Dance Gallery 2019. Vanessa and Gavin are recipients of a McDowell Regional Artist Grant and were voted “Artists Who Most Pushed the Boundaries with the Human Body” by Asheville Fringe Arts Festival.

Saturday, August 1, 2020
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 1 all-day
Online

Old Farmer's Ball

What:  Local musicians, singers, callers, and technicians have given us joy as they shared their love of music and dance with us.  We now ask our community to return that joy as they struggle financially during this difficult time by donating to our “Spread the Joy” fundraiser.

Who:  All donations will be paid directly and equally to local talent.  Your contributions will support local callers, musicians, and technicians who participated, a minimum of 4 times, either in the past year (March 2019 – March 2020) or were scheduled in the near future (March – June 2020) for OFB events and who indicated a financial need to the OFB Board.

When:  The OFB will distribute donations on a regular basis while dances continue to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so please give early and often. Consider donating the price you would have paid for admission to the dances for you, maybe several friends, and remembering that the dances were cancelled back in early March.

How:  Click the link below to donate via Paypal and please add the note: “Spread the Joy fundraiser”. Donate conveniently via your credit card, debit card or your Paypal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PYS3WHNV76CWA&source=url

Self-Guided Driving and Walking Tours Smith-McDowell House
Aug 1 all-day
Smith-McDowell House Museum

The residents of Buck House were woven in to the fabric of Asheville.

This driving tour begins at the Smith-McDowell House Museum on the campus of A-B Tech and continues through historic sites related to early occupants of the house.

Tour Flat Rock Playhouse’s Garden
Aug 1 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

Despite the cancellation of the Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2020 season due to COVID-19, folks are being encouraged to take time to enjoy the lush gardens on the grounds of the historic campus.

With a QR code reader on any smartphone, garden visitors can tap into information about the individual plants wherever they’re standing. The codes direct the phone to webpages on a Muddy Sneakers site that the garden volunteers control.

The Master Gardners have been hard at work adding some tech to our gardens! QR codes can now be found on the 62 garden beds that make up the Playhouse gardens. Visitors can use their smartphones to learn more about the plants they are seeing. Congratulations and thank you to Tamsin Allpress and all of our gardening volunteers who work to keep our gardens beautiful! Photo by volunteer Mary Smit

Yellow and
                            black striped caterpillar on orange flowers

Drive-Up Dance Performance at the Asheville Outlets- Stewart/Owen Dance
Aug 1 @ 7:00 pm
Asheville Outlets

Experience an immersive dance performance from the comfort of your car at the Asheville Outlets. Drive-In passes are sold per car and include a parking space to enjoy the performance from inside your vehicle. Wearing of face-masks is required at any Wortham Center performance and event. All guests will be required to wear masks except when in personal vehicle.

Stewart Owen Dance

Stewart/Owen Dance: What Remains

Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart are the co-founders of the WNC based Stewart/Owen Dance, where they co-produce original dance, film and music. Their careers span many genres of concert dance, and most notably took them across the globe on fifteen U.S. State Department tours to teach, perform and choreograph contemporary dance with Washington DC-based Company E. Their work abroad influences them to share dance as a universal language that can connect people across different cultures and beliefs and they use this as a driving force in their collaborations. They won the Audience Choice Award at the Dance Gallery Festival 2018 in New York City and were commissioned to create new work as Level UP Artists for Dance Gallery 2019. Vanessa and Gavin are recipients of a McDowell Regional Artist Grant and were voted “Artists Who Most Pushed the Boundaries with the Human Body” by Asheville Fringe Arts Festival.

Drive-Up Dance Performance at the Asheville Outlets- Stewart/Owen Dance
Aug 1 @ 9:00 pm
Asheville Outlets

Experience an immersive dance performance from the comfort of your car at the Asheville Outlets. Drive-In passes are sold per car and include a parking space to enjoy the performance from inside your vehicle. Wearing of face-masks is required at any Wortham Center performance and event. All guests will be required to wear masks except when in personal vehicle.

Stewart Owen Dance

Stewart/Owen Dance: What Remains

Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart are the co-founders of the WNC based Stewart/Owen Dance, where they co-produce original dance, film and music. Their careers span many genres of concert dance, and most notably took them across the globe on fifteen U.S. State Department tours to teach, perform and choreograph contemporary dance with Washington DC-based Company E. Their work abroad influences them to share dance as a universal language that can connect people across different cultures and beliefs and they use this as a driving force in their collaborations. They won the Audience Choice Award at the Dance Gallery Festival 2018 in New York City and were commissioned to create new work as Level UP Artists for Dance Gallery 2019. Vanessa and Gavin are recipients of a McDowell Regional Artist Grant and were voted “Artists Who Most Pushed the Boundaries with the Human Body” by Asheville Fringe Arts Festiva

Sunday, August 2, 2020
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 2 all-day
Online

Old Farmer's Ball

What:  Local musicians, singers, callers, and technicians have given us joy as they shared their love of music and dance with us.  We now ask our community to return that joy as they struggle financially during this difficult time by donating to our “Spread the Joy” fundraiser.

Who:  All donations will be paid directly and equally to local talent.  Your contributions will support local callers, musicians, and technicians who participated, a minimum of 4 times, either in the past year (March 2019 – March 2020) or were scheduled in the near future (March – June 2020) for OFB events and who indicated a financial need to the OFB Board.

When:  The OFB will distribute donations on a regular basis while dances continue to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so please give early and often. Consider donating the price you would have paid for admission to the dances for you, maybe several friends, and remembering that the dances were cancelled back in early March.

How:  Click the link below to donate via Paypal and please add the note: “Spread the Joy fundraiser”. Donate conveniently via your credit card, debit card or your Paypal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PYS3WHNV76CWA&source=url

Tour Flat Rock Playhouse’s Garden
Aug 2 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

Despite the cancellation of the Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2020 season due to COVID-19, folks are being encouraged to take time to enjoy the lush gardens on the grounds of the historic campus.

With a QR code reader on any smartphone, garden visitors can tap into information about the individual plants wherever they’re standing. The codes direct the phone to webpages on a Muddy Sneakers site that the garden volunteers control.

The Master Gardners have been hard at work adding some tech to our gardens! QR codes can now be found on the 62 garden beds that make up the Playhouse gardens. Visitors can use their smartphones to learn more about the plants they are seeing. Congratulations and thank you to Tamsin Allpress and all of our gardening volunteers who work to keep our gardens beautiful! Photo by volunteer Mary Smit

Yellow and
                            black striped caterpillar on orange flowers

Tuesday, August 4, 2020
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 4 all-day
Online

Old Farmer's Ball

What:  Local musicians, singers, callers, and technicians have given us joy as they shared their love of music and dance with us.  We now ask our community to return that joy as they struggle financially during this difficult time by donating to our “Spread the Joy” fundraiser.

Who:  All donations will be paid directly and equally to local talent.  Your contributions will support local callers, musicians, and technicians who participated, a minimum of 4 times, either in the past year (March 2019 – March 2020) or were scheduled in the near future (March – June 2020) for OFB events and who indicated a financial need to the OFB Board.

When:  The OFB will distribute donations on a regular basis while dances continue to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so please give early and often. Consider donating the price you would have paid for admission to the dances for you, maybe several friends, and remembering that the dances were cancelled back in early March.

How:  Click the link below to donate via Paypal and please add the note: “Spread the Joy fundraiser”. Donate conveniently via your credit card, debit card or your Paypal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PYS3WHNV76CWA&source=url

Thursday, August 6, 2020
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 6 all-day
Online

Old Farmer's Ball

What:  Local musicians, singers, callers, and technicians have given us joy as they shared their love of music and dance with us.  We now ask our community to return that joy as they struggle financially during this difficult time by donating to our “Spread the Joy” fundraiser.

Who:  All donations will be paid directly and equally to local talent.  Your contributions will support local callers, musicians, and technicians who participated, a minimum of 4 times, either in the past year (March 2019 – March 2020) or were scheduled in the near future (March – June 2020) for OFB events and who indicated a financial need to the OFB Board.

When:  The OFB will distribute donations on a regular basis while dances continue to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so please give early and often. Consider donating the price you would have paid for admission to the dances for you, maybe several friends, and remembering that the dances were cancelled back in early March.

How:  Click the link below to donate via Paypal and please add the note: “Spread the Joy fundraiser”. Donate conveniently via your credit card, debit card or your Paypal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PYS3WHNV76CWA&source=url

Riverlink Bus Tours 2020
Aug 6 @ 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
New Belgium Brewery

Because of the Covid-19 situation, we will book tours on an individual basis. Please contact our office at 828-246-6777 or [email protected]. We will not mix groups with people who do not know each other.

Join us as we explore the history of the French Broad River and its seminal place in the development of Asheville–from the time when Native Americans lived along its banks to the Buncombe Turnpike, the railroad, and industries of yesteryear. On the tour you’ll hear about:

    • How the river has changed since the days of George Vanderbilt, Thomas Wolfe, and when NASCAR greats Richard Petty and Junior Johnson raced cars in the area.
    • The 1950s when Wilma Dykeman asked, “Who poisoned the river?” in her groundbreaking book, “The French Broad.”
    • The current-day thriving River Arts District, the beautiful chain of parks along the riverfront greenway, and the recreational opportunities that abound.
    • The great work of the RiverLink and our many partners (government, corporations, civic, non-profit conservation groups, and individuals) that have worked together to protect, preserve, and enhance the riverfront area so that locals and visitors alike can enjoy its beauty and grandeur.

If you like history and you appreciate environmental sustainability, this tour is for you.

Mitch’s Totally Rad Trivia
Aug 6 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The One Stop at Asheville Music Hall

Scoop: Mitch's Totally Rad TRIVIA

Mitch Fortune brings you an irreverent and nostalgia filled night of pop culture trivia every Thursday night 7-9 pm at the One Stop in Downtown Asheville. A potpourri of movies, music, TV show trivia just for you!

Friday, August 7, 2020
Virtual Tour Asheville Art Museum
Aug 7 all-day
Online
Take a 3D Museum Tour: Even while we’re closed, we want to share the Museum and exhibitions with you and your family at home! Take a virtual walk through the galleries and explore each artwork. Within the 3D tour, click the smARTguide links on the yellow dots to hear audio information about selected works of art. Scroll down on the Museum From Home page to find tours of each level, and click here to learn more about the Museum’s exhibitions.
Hemp Xpress Trolley:  Cruisin’ Asheville 
Aug 7 @ 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Carolina Hemp Company

 The Hemp X Hot Box:Roll with us Fridays from 5-10pm as we coast a route through West Asheville and Downtown. Stops at UpCountry Brewing, One World Brewing West, Foggy Mountain, and The One Stop. We’ll have smokable and edible hemp products for purchase to enjoy alongside any wine or beer you bring yourselves (closed containers only). We’re happy to provide an affordable way for locals and visitors to Roll Up, Stay Safe and Party Down! Cruisin Asheville July 10th, July 31st, August 7th, August 21st. More dates to come! 

Purchase Tickets on board! One Way Pass $3 and All Night Unlimited Pass $5

Private Rentals: Spark up your next Asheville area celebration with our personalized rental platform! We offer several packages at different price tiers to best cater to your party’s needs! Our team is dedicated to working with you to create an experience that will leave your guests (and your smoke) blown away!

The Hemp Xpress is dedicated to the safety of the Asheville community; public routes and experiences are operating at half capacity within social distance guidelines. Hand sanitizer is readily available to riders, and surfaces are regularly sanitized. Buncombe County requires a face mask be worn in public places.

Saturday, August 8, 2020
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 8 all-day
Online

Old Farmer's Ball

What:  Local musicians, singers, callers, and technicians have given us joy as they shared their love of music and dance with us.  We now ask our community to return that joy as they struggle financially during this difficult time by donating to our “Spread the Joy” fundraiser.

Who:  All donations will be paid directly and equally to local talent.  Your contributions will support local callers, musicians, and technicians who participated, a minimum of 4 times, either in the past year (March 2019 – March 2020) or were scheduled in the near future (March – June 2020) for OFB events and who indicated a financial need to the OFB Board.

When:  The OFB will distribute donations on a regular basis while dances continue to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so please give early and often. Consider donating the price you would have paid for admission to the dances for you, maybe several friends, and remembering that the dances were cancelled back in early March.

How:  Click the link below to donate via Paypal and please add the note: “Spread the Joy fundraiser”. Donate conveniently via your credit card, debit card or your Paypal account.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PYS3WHNV76CWA&source=url

Tour Flat Rock Playhouse’s Garden
Aug 8 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

Despite the cancellation of the Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2020 season due to COVID-19, folks are being encouraged to take time to enjoy the lush gardens on the grounds of the historic campus.

With a QR code reader on any smartphone, garden visitors can tap into information about the individual plants wherever they’re standing. The codes direct the phone to webpages on a Muddy Sneakers site that the garden volunteers control.

The Master Gardners have been hard at work adding some tech to our gardens! QR codes can now be found on the 62 garden beds that make up the Playhouse gardens. Visitors can use their smartphones to learn more about the plants they are seeing. Congratulations and thank you to Tamsin Allpress and all of our gardening volunteers who work to keep our gardens beautiful! Photo by volunteer Mary Smit

Yellow and
                            black striped caterpillar on orange flowers