Kick off spring in the mountains at the 23rd annual French Broad River Festival.  It’s part outdoor adventure, part music festival with whitewater rafting, biking, hiking, kid’s village, camping, great music, and much more.  Painter John, a popular FBRF musician, compares the atmosphere to “a big potluck at your best friend’s house”.  If you’ve been you know . . . what better way to enjoy spring in these mountains?

$120 online by 3/31/20
$125 online by 4/30/20
$140 at gate
$65 Saturday only
$45 whitewater rafting

February 20 – March 6, 2020

We are challenging our student-athlete alumni, parents, and the Bulldog community members to make a gift in support of UNC Asheville Athletics teams.

The Bulldog Challenge is back for its seventh year, and this year is set to be bigger and better than ever! Teams will be competing for the highest number of unique donors.

Your gift makes a direct impact by providing scholarships, tutoring, and essential academic support that allows your Bulldogs to compete at the highest level.

Every dollar – and every donor – helps strengthen our student-athletes’ experience. Give back and help your team create the next generation of champions – on the court and in the classroom.

How Can I Support the Bulldog Challenge?

There are a number of ways you can make a gift to support the Bulldog Challenge!

Whether you want to offer a matching or challenge gift to inspire more donors or you want to make a stock gift – we can help!  to learn how you can increase your impact during the 2020 Bulldog Challenge!

March 5th, 11am | Women’s Session 1 – Buy Tickets

March 6th, 11am | Women’s Session 2 – Buy Tickets

March 6th, 5pm | Men’s Session 1 – Buy Tickets

March 7th, 12pm-4pm | Men’s Session 2 – Buy Tickets

March 7th, 5pm-9pm | Men’s Session 3 – Buy Tickets

March 8th, 12pm | Women’s Championship – Buy Tickets

March 8th, 4pm | Men’s Session 4 – Buy Tickets

March 9th, 6pm | Men’s Championship Game – Buy Tickets

Tickets for the 2019 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships presented by General Shale are now on sale through Ticketmaster and the U.S. Cellular Center Box Office. The tournaments return to Asheville, North Carolina, and the U.S. Cellular Center for the seventh consecutive year.

All 10 SoCon men’s teams and all eight women’s teams will converge on Asheville for the tournaments, which begin with the women’s quarterfinals on Thursday, March 7. The women’s final will be Sunday, March 10, at noon Eastern, while the men’s final will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 11. Mercer is the defending women’s champion and UNC Greensboro is the defending men’s champion.

The tournament week will feature the return of the Downtown Dribble on the morning of Saturday, March 9, and the third annual Ingles Jamfest, a free concert and tailgate on March 10.

Several different ticket packages are available for purchase. Information about various ticket packages and how to purchase them is below.

Courtside Package (All Sessions)

Contact Madison Davis at 828-734-2433 or email [email protected].

This courtside VIP experience allows you to be part of the action. This package includes 2 Premium Courtside seats, 2 VIP passes, and a parking space in the exhibition level of the USCC for every session. There are a limited number of seats available.

VIP All-Session Package (All Sessions )

Call the box office at 828-259-5736 or email Laura Weston, [email protected].

Enjoy a reserved seat close the action and VIP Hospitality access. VIP Hospitality will open one hour prior to each session and will include pre-game meals and complimentary beer and wine.

General Admission Tournament Book – $120

Available through Ticketmaster or the U.S. Cellular Center Box Office (828-259-5736)

General Admission Single Session – $20

Available through Ticketmaster or the U.S. Cellular Center Box Office (828-259-5736)

Youth (6-12)/SoCon Student Single Session – $10 (kids 5 and under get in free)

Available at U.S. Cellular Center Box Office (828-259-5736)

Single Session Group Rate (10 or more tickets to a single session) – $15 per ticket

Contact Andrew Lawrence at 919-418-6545 or email [email protected].

Draft your co-workers, BFFs, and neighborhood pals in your quest for kickball stardom! Registration for Buncombe County Recreation Services’ (BCRS) popular Adult Kickball League has opened. All games will be played on Wednesday evenings  from April 8-May 20 at Charles D. Owen Park (875 Warren Wilson Road in Swannanoa). Staggered matches will start at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., and 8 p.m.

REGISTER HERE

“We host low-cost adult sport and recreation leagues throughout the year including dodgeball and volleyball, but kickball is our most popular. It always sells out since it’s easy to learn for any skill level,” said Mac Stanley, BCRS Program Coordinator. “The league offers a low-stress, fun atmosphere in which to stay active and connect with others. The move to Charles D. Owen Park allows us to play multiple games at the same time which means we can start later in the evening for those folks busy with work, school, or parenting. Plus the mountain views can’t be beat!”

Registration is open through March 20 and cost $35 per player. Players can sign up as an individual, small group, or full team. Individuals and small groups will be placed together to form full teams.

Teams are co-ed and consist of 9-16 players, with at least three players of the opposite sex. (If a team is majority female, there must be at least three male players. If a team is majority male, there must be at least three female players.) Registration fees include a team shirt and help offset the cost of referees and field maintenance.

Follow Buncombe County Recreation on Facebook and Instagram.

Each spring, hundreds of locals 50+ years-old enjoy participating in the Asheville-Buncombe Senior Games and Silver Arts. This year’s program will be held at locations throughout Buncombe County from Tuesday, April 14-Friday, May 15. Registration is $5 before March 9 or $10 after that date. Military veterans may register for free.

To register, fill out a registration form (see documents below) or register online at ncseniorgames.org. Archery and pickleball have registration deadline dates.

Sports include basketball, bocce, croquet, football throw, softball throw, golf, cycling, track and field, archery, cheerleading, bowling, swimming, billiards, badminton, cornhole, horseshoes, pickleball, racquetball, shuffleboard, tennis, and table tennis. Miniature golf, rowing, and team softball and basketball are new this year. Age categories start at 50 and increase at five year intervals.

Silver Arts categories are classified as Heritage (quilting, woodwork, crochet, basket weaving, jewelry, needlework, tole painting, weaving, knitting, pottery, stained glass, woodcarving, and woodturning), Visual (solo, small group, and large group), Performing, Literary (poem, short story, essay, and life experience), and Contemporary. Art pieces will be displayed at Buncombe County Libraries in April and May.

A full schedule can be accessed below as a PDF.

Follow Buncombe County Recreation on Facebook and Instagram.

Kick off spring in the mountains at the 23rd annual French Broad River Festival.  It’s part outdoor adventure, part music festival with whitewater rafting, biking, hiking, kid’s village, camping, great music, and much more.  Painter John, a popular FBRF musician, compares the atmosphere to “a big potluck at your best friend’s house”.  If you’ve been you know . . . what better way to enjoy spring in these mountains?

$120 online by 3/31/20
$125 online by 4/30/20
$140 at gate
$65 Saturday only
$45 whitewater rafting

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

1. Community Food

2. Cooking

3. Earth Skills

4. Farmers: Beginning

5. Farmers: Experienced

6. Gardening: Beginning

7. Gardening: Experienced

8. Herbs

9. Homesteading

10. Livestock

11. Mushrooms

12. Permaculture

13. Poultry

14. Soils

15. Sustainable Forestry

16. Sustainable Living

17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

March 5th, 11am | Women’s Session 1 – Buy Tickets

March 6th, 11am | Women’s Session 2 – Buy Tickets

March 6th, 5pm | Men’s Session 1 – Buy Tickets

March 7th, 12pm-4pm | Men’s Session 2 – Buy Tickets

March 7th, 5pm-9pm | Men’s Session 3 – Buy Tickets

March 8th, 12pm | Women’s Championship – Buy Tickets

March 8th, 4pm | Men’s Session 4 – Buy Tickets

March 9th, 6pm | Men’s Championship Game – Buy Tickets

Tickets for the 2019 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships presented by General Shale are now on sale through Ticketmaster and the U.S. Cellular Center Box Office. The tournaments return to Asheville, North Carolina, and the U.S. Cellular Center for the seventh consecutive year.

All 10 SoCon men’s teams and all eight women’s teams will converge on Asheville for the tournaments, which begin with the women’s quarterfinals on Thursday, March 7. The women’s final will be Sunday, March 10, at noon Eastern, while the men’s final will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 11. Mercer is the defending women’s champion and UNC Greensboro is the defending men’s champion.

The tournament week will feature the return of the Downtown Dribble on the morning of Saturday, March 9, and the third annual Ingles Jamfest, a free concert and tailgate on March 10.

Several different ticket packages are available for purchase. Information about various ticket packages and how to purchase them is below.

Courtside Package (All Sessions)

Contact Madison Davis at 828-734-2433 or email [email protected].

This courtside VIP experience allows you to be part of the action. This package includes 2 Premium Courtside seats, 2 VIP passes, and a parking space in the exhibition level of the USCC for every session. There are a limited number of seats available.

VIP All-Session Package (All Sessions )

Call the box office at 828-259-5736 or email Laura Weston, [email protected].

Enjoy a reserved seat close the action and VIP Hospitality access. VIP Hospitality will open one hour prior to each session and will include pre-game meals and complimentary beer and wine.

General Admission Tournament Book – $120

Available through Ticketmaster or the U.S. Cellular Center Box Office (828-259-5736)

General Admission Single Session – $20

Available through Ticketmaster or the U.S. Cellular Center Box Office (828-259-5736)

Youth (6-12)/SoCon Student Single Session – $10 (kids 5 and under get in free)

Available at U.S. Cellular Center Box Office (828-259-5736)

Single Session Group Rate (10 or more tickets to a single session) – $15 per ticket

Contact Andrew Lawrence at 919-418-6545 or email [email protected].

ABOUT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN RELAY

Registration is capped at: