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.

Thursday, July 13, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Jul 13 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Thursday, July 20, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Jul 20 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Thursday, July 27, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Jul 27 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Saturday, July 29, 2023
2023 Art Dash 5k
Jul 29 @ 8:30 am – 10:00 am
Smoky Park Supper Club

Art Dash 5K

~ July 29th, 2023 ~

~ 8:30 am starting time ~

~ Start and end at the Smoky Park Supper Club ~

~ River Arts District Greenway course ~

THE MOST unique summer 5k in Asheville.

Art and Music accompany your 3.1 mile run/walk.

 

$5 Discount for 17 and under or 65 and up given at checkout.

5% Discount for groups of 4 or more

benefitting LEAF Global Arts

Thursday, August 3, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Aug 3 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Sunday, August 6, 2023
Hybrid | Poet Quartet: Jenny Bates, David Dixon, Kathy Cantley Ackerman, Thomas Alan Holmes
Aug 6 @ 4:30 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

Join us for our monthly poetry reading series coordinated by Mildred Barya. This month, we welcome Jenny Bates, David Dixon, Kathy Cantley Ackerman, and Thomas Alan Holmes

This is a hybrid event with limited in-store seating and the option to attend online. The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

All featured books will be available for purchase at the event. This event also includes a book signing.

If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, you may order a signed copy online below. To order Kathy Cantley Ackerman’s Repeat After Me, please call the store at (828) 254-6734.

If you would like to have your book personalized, please order online or call the store at least two hours before the start of the event. When ordering online, use the comments field to provide a name for personalization, e.g. “To Paul.” NOTE: We do our best to get books personalized when requested but personalization is not guaranteed.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Jenny Bates is a member of Winston-Salem Writers, NC Poetry Society, and NC Writers Network. Where the Deer Sleep is Bates’ third book with Hermit Feathers Press following Slip (2020) and Visitations (2019). She’s published in numerous journals including Pinesong, Flying South, Wild Goose Poetry Review, and Old Mountain Press. Born and raised in Michigan, she now resides in the foothills of North Carolina.

Where the Deer Sleep is an inspiring call to reverence and wonder. To a place where “directions are not geographical.” To a time life can “go back to being a good dog.” To the church of cats and crows, stars and thunder, patience and grace – where the ordinary is divine. And miracle. I believe Jenny when she tells us she sits with toads – and listens. These poems make no pretense of being the High-Priestess of anything. Instead, they stand quietly by the entrance, bulletin in hand – inviting us in. You will be glad you did.

David Dixon is a physician, poet, and musician who lives and practices in Mount Airy. He is the medical director of Surry Medical Ministries, a free clinic in the area. He has played in several regional bands and remains active in local music. His written work has appeared in Rock & Sling, The Northern Virginia Review, Connecticut River Review, FlyingSouth, The Greensboro Review, and elsewhere. He is the author of The Scattering of Saints (Hermit Feathers Press, 2022).

David Dixon whirls readers through languages of faith, illness, love, loss; lives of apostles, pets, poets, and trees. These poems are a search for what remains and what illuminates when all the lights go out and we’re left to find our way home in the dark, hoping there is a home. Dixon troubles us with all the pesky questions: how to die? how to live? How to bind? Every poem a sign. Each line a constellation.

Kathy Cantley Ackerman was born in coal country West Virginia, grew up in Ohio, and has lived in the Carolinas nearly 40 years.  She has published three poetry chapbooks and three full-length collections, most recently Repeat after Me. Her 2019 collection, A Quarrel of Atoms, received the Lena Shull Book Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society. Ackerman serves as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Isothermal Community College in Spindale and lives on a loblolly farm in Polk County.

How hard it is to keep what lives alive. Kathy Ackerman brings it all to life: love, loss and the fear of loss, revelations about what’s become essential and what no longer is. These poems are ordinary days like the ones we all must hack a path through, but when we look back and consider the way we’ve come an unexpected clarity fills us. Everything ordinary is extraordinary. Repeat after me: so it is with love that lasts, tender and perennial / tender and vulnerable.

Thomas Alan Holmes, a member of the East Tennessee State University faculty, teaches American literature with specialties in Appalachian and Black American literature. His creative and scholarly work has appeared in such journals as Valparaiso Poetry Review, Appalachian Journal, The North American Review, and Still: The Journal. Iris Press published In the Backhoe’s Shadow, Holmes’ first poetry collection, in 2022.

In the Backhoe’s Shadow celebrates the bonds of family in a time of rapid change. The poems display extraordinarily precise, photographic details of work and memory, childhood games and pets, sad country songs. Some are poems of dailiness and humor, and the legacy of a certain time and place. Holmes is a gifted storyteller of the struggle with contemporary uncertainties, of deep kinship, of love.

Mildred Kiconco Barya is a writer and poet. She has written short-stories and essays for various publications, features and travel articles for newspapers. Her first collection of poetry titled: Men Love Chocolates But They Don’t Say won the National Award for poetry publication 2002. She is also the author of the poetry collections The Price of Memory and Give Me Room to Move My Feet. Barya is Assistant professor of Creative Writing and World Literature at University of North Carolina-Asheville. Learn more at http://mildredbarya.com/.

Thursday, August 10, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Aug 10 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Thursday, August 17, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Aug 17 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Sunday, August 20, 2023
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

Thursday, August 24, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Aug 24 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Monday, August 28, 2023
BEER AND HYMNS Benefit
Aug 28 @ 7:00 pm
White Horse Black Mountain

White Horse is excited to launch a new monthly concert series, BEER AND HYMNS.

Beer & Hymns brings people together to raise our glasses, raise our voices, 

and raise funds for organizations that change the world.

The Beer and Hymns concept is simple:

Come together as a community once a month to:

  • sing hymns 
  • drink beer (or other beverages)
  • raise money for various nonprofits ( in the Swannanoa Valley in our case)

Group singing is loved and appreciated by many. For some they sing hymns every Sunday with other members of their faith community. Others may not have been inside a church for decade, but they miss the hymns and the sounds of voices joined together in song.

This event is intended for everyone in the community.

The Musical Director for tonight is AARON PRICE of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church

and the beneficiary is

THE SWANNANOA VALLEY CHRISTIAN MINISTRY

In addition to the joy of group singing, you’ll be raising money for various charitable organizations in Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley. Each month a different local nonprofit will be selected as the beneficiary of the monthly event.

Lift A Glass

Sing A Song

Help Others

Thursday, August 31, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Aug 31 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Thursday, September 7, 2023
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Sep 7 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Friday, September 8, 2023
Mountain Song Festival
Sep 8 all-day
Brevard Music Center
Saturday, September 9, 2023
Mountain Song Festival
Sep 9 all-day
Brevard Music Center
IC Imagine Fine Arts 5k
Sep 9 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
IC Imagine

Join us for the 8th Annual IC Imagine Fine Arts 5k and Fun Run on Saturday, September 9th!


We invite you to attend as a participant, sponsor, volunteer or spectator, and encourage you to share this event with family, friends and business associates. The more the merrier! All proceeds from this annual event benefit our Fine Arts Department.


This race specifically benefits the Fine Arts department at IC Imagine.

When IC Imagine first opened in 2014 our Fine Arts staff consisted of three people and our students were able to put on three public performances throughout the school year – 2 band concerts and 1 chorus concert, all of which only involved students in 5th-10th grades. This year, we have ten Fine Arts staff members and our students are scheduled to particiate in over 50 performances throughout the year. Our Fine Arts programs are growing and thriving and we could not be more proud of our students and teachers that are providing these amazing experiences to our community. We have the opportunity to expand our programs even more with our new building and space, but we need your help. Your support goes directly to providing throwing wheels for our visual arts students to study ceramics, purchasing band instruments, allowing our choral students to sing new music at each performance, and outfitting our new performing arts center with sound and lighting equipment.

Monday, September 11, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 11 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 12 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 13 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Thursday, September 14, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 14 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

No Water, No Beer @ Burial Brewing
Sep 14 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Burial Brewing
Poetry Open Mic Hendo
Sep 14 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Shakedown Lounge

Poetry Open Mic Hendo is the all-new sister event of Poetry Open Mic Asheville, the
longest-running open mic in Western North Carolina, this weekly event welcomes all people and all forms of creative expression at
Hendersonville’s only Kava lounge.

Friday, September 15, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 15 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Saturday, September 16, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 16 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Asheville Outlets: 1st Annual Super 12 Volt Rally Benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC
Sep 16 @ 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Asheville Outlets

Asheville Outlets will host the 1st Annual Super 12 Volt Rally sponsored by The Super SignGuy, on Saturday, September 16, 2023, with races beginning at 12:30 p.m. The family focused event benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC; there is no charge for families, spectators, or participants. The day features a rally, races, prices, food, and multiple vendors. Youths from 3 to 12 years of age are encouraged to participate and can bring their own vehicle or use one provided.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC works to ensure every child in Western North Carolina has an enjoyable, long-term relationship with a caring adult who believes in them and sees their potential. In four decades, the organization has served over 14,000 children. For more information on BBBS, or to make a monetary donation, visit BBBSWNC.org. For additional information on the event, or to register for the rally, visit ShopAshevilleOutlets.com.

Sunday, September 17, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 17 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Monday, September 18, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 18 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 19 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23

Wednesday, September 20, 2023
VOTE FOR Appalachian Wild: Animal, Wildlife and Marine Welfare Award
Sep 20 all-day
online

APPALACHIAN WILD AND HELP THE ORGANIZATION WIN A LAND ROVER DEFENDER

VOTE TODAY! 

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

VOTE!

 

 

Field of Honor in Black Mountain
Sep 20 @ 11:00 am
Field of Honor

The Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa is presenting its first Field of Honor®. A field of American flags dedicated to military and first responders will be flying from September 11 – September 30th at the lot between the Black Mountain United Methodist Church and Harwood Home for Funerals (200 W. State Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711). An opening ceremony will be held on Monday, September 11 at 1:00 at the field location and a closing ceremony will take place at 11:00 on September 30 to retire the flags. All funds raised by this event will be distributed to non-profit organizations and used for scholarships in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area. Donations can be made at: https://www.healingfield.org/blackmountainnc23