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, August 8, 2020
Chimney Rock Park: Nature at Night: August Evening Adventure
Aug 8 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Chimney Rock Park
Advance registration required. Includes Park admission.

Ever wonder what Chimney Rock looks like after sundown? Find out during this nighttime excursion, led by an expert naturalist. You will want to bring a headlamp or flashlight, dress appropriately for the weather, wear comfortable hiking shoes and bring water. Space is limited to 15, and advance registration is required. Reserve your spot below.

ArborEvenings
Aug 8 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

The Arboretum’s popular ArborEvenings summer after hours series will return this season with a special LEGO twist. Held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July through September, from 8 to 11 …

Sunday, August 9, 2020
Notice of Public Comment Period: Hellbender Regional Trail Plan
Aug 9 all-day
Online
The French Broad River MPO has been working with local governments and community stakeholders in the region over the last year to develop a plan for a regional trail network, the Hellbender Regional trail. This plan connects the various bicycle, pedestrian, and greenway plans developed locally in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties to illustrate existing and planned trails that may someday connect to form a regional network for bicycle and pedestrian travel.
Unlike highway and roads, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is primarily the responsibility of the various local governments in our region so the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan does not intend to usurp local brands or mandate designs, but intends to make the various sections of planned and existing networks greater than the sum of its parts through increased coordination and partnerships. This plan focuses on regional connections, but does not deprioritize more locally-focused infrastructure. It is primarily focused on multi-use paths (paved trails, greenways, rail-to-trails, sidepaths, etc.) but may include some sections with on-street and other connections where constraints may require exceptions to a typical off-road path. This is also a long-range plan. At more than 150 miles, the full build-out of this network would reflect a nearly ten-fold increase in the miles of multi-use paths in the region- a task that will likely take a considerable amount of time at current funding levels. At this point, organizers are inviting the public to comment on the Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan that reflects the work of the work group and stakeholders as well as the countless hours put into developing the local plans in our region on which the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is based.
The Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is available on the MPO’s website and comments bay be sent in by Friday, August 21st via the google doc form available on the website or by emailing [email protected].
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 9 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

Chimney Rock Park: 16th Annual Race to the Rock (5K or 25-mile bike)
Aug 9 @ 8:00 am – 10:00 am
Chimney Rock Park

The grand finale of the 16th Annual Lake Lure Olympiad – a 3-day family sports festival showcases the beautiful scenery of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. The Race to the Rock is a challenging 5k run or 25-mile bike race that climbs 900 feet in the last 3 miles (a 7-9% grade) to finish at the base of Chimney Rock. The rewarding 75-mile views from the finish line overlooking Lake Lure are enough to take your breath away… or what’s left of it! This is the ONLY TIME you can ever run or bike up the Park road.

Register for this event at lakelureolympiad.com. Spectators get in free if in the Park before 7:30am.

Rocky Cove Railroad Exhibit
Aug 9 @ 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

On exhibit Saturdays and Sundays from 12 – 4 p.m. (weather permitting), Rocky Cove Railroad is a G-Scale (garden scale) model train that demonstrates the coming of trains to western North Carolina at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibit is located below the Grand Garden Promenade.

Monday, August 10, 2020
It’s Time to Clean Up the French Broad River
Aug 10 all-day
Online

Call on Asheville City Council to do its part to clean up the French Broad River, starting with the establishment of a Stormwater Task Force to address the City’s water pollution problems. Not only does the City have a legal obligation to protect water quality, Council’s commitment to racial equity demands action to protect residents of the Southside neighborhood from the highest pollution levels in the city.

Our river is a public resource, and tens of thousands of people recreate on the French Broad every year. However, none of the testing sites within the City of Asheville pass the EPA’s safe limit on average, and the worst site that we test is Nasty Branch, which drains over half of downtown Asheville and flows through the historically African American Southside neighborhood, before discharging into the French Broad River in the River Arts District.

High levels of E. coli also indicate the presence of other, more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Heavy rains and storms often result in spikes in E. coli contamination, increasing the risk to human health. Contact with or consumption of contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.

Asheville City Council has a moral and legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our river and water quality for all city residents. Henderson County has already established a Stormwater Task Force, Asheville should too.

Street Dances features Blue Ridge Tradition CANCELLED
Aug 10 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Visitor Center

The Street Dances have been a tradition for over 100 years in Downtown Hendersonville! They began in 1918, at the end of World War I, when the city welcomed home its soldiers from the War by celebrating in the streets, and became nationally known after they were included in the guidebook Blue Ridge Music Trails, Finding A Place In The Circle, written by Fred S. Fussell. The guidebook was winner of the first PRESERVE AMERICA Presidential Award for Heritage Tourism.

The sounds of fiddles and banjos playing at the Street Dances have been a part of Henderson County’s heritage for more than 100 yearscalling people of all ages put on their dancing shoes and journey to downtown Hendersonville to enjoy toe-tapping-good mountain music and dance right in front of the main stage. The dances are held every other Monday evening July 27, August 10, 24 & September 14 at the Visitor Center, located at 201 South Main Street.

Hendersonville comes alive with people square dancing and clogging to the traditional mountain and bluegrass music performed by a live band. Plus, special appearances are often made by area clogging teams, make the Street Dances an even more entertaining, foot stomping evening.

Lively instructions are given to the dancers by a local caller. At 6:30pm, our caller, Walt Puckett, will teach audience members some basic square dancing moves used in traditional Appalachian square dancing, such as the Right Hand Across, Open the Garden Gate and the Shoe Fly Swing.

Bring a chair, and sit back, relax and enjoy mountain heritage music and dancing from 7:00-9:00pm. The seating area opens at 5:30pm, and early admission is prohibited. Admission is freeNo alcoholic beverages, backpacks or coolers allowed. 

Please leave your pets comfortably at home. A Hendersonville City ordinance allows event organizers to exclude animals from the event space for the health, safety and welfare of the community, dogs, patrons, and vendors and their products.

In case of inclement weather the dance will be postponed until 8:00pm, and if the weather does not cooperate by 8:00pm, the performance will be cancelled.

For additional information call the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority at 828-693-9708. The Street Dances are coordinated, produced, and sponsored by Henderson County Tourism Development Authority

Tuesday, August 11, 2020
It’s Time to Clean Up the French Broad River
Aug 11 all-day
Online

Call on Asheville City Council to do its part to clean up the French Broad River, starting with the establishment of a Stormwater Task Force to address the City’s water pollution problems. Not only does the City have a legal obligation to protect water quality, Council’s commitment to racial equity demands action to protect residents of the Southside neighborhood from the highest pollution levels in the city.

Our river is a public resource, and tens of thousands of people recreate on the French Broad every year. However, none of the testing sites within the City of Asheville pass the EPA’s safe limit on average, and the worst site that we test is Nasty Branch, which drains over half of downtown Asheville and flows through the historically African American Southside neighborhood, before discharging into the French Broad River in the River Arts District.

High levels of E. coli also indicate the presence of other, more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Heavy rains and storms often result in spikes in E. coli contamination, increasing the risk to human health. Contact with or consumption of contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.

Asheville City Council has a moral and legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our river and water quality for all city residents. Henderson County has already established a Stormwater Task Force, Asheville should too.

OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 11 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

Online Summer Dance Lessons!
Aug 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Online

Wednesday, August 12, 2020
It’s Time to Clean Up the French Broad River
Aug 12 all-day
Online

Call on Asheville City Council to do its part to clean up the French Broad River, starting with the establishment of a Stormwater Task Force to address the City’s water pollution problems. Not only does the City have a legal obligation to protect water quality, Council’s commitment to racial equity demands action to protect residents of the Southside neighborhood from the highest pollution levels in the city.

Our river is a public resource, and tens of thousands of people recreate on the French Broad every year. However, none of the testing sites within the City of Asheville pass the EPA’s safe limit on average, and the worst site that we test is Nasty Branch, which drains over half of downtown Asheville and flows through the historically African American Southside neighborhood, before discharging into the French Broad River in the River Arts District.

High levels of E. coli also indicate the presence of other, more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Heavy rains and storms often result in spikes in E. coli contamination, increasing the risk to human health. Contact with or consumption of contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.

Asheville City Council has a moral and legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our river and water quality for all city residents. Henderson County has already established a Stormwater Task Force, Asheville should too.

Animal Enrichment Day Grandfather Mountain
Aug 12 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Grandfather Mountain

Enrichment is an integral part of how the mountain cares for its habitat animals every day. An enrichment is a special treat, new toy or even an unfamiliar scent given to the animals to break up their routines and help keep them active and intellectually stimulated. On Animal Enrichment Day, visitors can watch enrichment demonstrations, talk directly with keepers and participate in family-oriented games and crafts.

Thursday, August 13, 2020
It’s Time to Clean Up the French Broad River
Aug 13 all-day
Online

Call on Asheville City Council to do its part to clean up the French Broad River, starting with the establishment of a Stormwater Task Force to address the City’s water pollution problems. Not only does the City have a legal obligation to protect water quality, Council’s commitment to racial equity demands action to protect residents of the Southside neighborhood from the highest pollution levels in the city.

Our river is a public resource, and tens of thousands of people recreate on the French Broad every year. However, none of the testing sites within the City of Asheville pass the EPA’s safe limit on average, and the worst site that we test is Nasty Branch, which drains over half of downtown Asheville and flows through the historically African American Southside neighborhood, before discharging into the French Broad River in the River Arts District.

High levels of E. coli also indicate the presence of other, more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Heavy rains and storms often result in spikes in E. coli contamination, increasing the risk to human health. Contact with or consumption of contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.

Asheville City Council has a moral and legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our river and water quality for all city residents. Henderson County has already established a Stormwater Task Force, Asheville should too.

OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 13 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

ArborEvenings
Aug 13 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

The Arboretum’s popular ArborEvenings summer after hours series will return this season with a special LEGO twist. Held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July through September, from 8 to 11 …

Friday, August 14, 2020
It’s Time to Clean Up the French Broad River
Aug 14 all-day
Online

Call on Asheville City Council to do its part to clean up the French Broad River, starting with the establishment of a Stormwater Task Force to address the City’s water pollution problems. Not only does the City have a legal obligation to protect water quality, Council’s commitment to racial equity demands action to protect residents of the Southside neighborhood from the highest pollution levels in the city.

Our river is a public resource, and tens of thousands of people recreate on the French Broad every year. However, none of the testing sites within the City of Asheville pass the EPA’s safe limit on average, and the worst site that we test is Nasty Branch, which drains over half of downtown Asheville and flows through the historically African American Southside neighborhood, before discharging into the French Broad River in the River Arts District.

High levels of E. coli also indicate the presence of other, more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Heavy rains and storms often result in spikes in E. coli contamination, increasing the risk to human health. Contact with or consumption of contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.

Asheville City Council has a moral and legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our river and water quality for all city residents. Henderson County has already established a Stormwater Task Force, Asheville should too.

Notice of Public Comment Period: Hellbender Regional Trail Plan
Aug 14 all-day
Online
The French Broad River MPO has been working with local governments and community stakeholders in the region over the last year to develop a plan for a regional trail network, the Hellbender Regional trail. This plan connects the various bicycle, pedestrian, and greenway plans developed locally in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties to illustrate existing and planned trails that may someday connect to form a regional network for bicycle and pedestrian travel.
Unlike highway and roads, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is primarily the responsibility of the various local governments in our region so the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan does not intend to usurp local brands or mandate designs, but intends to make the various sections of planned and existing networks greater than the sum of its parts through increased coordination and partnerships. This plan focuses on regional connections, but does not deprioritize more locally-focused infrastructure. It is primarily focused on multi-use paths (paved trails, greenways, rail-to-trails, sidepaths, etc.) but may include some sections with on-street and other connections where constraints may require exceptions to a typical off-road path. This is also a long-range plan. At more than 150 miles, the full build-out of this network would reflect a nearly ten-fold increase in the miles of multi-use paths in the region- a task that will likely take a considerable amount of time at current funding levels. At this point, organizers are inviting the public to comment on the Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan that reflects the work of the work group and stakeholders as well as the countless hours put into developing the local plans in our region on which the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is based.
The Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is available on the MPO’s website and comments bay be sent in by Friday, August 21st via the google doc form available on the website or by emailing [email protected].
Grandfather Mountain
Aug 14 @ 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Grandfather Mountain


To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), Grandfather Mountain is only selling tickets online.

Only a select number of tickets will be sold per day for certain time-slots to limit the number of guests in the park at one time, in accordance with the state of North Carolina’s phased “reopening” plan and social gathering guidelines.

Please check back closer to your visit for ticket availability. As of now, reservations are only available through June 21.

Each guest entering the park must have a ticket, which includes a time-slot. Prices are as follows:

Adult: $22
Senior (age 60+): $20
Child (ages 4-12): $9
AAA Adult: $20 (must present valid AAA card)
AAA Child: $8 (must present valid AAA card)

Movies in the Park–Grease
Aug 14 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Pack Square Park

Image may contain: 2 people, text
Asheville Parks and Recreation presents Movies in the Park sponsored by Black Orthodontics, a free event series in Pack Square Park. Activities begin at 7 p.m. and the movie begins at dusk on a giant outdoor screen on the Pack Square Park stage. Films are rated PG or PG-13. Bring your chairs or a blanket, snacks, and enjoy a movie under the stars.
FREE

A goody two-shoes from Australia falls in love with a greaser over a summer. When her family moves to the boy’s hometown, and she enrolls at the same high school, they have a difficult time maintaining their relationship.PG, 110 minutes

ArborEvenings
Aug 14 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

The Arboretum’s popular ArborEvenings summer after hours series will return this season with a special LEGO twist. Held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July through September, from 8 to 11 …

Saturday, August 15, 2020
It’s Time to Clean Up the French Broad River
Aug 15 all-day
Online

Call on Asheville City Council to do its part to clean up the French Broad River, starting with the establishment of a Stormwater Task Force to address the City’s water pollution problems. Not only does the City have a legal obligation to protect water quality, Council’s commitment to racial equity demands action to protect residents of the Southside neighborhood from the highest pollution levels in the city.

Our river is a public resource, and tens of thousands of people recreate on the French Broad every year. However, none of the testing sites within the City of Asheville pass the EPA’s safe limit on average, and the worst site that we test is Nasty Branch, which drains over half of downtown Asheville and flows through the historically African American Southside neighborhood, before discharging into the French Broad River in the River Arts District.

High levels of E. coli also indicate the presence of other, more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Heavy rains and storms often result in spikes in E. coli contamination, increasing the risk to human health. Contact with or consumption of contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.

Asheville City Council has a moral and legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our river and water quality for all city residents. Henderson County has already established a Stormwater Task Force, Asheville should too.

Notice of Public Comment Period: Hellbender Regional Trail Plan
Aug 15 all-day
Online
The French Broad River MPO has been working with local governments and community stakeholders in the region over the last year to develop a plan for a regional trail network, the Hellbender Regional trail. This plan connects the various bicycle, pedestrian, and greenway plans developed locally in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties to illustrate existing and planned trails that may someday connect to form a regional network for bicycle and pedestrian travel.
Unlike highway and roads, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is primarily the responsibility of the various local governments in our region so the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan does not intend to usurp local brands or mandate designs, but intends to make the various sections of planned and existing networks greater than the sum of its parts through increased coordination and partnerships. This plan focuses on regional connections, but does not deprioritize more locally-focused infrastructure. It is primarily focused on multi-use paths (paved trails, greenways, rail-to-trails, sidepaths, etc.) but may include some sections with on-street and other connections where constraints may require exceptions to a typical off-road path. This is also a long-range plan. At more than 150 miles, the full build-out of this network would reflect a nearly ten-fold increase in the miles of multi-use paths in the region- a task that will likely take a considerable amount of time at current funding levels. At this point, organizers are inviting the public to comment on the Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan that reflects the work of the work group and stakeholders as well as the countless hours put into developing the local plans in our region on which the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is based.
The Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is available on the MPO’s website and comments bay be sent in by Friday, August 21st via the google doc form available on the website or by emailing [email protected].
OFB Spread the Joy Fundraiser
Aug 15 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

Grandfather Mountain
Aug 15 @ 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Grandfather Mountain


To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), Grandfather Mountain is only selling tickets online.

Only a select number of tickets will be sold per day for certain time-slots to limit the number of guests in the park at one time, in accordance with the state of North Carolina’s phased “reopening” plan and social gathering guidelines.

Please check back closer to your visit for ticket availability. As of now, reservations are only available through June 21.

Each guest entering the park must have a ticket, which includes a time-slot. Prices are as follows:

Adult: $22
Senior (age 60+): $20
Child (ages 4-12): $9
AAA Adult: $20 (must present valid AAA card)
AAA Child: $8 (must present valid AAA card)

Chimney Rock Park Naturalist Niche: Waterfall Exploration
Aug 15 @ 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Chimney Rock Park

Advance registration required. Includes Park admission.

Hickory Nut Falls is a hidden gem within the Park. This 404-foot waterfall is one of the tallest of its kind east of the Mississippi. Enjoy a guided hike out to the Hickory Nut Falls to discover what inhabits this area. This 5-hour journey is considered a moderate hike and does require pre-registration. Reserve your spot below.

Rocky Cove Railroad Exhibit
Aug 15 @ 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

On exhibit Saturdays and Sundays from 12 – 4 p.m. (weather permitting), Rocky Cove Railroad is a G-Scale (garden scale) model train that demonstrates the coming of trains to western North Carolina at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibit is located below the Grand Garden Promenade.

ArborEvenings
Aug 15 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

The Arboretum’s popular ArborEvenings summer after hours series will return this season with a special LEGO twist. Held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July through September, from 8 to 11 …

Sunday, August 16, 2020
It’s Time to Clean Up the French Broad River
Aug 16 all-day
Online

Call on Asheville City Council to do its part to clean up the French Broad River, starting with the establishment of a Stormwater Task Force to address the City’s water pollution problems. Not only does the City have a legal obligation to protect water quality, Council’s commitment to racial equity demands action to protect residents of the Southside neighborhood from the highest pollution levels in the city.

Our river is a public resource, and tens of thousands of people recreate on the French Broad every year. However, none of the testing sites within the City of Asheville pass the EPA’s safe limit on average, and the worst site that we test is Nasty Branch, which drains over half of downtown Asheville and flows through the historically African American Southside neighborhood, before discharging into the French Broad River in the River Arts District.

High levels of E. coli also indicate the presence of other, more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Heavy rains and storms often result in spikes in E. coli contamination, increasing the risk to human health. Contact with or consumption of contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.

Asheville City Council has a moral and legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our river and water quality for all city residents. Henderson County has already established a Stormwater Task Force, Asheville should too.

Notice of Public Comment Period: Hellbender Regional Trail Plan
Aug 16 all-day
Online
The French Broad River MPO has been working with local governments and community stakeholders in the region over the last year to develop a plan for a regional trail network, the Hellbender Regional trail. This plan connects the various bicycle, pedestrian, and greenway plans developed locally in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties to illustrate existing and planned trails that may someday connect to form a regional network for bicycle and pedestrian travel.
Unlike highway and roads, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is primarily the responsibility of the various local governments in our region so the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan does not intend to usurp local brands or mandate designs, but intends to make the various sections of planned and existing networks greater than the sum of its parts through increased coordination and partnerships. This plan focuses on regional connections, but does not deprioritize more locally-focused infrastructure. It is primarily focused on multi-use paths (paved trails, greenways, rail-to-trails, sidepaths, etc.) but may include some sections with on-street and other connections where constraints may require exceptions to a typical off-road path. This is also a long-range plan. At more than 150 miles, the full build-out of this network would reflect a nearly ten-fold increase in the miles of multi-use paths in the region- a task that will likely take a considerable amount of time at current funding levels. At this point, organizers are inviting the public to comment on the Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan that reflects the work of the work group and stakeholders as well as the countless hours put into developing the local plans in our region on which the Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is based.
The Draft Hellbender Regional Trail Plan is available on the MPO’s website and comments bay be sent in by Friday, August 21st via the google doc form available on the website or by emailing [email protected].