
Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
– Connect Beyond Festival 2020 organizers announced today that the festival, slated for April 3-5, 2020, is officially postponed. With recent developments surrounding COVID-19 nationally and in North Carolina, we cannot in good conscience move forward with the festival as scheduled. The safety of our guests and participants is our number one priority.
Connect Beyond Festival’s annual weekend-long event, as well as similar micro-events on both coasts, intends to return in 2020. For our fans, tickets will be refunded upon request by visiting our website page and filling out a quick form to initiate the process before Sunday, April 12, 2020. For guests interested in attending our rescheduled future event at a later date, all remaining ticket holders will be offered (1) additional ticket of equal value to their original purchase.

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

UPDATED INFO:
To make the transition from this year to the 2021 event as seamless and exciting as possible, we have already worked with our artists, our brewers, and our vendors to make sure that we are able to carry over this year’s lineup and infrastructure to next year’s festival date. In addition, we are also in conversation with Eventbrite regarding the best options we can offer you when it comes to making a choice about how your ticket investment plays out.
Because this decision affects you as much as it does us, we will offer full refunds of all ticket purchases to any of you who would prefer that option. We understand the inconvenience that this change might cause you, and we ask that you offer us your patience while we organize that process. As another option, we would also like to offer you the opportunity to retain your ticket purchase and to roll it over into next year’s attendance. Any ticket that has already been purchased for 2020 will be honored at our 2021 festival in lieu of a refund. That is a choice we are allowing you to make, and we will be delighted to have you back as our guests then!
Please check back with us often as we continue to plan for the 2021 (“unofficial 10th Anniversary”) North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival. Again, thank you for your patience and understanding, but mostly for your continued support at the festival. We couldn’t keep putting on this event without you, and we continue to be thankful year after year.
Along with a rich Americana lineup, North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival also shines a spotlight on local brewers and their contribution to North Carolina’s vibrant culinary scene. Over 50 breweries offering a selection of craft beers will be featured on-site throughout the weekend. Tasting tickets, which include access to beer samples plus a commemorative sampling glass, are available for purchase for $50 ($39 for early birds).
North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival began as a fundraising effort to preserve the historic site of Rural Hill. The site, which boasts extensive hiking trails, is a beloved landmark in the Central NC region and is home to many educational field trips and events. Since its inception, the North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival has continued to support the awareness of Rural Hill and attract diverse crowds from all over the country.
Friday music-only passes with sets from Acoustic Syndicate and Fireside Collective are $15. Saturday music-only passes with sets from the Steep Canyon Rangers and Hayes Carll are $22 for early birds. For attendees who would like to sample an unlimited assortment of celebrated North Carolina brews on Saturday, Tasting Tickets (which include daily entrance to the festival for music happenings) are available at the Early Bird price of $39. Camping options are available for attendees who would like to make the most of their weekend. Two-Day weekend tent camping, premium tent camping, and RV/Camper camping with hook-ups are available for $45, $65, and $85 respectively. North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival is a family-friendly event. Children 4 and under are free. A Children’s Ticket is available for kids 5 – 15 for $8.
On display daily January 18 – April 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the Education Center, the Asheville Printmakers’ newest exhibit, Natural Impressions, will feature a variety of two- and three-dimensional print pieces utilizing numerous printmaking processes. Works will inspire visitors to think about the beauty and fragility of plants and the natural world through various perspectives and printmaking techniques. All pieces are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will benefit The North Carolina Arboretum Society.
Founded in 2013, the Asheville Printmakers is an energetic group of artists dedicated to expressing ideas and imagery through the medium of print. The group encompasses a wide range of processes and content, including traditional methods, such as lithography, woodcut and screen printing, and contemporary photographic printing processes, such as carbon printing, platinum-palladium and photopolymer etching.
Parking Fees
- Members: Free
- Personal Vehicles: $14
- Motorhomes / Vehicles (21’ or larger): $50
- Buses: $100
There are no other admission charges required for visitors to access the Arboretum’s grounds and facilities during the day beyond the standard parking fees listed above.

On the Second Saturday of each month, the River Arts District holds gallery walks with demonstrations, workshops, live music, wine tastings, delicious food, and more! Meander the mile-long district or hop on and off the free trolley and discover all that the “RAD” has to offer. There are more than 200 artists in the 23 buildings throughout the district. Most of them will be on hand to describe or show you their techniques and share their inspirations.
*There will be no free trolley for the June and July Second Saturdays. Ample free parking is available in the district.*
*Both in person and virtual events are happening for Second Saturday. Many are listed here and you may also check our EVENTS listings for more details.”
Events with an *asterisk are available in person AND online, Events which are solely virtual listed separately.
Special day & evening events will be listed for each date – so please come back and plan your day as we get closer to the date!
Drop in each second Saturday of the month for a themed, inspiration-gathering scavenger hunt in the galleries followed by a related art-making activity in the studio. This month we’ll visit the galleries looking at examples of all types of prints, before heading to the studio to create your own series of prints.
Join us for a celebration of the mind, body, and spirit! Local readers, healers, and vendors offering: astrological readings, intuitive/psychic/medium readings, Reiki/energy healings, art, Reiki-infused jewelry, fairy hair, crystals, sacred tools, apothecary items, and more!
No entry fees! Come join us for a night of fun!
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Join us for the grand opening celebration!
‘Wake’, Mel Chin’s giant animatronic sculpture, installed in New York City’s Times Square last summer, will be on view in Asheville, from March 15 to September 7, at 44 Collier Avenue. Chin, a WNC based conceptual artist, was named a MacArthur Fellow in September 2019.
This event is free and open the public.
Starting March 16th, visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The full schedule of programs is available at ashevillearts.com/public-art
On display daily January 18 – April 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the Education Center, the Asheville Printmakers’ newest exhibit, Natural Impressions, will feature a variety of two- and three-dimensional print pieces utilizing numerous printmaking processes. Works will inspire visitors to think about the beauty and fragility of plants and the natural world through various perspectives and printmaking techniques. All pieces are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will benefit The North Carolina Arboretum Society.
Founded in 2013, the Asheville Printmakers is an energetic group of artists dedicated to expressing ideas and imagery through the medium of print. The group encompasses a wide range of processes and content, including traditional methods, such as lithography, woodcut and screen printing, and contemporary photographic printing processes, such as carbon printing, platinum-palladium and photopolymer etching.
Parking Fees
- Members: Free
- Personal Vehicles: $14
- Motorhomes / Vehicles (21’ or larger): $50
- Buses: $100
There are no other admission charges required for visitors to access the Arboretum’s grounds and facilities during the day beyond the standard parking fees listed above.

Even if green isn’t really your color, you’ll want to get in on all the (free!) fun at Greenville’s longest-running Celtic celebration.
In an era when parents taking their kids downtown feel like walking ATMs, we have worked hard to make sure that this family-friendly event is not just a lot of fun, but also FREE. Yes, there is no admission charge, and all children’s activities are also free! We hope that you find your ‘Return to the Green’ to be festive, family friendly, and a memorable cultural experience. And of course you could be that extra lucky attendee who returns home $500 richer thanks to our cash prize giveaway.
Wake was commissioned as part of Mel Chin: All Over the Place, a multi-site survey of his works from across many decades that took place in several New York City locations. A collaborative group, led by UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, formed to plan and raise funds for the sculpture to be seen locally.
Wake – 60 feet long, 34 feet wide and 24 feet high, conceived and designed by the artist – was engineered, sculpted and fabricated by an interdisciplinary team of UNC Asheville students, faculty, staff and community artists led by Chin. The sculpture is interactive and features decks and places to sit and contemplate.
Wake evokes the hull of a shipwreck crossed with the skeletal remains of a marine mammal. The structure is linked with a carved, 21-foot-tall animatronic sculpture, accurately derived from a figurehead of the opera star Jenny Lind that was once mounted on the 19th century clipper ship, USS Nightingale. Jenny Lind moves subtly as she breathes and scans the sky.
Visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 44 Collier Avenue.
Starting March 16th, visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On display daily January 18 – April 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the Education Center, the Asheville Printmakers’ newest exhibit, Natural Impressions, will feature a variety of two- and three-dimensional print pieces utilizing numerous printmaking processes. Works will inspire visitors to think about the beauty and fragility of plants and the natural world through various perspectives and printmaking techniques. All pieces are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will benefit The North Carolina Arboretum Society.
Founded in 2013, the Asheville Printmakers is an energetic group of artists dedicated to expressing ideas and imagery through the medium of print. The group encompasses a wide range of processes and content, including traditional methods, such as lithography, woodcut and screen printing, and contemporary photographic printing processes, such as carbon printing, platinum-palladium and photopolymer etching.
Parking Fees
- Members: Free
- Personal Vehicles: $14
- Motorhomes / Vehicles (21’ or larger): $50
- Buses: $100
There are no other admission charges required for visitors to access the Arboretum’s grounds and facilities during the day beyond the standard parking fees listed above.
Wake was commissioned as part of Mel Chin: All Over the Place, a multi-site survey of his works from across many decades that took place in several New York City locations. A collaborative group, led by UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, formed to plan and raise funds for the sculpture to be seen locally.
Wake – 60 feet long, 34 feet wide and 24 feet high, conceived and designed by the artist – was engineered, sculpted and fabricated by an interdisciplinary team of UNC Asheville students, faculty, staff and community artists led by Chin. The sculpture is interactive and features decks and places to sit and contemplate.
Wake evokes the hull of a shipwreck crossed with the skeletal remains of a marine mammal. The structure is linked with a carved, 21-foot-tall animatronic sculpture, accurately derived from a figurehead of the opera star Jenny Lind that was once mounted on the 19th century clipper ship, USS Nightingale. Jenny Lind moves subtly as she breathes and scans the sky.
Visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 44 Collier Avenue.
Starting March 16th, visitors can experience Wake daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Bring your current needle project and work while socializing with other like-minded crafters
Join Dr. Neal Barnard on Mon., Mar. 16, 2020 at The Collider in Asheville to celebrate the release of his new book, Your Body in Balance: The New Science of Food, Hormones, and Health. Guests will hear remarks from Dr. Barnard about food’s effects on hormones and health.
Books will be available for purchase, and Dr. Barnard will be available to sign books.
Space is limited for this free event—reserve your spot now!
Due to concerns related to the coronavirus, we have determined that we must close the Asheville Art Museum as of March 16, until further notice. All programs and events will also be postponed until we can safely resume public operations.
Current tickets will be honored for the rescheduled dates (TBD). Once new dates are determined, you will be contacted regarding ticket exchange coordination. Event ticket holders can email [email protected], and program ticket holders can email [email protected] with any questions. We ask for your patience during this time and greatly appreciate your support.
We will continue to monitor and assess all developments. The health and safety of visitors, Members, staff, volunteers, and the community will always take top priority in all of the decisions we make relating to the COVID-19. However, this unfortunate reality also comes with a significant economic impact to arts organizations such as ours. Please consider supporting us in mitigating the losses we may suffer as a result from the virus with a tax-deductible donation to the Asheville Art Museum.
Please refer to our website and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for additional updates and ways to engage with the Museum during these unprecedented times.
On display daily January 18 – April 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the Education Center, the Asheville Printmakers’ newest exhibit, Natural Impressions, will feature a variety of two- and three-dimensional print pieces utilizing numerous printmaking processes. Works will inspire visitors to think about the beauty and fragility of plants and the natural world through various perspectives and printmaking techniques. All pieces are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will benefit The North Carolina Arboretum Society.
Founded in 2013, the Asheville Printmakers is an energetic group of artists dedicated to expressing ideas and imagery through the medium of print. The group encompasses a wide range of processes and content, including traditional methods, such as lithography, woodcut and screen printing, and contemporary photographic printing processes, such as carbon printing, platinum-palladium and photopolymer etching.
Parking Fees
- Members: Free
- Personal Vehicles: $14
- Motorhomes / Vehicles (21’ or larger): $50
- Buses: $100
There are no other admission charges required for visitors to access the Arboretum’s grounds and facilities during the day beyond the standard parking fees listed above.

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
On display daily January 18 – April 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the Education Center, the Asheville Printmakers’ newest exhibit, Natural Impressions, will feature a variety of two- and three-dimensional print pieces utilizing numerous printmaking processes. Works will inspire visitors to think about the beauty and fragility of plants and the natural world through various perspectives and printmaking techniques. All pieces are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will benefit The North Carolina Arboretum Society.
Founded in 2013, the Asheville Printmakers is an energetic group of artists dedicated to expressing ideas and imagery through the medium of print. The group encompasses a wide range of processes and content, including traditional methods, such as lithography, woodcut and screen printing, and contemporary photographic printing processes, such as carbon printing, platinum-palladium and photopolymer etching.
Parking Fees
- Members: Free
- Personal Vehicles: $14
- Motorhomes / Vehicles (21’ or larger): $50
- Buses: $100
There are no other admission charges required for visitors to access the Arboretum’s grounds and facilities during the day beyond the standard parking fees listed above.
Asheville Area Arts Relief Fund Survey
We are looking into starting an arts relief fund, but donations are hard to come by right now. Please complete this very short survey to help us determine how we can work together to support our local arts community during this pandemic.
Take the Survey
Americans for the Arts Economic Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the Arts and Cultural Sector Survey
This survey is designed to collect information about the financial and human impacts that the spread of the coronavirus has had on arts and cultural organizations. The survey also collects basic information about the participating organizations so that the data can be parsed by specific geographic regions, artistic disciplines, and budget categories.
Take the Survey
Due to concerns related to the coronavirus, we have determined that we must close the Asheville Art Museum as of March 16, until further notice. All programs and events will also be postponed until we can safely resume public operations.
Current tickets will be honored for the rescheduled dates (TBD). Once new dates are determined, you will be contacted regarding ticket exchange coordination. Event ticket holders can email [email protected], and program ticket holders can email [email protected] with any questions. We ask for your patience during this time and greatly appreciate your support.
We will continue to monitor and assess all developments. The health and safety of visitors, Members, staff, volunteers, and the community will always take top priority in all of the decisions we make relating to the COVID-19. However, this unfortunate reality also comes with a significant economic impact to arts organizations such as ours. Please consider supporting us in mitigating the losses we may suffer as a result from the virus with a tax-deductible donation to the Asheville Art Museum.
Please refer to our website and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for additional updates and ways to engage with the Museum during these unprecedented times.
Until we reopen to Members and visitors, we invite you to check out the different ways you can interact with us online!
• Explore the Collection and exhibitions virtually on our website.
• Get to know our staff and volunteers, take deeper dives into artwork with our Works of the Week and more on the Museum blog.
• Relive the grand reopening parties, check out artist interviews, and learn about the history of Pack Square on our YouTube channel.
• Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.We’ve created a Museum From Home page on our website that we’ll update with virtual tours, children’s activities, and more.
A peer-reviewed open-access digital publication of the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC). The Journal seeks to host diverse works by writers and artists of varied backgrounds. We welcome academic articles, essays, reviews, poetry, images and forms of artistic expression.
The latest issue of the Journal of Black Mountain College Studies is now online! Volume 10: Chance I Dance is an exploration of dance and performance at Black Mountain College featuring artists and interpreters of work both past and contemporary. The issue is replete with fascinating videos and photographs, as well as articles and poetry.
We welcome you to submit proposals and submissions for upcoming issues. At the moment, submissions we have already received are leading us to focus the next issue on pedagogies and practices of writing at BMC, and we can accept more contributions related to that theme.
Poetry, images, reviews, academic articles, essays, memoirs, archival material, and media are most welcome. We strongly suggest sending us an abstract or a proposal before you proceed to develop a finished submission. The only criteria are submissions of substance and integrity, and an evident connection with the history and heritage of Black Mountain College in all its diverse educational and artistic practices. Email us at [email protected]
Tom Frank
Julie J. Thomson
Co-Editors
https://artsandculture.google.com/project/streetviews
Virtual tour
Explore panoramic views of famous sites in 360˚ Street View tours.
On display daily January 18 – April 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the Education Center, the Asheville Printmakers’ newest exhibit, Natural Impressions, will feature a variety of two- and three-dimensional print pieces utilizing numerous printmaking processes. Works will inspire visitors to think about the beauty and fragility of plants and the natural world through various perspectives and printmaking techniques. All pieces are available for purchase and a portion of the sales will benefit The North Carolina Arboretum Society.
Founded in 2013, the Asheville Printmakers is an energetic group of artists dedicated to expressing ideas and imagery through the medium of print. The group encompasses a wide range of processes and content, including traditional methods, such as lithography, woodcut and screen printing, and contemporary photographic printing processes, such as carbon printing, platinum-palladium and photopolymer etching.
Parking Fees
- Members: Free
- Personal Vehicles: $14
- Motorhomes / Vehicles (21’ or larger): $50
- Buses: $100
There are no other admission charges required for visitors to access the Arboretum’s grounds and facilities during the day beyond the standard parking fees listed above.


Mixed-media paintings in oil & pastel inspired by the local art history & landscape.
This opening reception will take place in conjunction with our True Home Open Mic, where anyone is invited to step up to share song, music, poetry, storytelling, comedy, magic, & other performances in a supportive setting. Mary Montes will present her new collection of art as one of the performances.
Mary Montes is an accomplished painter, in the Flood Gallery residency program, visiting from Miami, Florida. Mary’s new series of mixed-media paintings in oil and pastel on paper and canvas are inspired by the local art history and landscape. She is primarily an abstract expressionist painter, classically trained in figure drawing.
Mary Montes had the opportunity to meet artist Robert Rauschenberg many years ago, which inspired her to research the Black Mountain College and American art history. Mary’s desire to paint in the Asheville & Black Mountain area to find inspiration as well as to pay tribute to her friend Rauschenberg and the artists of the region, resulted in her getting into the residency program at the Flood Gallery.
Mary has had solo exhibitions in Palm Beach, at the Michael Findlay Gallery, Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, NY and Dorfsman Fine Art, Miami, as well as many group shows (Guild Hall, Ashawaga Hall, Quogue Gallery, Sag Harbor Whaling Museum with Peter Marcelle). She is currently represented by Julie Keyes Gallery in Sag Harbor, NY.








