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, March 14, 2020
Carolina Guitar Show
Mar 14 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Davis Event Center
SELL OR TRADE!
TURN UNUSED GEAR INTO CASH$$
Hundreds of Dealers & collectors. Thousands of electric and acoustic guitars, amps, effects and accessories.
NEW, OLD, VINTAGE AND USED
.
River Arts District 2nd Saturday Art Stroll
Mar 14 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
River Arts District

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!

Nantahala Outdoor Center Work Hard, Play Hard Job Fair!
Mar 14 @ 10:30 am – 3:00 pm
Nantahala Outdoor Center

 

Join us on Saturday, March 14 for the first annual NOC Work Hard, Play Hard Job Fair!

Managers from NOC’s Adventure, Retail, Restaurant and HR Departments will be available for open interviews, giving you the opportunity to be hired on the spot! To register in advance, send your resume to our HR office by clicking “Register Now”! Browse a list of open opportunities at noccareers.com.

All offers will be conditional pending successful background and reference checks.

Second Saturdays: Printmaking
Mar 14 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

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.

Mystical NIght Market
Mar 14 @ 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The Violet Owl

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!

Sunday, March 15, 2020
POSTPONED: Grand Opening Celebration for Mel Chin’s Wake
Mar 15 all-day
44 Collier Ave. Asheville, NC 28801

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

Raffle: Trip to London or Cash Asheville Community Theatre
Mar 15 – Mar 14 all-day
Asheville Community Theatre

 

Tickets on sale through June 28, 2020

We know how completely odd it seems to be raffling off a trip to London right now. We’re barely leaving our homes for any reason, so jetting off around the world seems flat out bonkers! We’re hopeful that international travel and fun vacations will happen again in the future – and that’s why we extended and amended the raffle prize! If you win, you can choose the trip to London (and you have 18 months to book your travel) OR you can choose to take the cash value of the trip instead ($10,000).

Our raffles have been important fundraisers for ACT over the years, and this one is no different. ACT has lost 85% of our income as an organization, so this raffle is one of the few ways we can continue to bring a little money in the door.

Buying a raffle ticket is a great way to support ACT right now – and it just might be you who gets some really great news from us!

 

Natural Impressions: Prints from the Asheville Printmakers CANCELLED
Mar 15 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

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.

Carolina Guitar Show
Mar 15 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Davis Event Center
SELL OR TRADE!
TURN UNUSED GEAR INTO CASH$$
Hundreds of Dealers & collectors. Thousands of electric and acoustic guitars, amps, effects and accessories.
NEW, OLD, VINTAGE AND USED
.
Return to the Green – Celtic Celebration
Mar 15 @ 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Fluor Field

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.

1:00 ~ Event Start
1:00 ~ Live music by the Dunn Sisters  
2:00 ~ Children’s Area Opens (Runs from 2-4)
2:15 Opening Ceremonies: Céad Míle Fáilte
             City of Greenville Pipes & Drums:
          ~ Irish & American National Anthems
             John Hanson/Whitney Bradley
2:30 ~ Irish Youth Hurling/ Gaelic Football Exhibition 
2:30 ~ Irish Dance Performance – Westend Dance Company
3:00 ~ Live Celtic Music – ‘Keltic Kudzu’
5:00 ~ Irish Dance Performance 
5:30 ~ Grand Prize Drawing for $500 Cash Prize 
             Must be present to win
6:00 Return to your House    
Opening Celebration CANCELLED The public opening event scheduled for Sunday afternoon has been postponed. WAKE will be on view as planned from March 15 through September Wake, Mel Chin’s giant animatronic sculpture
Mar 15 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
The public opening event scheduled for Sunday afternoon has been postponed. WAKE will be on view as planned from March 15 through September 7 at 44 Collier Avenue. Please visit ashevillearts.com for additional updates.  

 

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.

Monday, March 16, 2020
Raffle: Trip to London or Cash Asheville Community Theatre
Mar 16 – Mar 15 all-day
Asheville Community Theatre

 

Tickets on sale through June 28, 2020

We know how completely odd it seems to be raffling off a trip to London right now. We’re barely leaving our homes for any reason, so jetting off around the world seems flat out bonkers! We’re hopeful that international travel and fun vacations will happen again in the future – and that’s why we extended and amended the raffle prize! If you win, you can choose the trip to London (and you have 18 months to book your travel) OR you can choose to take the cash value of the trip instead ($10,000).

Our raffles have been important fundraisers for ACT over the years, and this one is no different. ACT has lost 85% of our income as an organization, so this raffle is one of the few ways we can continue to bring a little money in the door.

Buying a raffle ticket is a great way to support ACT right now – and it just might be you who gets some really great news from us!

 

Natural Impressions: Prints from the Asheville Printmakers CANCELLED
Mar 16 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

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, Mel Chin’s Giant Animatronic Sculpture
Mar 16 @ 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

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.

Itch to Stitch Weaverville Library CANCELLED
Mar 16 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Weaverville Library

Itch to Stitch

Bring your current needle project and work while socializing with other like-minded crafters

Transition Asheville: Racing Extinction (Documentary)
Mar 16 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
St. Mary's Episcopal Church

This Discovery Channel documentary released in 2015, is full of beautiful and horrifying images that are not easily forgotten. From majestic whale sharks to slaughtered manta rays, the subjects of this new documentary reveal nature’s beauty and force viewers to confront the detrimental effects of human activity on the planet.

The documentary introduces its viewers to the Anthropocene, the geological age that began when human activities became a driving force for major geological changes. The film mixes cogent scientific facts with captivating images to convey the urgency of the crisis facing our planet—an emergency stemming from global climate change and mass species extinction.

Scientists predict that within the next 100 years, 50 percent of Earth’s species will become extinct if we continue down this path. Species go extinct regardless of human interference, but in the next decade alone, humans will drive other species to extinction ten times faster than normal.

Most of the film is dedicated to ocean quality because oceans are crucial to global stability. “When carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, between a third and a half gets absorbed by the oceans, making them more acidic,” said Louie Psihoyos, director of Racing Extinction, in the documentary. This increased acidity kills phytoplankton—the organisms responsible for producing half of the world’s oxygen supply—and harms many other oceanic creatures.

The film highlights recent and massive decreases in shark populations. The film also highlights the illegal market for shark fins in China, which claims the lives of 1.3 to 2.7 million sharks every year. Sharks have survived four mass extinctions in the earth’s history, but now human activity has decreased the shark population by 90 percent in one generation.

The documentary exposes specific ways that humans contribute to the changing geochemistry of the planet. According to Psihoyos, our livestock contribute more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than all direct emissions from the transportation sector. However, the film also recognizes our ability to solve these problems by providing pathways for people to live more sustainably: “If every American skipped meat and cheese just one day a week for a year, it would be like taking 7.6 million cars off the road,”

The film concedes that large-scale geological changes are not simple problems to solve, but it advocates for people to find a way to help alleviate the problem. Overall, Racing Extinction drives home the message that saving the planet is worthwhile by unveiling the hidden beauty of the earth. The film inspires its viewers to maintain hope and convinces them to see and hear the beauty and vibrancy of the world that surrounds them.

http://www.yalescientific.org/2016/03/documentary-review-racing-extinction/

Free Lecture and Book Signing with Neal Barnard – Your Body in Balance
Mar 16 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
The Collider

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!

Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Asheville Art Museum CLOSED until further notice
Mar 17 all-day
Asheville Art Museum

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 FacebookInstagram, and Twitter for additional updates and ways to engage with the Museum during these unprecedented times.

Raffle: Trip to London or Cash Asheville Community Theatre
Mar 17 – Mar 16 all-day
Asheville Community Theatre

 

Tickets on sale through June 28, 2020

We know how completely odd it seems to be raffling off a trip to London right now. We’re barely leaving our homes for any reason, so jetting off around the world seems flat out bonkers! We’re hopeful that international travel and fun vacations will happen again in the future – and that’s why we extended and amended the raffle prize! If you win, you can choose the trip to London (and you have 18 months to book your travel) OR you can choose to take the cash value of the trip instead ($10,000).

Our raffles have been important fundraisers for ACT over the years, and this one is no different. ACT has lost 85% of our income as an organization, so this raffle is one of the few ways we can continue to bring a little money in the door.

Buying a raffle ticket is a great way to support ACT right now – and it just might be you who gets some really great news from us!

 

Natural Impressions: Prints from the Asheville Printmakers CANCELLED
Mar 17 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

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.

Welcome To Night Vale Rescheduled
Mar 17 @ 9:00 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

Welcome to Night Vale Website

WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events.

Turn on your radio and hide.

The Orange Peel Welcome to Night Vale - March 17, 2020

Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Raffle: Trip to London or Cash Asheville Community Theatre
Mar 18 – Mar 17 all-day
Asheville Community Theatre

 

Tickets on sale through June 28, 2020

We know how completely odd it seems to be raffling off a trip to London right now. We’re barely leaving our homes for any reason, so jetting off around the world seems flat out bonkers! We’re hopeful that international travel and fun vacations will happen again in the future – and that’s why we extended and amended the raffle prize! If you win, you can choose the trip to London (and you have 18 months to book your travel) OR you can choose to take the cash value of the trip instead ($10,000).

Our raffles have been important fundraisers for ACT over the years, and this one is no different. ACT has lost 85% of our income as an organization, so this raffle is one of the few ways we can continue to bring a little money in the door.

Buying a raffle ticket is a great way to support ACT right now – and it just might be you who gets some really great news from us!

 

Natural Impressions: Prints from the Asheville Printmakers CANCELLED
Mar 18 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

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.

Thursday, March 19, 2020
Asheville Area Arts Council Arts Impact Surveys
Mar 19 all-day
Asheville Area Arts Council On-line

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

Asheville Art Museum CLOSED until further notice
Mar 19 all-day
Asheville Art Museum

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 FacebookInstagram, and Twitter for additional updates and ways to engage with the Museum during these unprecedented times.

Asheville Art Museum Collections On-line
Mar 19 all-day
Asheville Art Museum On-line
Asheville Art Museum From Home
Mar 19 all-day
Asheville Art Museum On line

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 TwitterInstagram, 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.

National Museum of Natural History – Virtual Tours
Mar 19 all-day
National Museum of Natural History On-line
Raffle: Trip to London or Cash Asheville Community Theatre
Mar 19 – Mar 18 all-day
Asheville Community Theatre

 

Tickets on sale through June 28, 2020

We know how completely odd it seems to be raffling off a trip to London right now. We’re barely leaving our homes for any reason, so jetting off around the world seems flat out bonkers! We’re hopeful that international travel and fun vacations will happen again in the future – and that’s why we extended and amended the raffle prize! If you win, you can choose the trip to London (and you have 18 months to book your travel) OR you can choose to take the cash value of the trip instead ($10,000).

Our raffles have been important fundraisers for ACT over the years, and this one is no different. ACT has lost 85% of our income as an organization, so this raffle is one of the few ways we can continue to bring a little money in the door.

Buying a raffle ticket is a great way to support ACT right now – and it just might be you who gets some really great news from us!

 

The Journal of Black Mountain College Studies On-line Access and Submissions
Mar 19 all-day
Black Mountain College Studies On-line

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