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.
Eyes Up Here Comedy is back!!! The amazing Erin Terry is back in Asheville with another group of incredible femme comics from all over the South East!
Featuring Allie Steinhoff, Morgan Bost, Chloë Marie Stillwell and more!
Sponsored by Hi-Wire Brewing & BRÖÖ Craft Beer Hair
Don’t forget to bring items to donate to the Homeless Period Project for chances to win great prizes from BRÖÖ and Hi-Wire Brewing!
All VIP tickets will receive a gift bag from BRÖÖ and VIP seating at the shows, but limited number of VIP seats available!
Tickets:
Early Show: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-early-show-tickets-64587077688
Early VIP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-early-show-vip-ticket-tickets-64587138871
Late Show: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-late-show-tickets-64587169964
Late VIP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-late-show-vip-ticket-tickets-64587264246
Eyes Up Here Comedy is back!!! The amazing Erin Terry is back in Asheville with another group of incredible femme comics from all over the South East!
Featuring Allie Steinhoff, Morgan Bost, Chloë Marie Stillwell and more!
Sponsored by Hi-Wire Brewing & BRÖÖ Craft Beer Hair
Don’t forget to bring items to donate to the Homeless Period Project for chances to win great prizes from BRÖÖ and Hi-Wire Brewing!
All VIP tickets will receive a gift bag from BRÖÖ and VIP seating at the shows, but limited number of VIP seats available!
Tickets:
Early Show: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-early-show-tickets-64587077688
Early VIP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-early-show-vip-ticket-tickets-64587138871
Late Show: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-late-show-tickets-64587169964
Late VIP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eyes-up-here-comedy-late-show-vip-ticket-tickets-64587264246
Jonathan “Jelly” Ellington is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter based in Austin, TX by way of the mountains of Asheville, NC. His vocals are smooth and soulful with an edgy guitar style, chiming in elements of raw and expressive blues-based rock n’ roll. Jelly has developed a reputation for exciting and untamed live performances, and has shared the stage and recorded with Grammy Award-winning artists. He has been making his mark on the Austin scene, voted Top 10 “Best Guitarist” in 2018 and 2019 Austin Chronicle Austin Music Awards.
Brian got his start in DC before moving to New York City, performing on New Faces at Montreal Just For Laughs, and going on to win an Emmy for his writing on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He performs standup in NYC and on the road, hosts one of the hottest monthly comedy shows in Brooklyn, and has been selected to perform at a number of other festivals including Laughing Skull, Laughing Devil, Skankfest, Asheville Comedy Festival, Cinderblock, and the Boston Comedy Festival.
Featuring Erin Terry and Ben Daniels
Hosted by Becca Steinhoff
Doors at 9pm, show at 9:45
ages 18+
Tickets $8 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-brian-parise-tickets-64180743331
Sean Finnerty and Tom Feeney are coming back to Asheville!
After 21 years of growing up in Longford, Ireland, Sean Finnerty decided to move stateside where a series of mature decisions that he failed to make led him to stand-up comedy. Recently he was rewarded for his efforts as he became the first ever Irish comedian to perform on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (2019). Spending his first number of years in comedy based out of Orlando, Sean was selected for Comedy Central’s Up Next competition (2013) and as a semi finalist in Florida’s Funniest Comedian (2014) resulting in him opening for WWE hall of famer Mick Foley.
A breakout year in 2015 saw Sean make his television debut as co-host of Season 9 of Fireball Run on Amazon Prime as well as being to selected to perform at the Boston Comedy Festival.
In 2016 Sean moved to New York where he quickly became known as one to watch, performing at famous venues such as The Comedy Cellar, Gotham Comedy Club, Carolines on Broadway, The Stand and The Friars Club. Recently, he has also performed at several festivals including Laugh Your Asheville Off (2017) Edinburgh Fringe (2018) and Electric Picnic (2018), along with making it to the semi finals of the nationwide talent search Stand Up NBC. A keen eye for detail Sean has also developed a reputation as a Roaster and is currently the number 1 ranked roast comic in New York City.
Hosted by Lily Campbell
Featuring Tom Feeney
ages 18+
Tickets $8 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-night-sean-finnerty-tickets-64181069306
Ryan Singer is the epitome of a comic’s comic, all the while remaining accessible to mainstream audiences. He is unlike any other comedian working today – through stories of experiences in his own life, he dares to venture into the world of the esoteric, paranormal, and the mystical seeking ways to make us laugh at ourselves and understand our connectedness. At his core he operates from the viewpoint that, “It is more fun to believe,” and that shines through in his humble and head-on approach of confronting hefty topics and taking counter-culture stances. He beautifully takes the audience on a journey of the mind and through imagination to find the inspiringly funny. With an overall positive message in his material, Singer reminds us to re-embrace our intuition and go with our gut, all the while he’s trying to bust it.
Ryan has released 4 full-length albums FREE LOVE, IMMORTAL FOR NOW, COMEDY WONDER TOWN & HOW TO GET HIGH WITHOUT DRUGS, was a recurring character as himself on IFC’s MARON, been seen on Seeso and is the creator and host of one of the top Science & Medicine podcasts on iTunes, ME & PARANORMAL YOU, conducting in-depth interviews with people who possess paranormal abilities or have had extraordinary experiences. His most recent album FREE LOVE was selected as on of the Top 10 Comedy Albums of 2018 by Vulture.com. He was selected by LA Weekly as one of “10 LA Comics to Watch” for 2014, was mentioned in NY Magazine as a “Comic to Watch,” was one of 4 finalists in the original CMT’s Next Big Comic Contest, is a frequent guest on the WTF Podcast w/Marc Maron and the Bob & Tom Show, and his joke “United Snacks of America” has over 9 million listens on Pandora.
ages 18+
Tickets $8 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/comedy-at-fleetwoods-ryan-singer-tickets-64204121255
Thursdays at Pulp Lounge, part of The Orange Peel in Downtown Asheville, Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic is a mix of professional local comedians, first-timers and everything in between!
Only $5, drink specials and FREE cookies are always part of the show!
Come have some fun with us, while you Sip & Sparkle!
Delicious libations (CBD can be added), and Finklepott’s Original Fairy Hair!
It’s going to be a Fairy-Good Time!
Jesse Barry, known for her soulful blues pipes and contagious enthusiasm on stage, began her music career at the tender age of eight years old. Influenced by Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Carole King, Etta James, and Susan Tedeschi, Jesse has created her own, unique blues sound. She is often described as an “old soul” and audiences are stunned by the huge voice that comes out of her small body. Popularly known as “Skinny Legs” from Skinny Legs and All, a band she created as a teenager, Jesse has placed in the Mountain Xpress “Best Of” blues band category three years in a row, and has performed at B.B. King’s Club for the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, and at the Springing the Blues Festival in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Jesse competed on the popular TV show “American Idol” in season 9 and has made a lasting impact on her hometown, Asheville, North Carolina. She has recorded 3 albums with Skinny Legs and All and is currently working with her blues, funk, and soul group Jesse Barry and The Jam, special events band A Social Function, and her new Steely Dan tribute band Dirty Logic.
Join us at Hickory Nut Gap to see Jesse Barry and The Jam perform, eat farm-to-fork food, and prepare to dance!
Casey Balsham is a comedian and cheese lover out of New York City. She has been seen on Gotham Comedy Live, Tidal’s No Small Talk series and can be heard as one of the co-hosts of the popular Not Another True Crime Podcast by Betches. Casey was also the lead in the Off Broadway musical HA! and wrote and starred in her own one woman show called “Casey Balsham Does A Thing”. She has an album coming out this summer and would really like you to follow her on Instagram @casefaceb.
Featuring Robby Slowik
Hosted by TBA
ages 18+
Tickets $8 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-casey-balsham-tickets-64181881736
Put on your dancing boots and join Friends of the Smokies for the 2nd annual “Smokies Stomp” Barn Party just outside of Asheville, NC. The Smokies Stomp supports projects and programs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park like Parks As Classrooms, which brings thousands of schoolchildren into the Smokies every year. Folks will be treated to a gourmet farm-to-table dinner, live music, drinks, square dancing, and the opportunity to visit with rangers from the National Park Service. So come on out for fun and fundraising at the Smokies Stomp Barn Party!
Robby Slowik has been called “a national treasure and comedy’s most talented talent” by an anonymous reddit account that is definitely not controlled by Robby Slowik. Stop implying that it is.
And while those claims are true, it took time to get there. After starting comedy in Tampa, Fl (The cultural capital of the world) Robby moved to L.A. (The Tampa of California) before settling in New York City where he does stand-up most nights.
Aside from clubs and venues nationwide, Robby has done stand-up on Conan (TV!) and numerous festivals such as The Great American Comedy Festival and Laughing Skull.
He has also written for TV including working with Jon Stewart on his HBO project, as well as shows for IFC, MTV, and Comedy Central.
You can see where Robby is performing if he remembered to update the “shows” tab of his website this month.
Featuring Davidson Boswell and Casey Balsham
Hosted by TBA
ages 18+
Tickets $8 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-robby-slowik-tickets-64190083267
TRUE stories from comedians who partied way too hard and lived to tell YOU the story. With photos from the events! Chicago comedy comes to it’s favorite mountain town to party.
Every Wednesday Epic Karaoke at Alley Cat Social Club.
Anything Goes 9pm until 2am
https://www.facebook.com/events/387484835228031/
Thursday night 8/1
Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic!
Hosted by Cody Hughes
Featuing Jess Cooley
Doors 8:30p/9:00p show
$5 members/$2 for year membership
Comics get in free
(+free membership)
Free snacks/drink specials
[Comics sign up at door or email [email protected]
New comics to venue get 3-5m
Regular comics get as much time as available. Look for light]
Contact Michele at [email protected] for more info/sign up early or request a feature (paid 20m) spot

Schedule:
Wednesday, August 7 at Highland Brewing Company
Thursday, August 8 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Friday, August 9 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Saturday, August 10 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Late shows at Lazoom Room Wednesday – Friday
Tickets on Sale now at www.ashevillecomedyfestival.
We kick off the 13th Annual Asheville Comedy Festival with a stellar lineup of comics from all over the country!
We are so glad to be returning, and what better way to kick off the 13th year of an amazing festival than by celebrating at Asheville’s best brewery?!
Performer Lineup
Andrew Orolfo
Max Fine
Natalie McGill
Ben Bryant
Lace Larrabee
Dro Knows
Hobert Thompson
Dan Carney
Spencer Dobson
Lindsay Glazer
Jeremy Alder

Schedule:
Wednesday, August 7 at Highland Brewing Company
Thursday, August 8 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Friday, August 9 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Saturday, August 10 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Late shows at Lazoom Room Wednesday – Friday
Tickets on Sale now at www.ashevillecomedyfestival.
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Kyle Mara – Grisel Cabrera – Carter Deems – Zack Chapaloni – Scott Eason – Becca Steinhoff – Piers Moreton – Dan Drees – Nariko Ott – Ian Aber – Maddie Wiener – Rafe Williams –

Schedule:
Wednesday, August 7 at Highland Brewing Company
Thursday, August 8 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Friday, August 9 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Saturday, August 10 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Late shows at Lazoom Room Wednesday – Friday
Tickets on Sale now at www.ashevillecomedyfestival.
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Maya May – David Sitrick – Janet McNamara – Jimmy HVD – Olivia Cathcart – Mike Feeney – Chey Bell – Nat Baimel – Caitlin Checkeroski – Dylan Vattelana – Aviva Siegel – Jeff Zenisek –

Schedule:
Wednesday, August 7 at Highland Brewing Company
Thursday, August 8 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Friday, August 9 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Saturday, August 10 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Late shows at Lazoom Room Wednesday – Friday
Tickets on Sale now at www.ashevillecomedyfestival.
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Pedro Gonzalez – Lucia Whalen – Ken Garr – Curtis Cook – Linda Belt – Gianmarco Soresi – Pauline Yasuda – Wellington Ojukwu – Gracie Canaan – Chris Flanagan – Winston Hodges – Courtney Gilmour –
Disclaimer Stand-up Lounge is the longest running comedy open mic in Asheville happening every Wednesday night. The show starts at 9:00, and there is no cover. Anyone wanting to perform needs to sign up by 9pm, and will get five minutes on stage. Local and not-so-local, professional and not-so-professional comics perform or just anyone wanting to get up in front of people and try to make them laugh. Always fun. Always free.
Disclaimer Stand-up Lounge is the longest running comedy open mic in Asheville happening every Wednesday night. The show starts at 9:00, and there is no cover. Anyone wanting to perform needs to sign up by 9pm, and will get five minutes on stage. Local and not-so-local, professional and not-so-professional comics perform or just anyone wanting to get up in front of people and try to make them laugh. Always fun. Always free.
Thursday night 8/1 Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic!
Both Professionals and Newbies!
Hosted by Cody Hughes
Doors 8:30p/9:00p show
$5 members/$2 for year membership
Comics get in free
(+free membership)
Free snacks/drink specials
[Comics sign up at door or email [email protected]
New comics to venue get 3-5m
Regular comics get as much time as available. Look for light]
Contact Michele at [email protected] for more info/sign up early or request a feature (paid 20m) spot

Join WNC Magazine senior editor and Friends of the North Carolina Room board member Jon Elliston as he recaps his yearlong written series with a multimedia presentation in the Lord Auditorium at Pack Memorial Library.
Learn more about:
**Asheville’s Fascist: William Dudley Pelley’s obscure but infamous Silver Shirt movement lives on in his paper trail
**Swannanoa’s Superspy: Carl Duckett’s unlikely journey from small-town roots to top CIA official
**Rosman’s Spy Base: When the National Security Agency set up a mountain espionage station, it was a hard secret to keep
**Senator Sam Ervin’s Secret Wars: He stuck to the Constitution through clashes with McCarthy, the Army, CIA, and Nixon
**School Under Scrutiny: The FBI’s files on Black Mountain College tell a little-known story of art, politics, and surveillance
My name is Meagan Lucas and I am a Hendersonville-based writer. I’m having a book launch for my debut novel, Songbirds and Stray Dogs, at the new Malaprop’s Pop-Up in downtown Hendersonville.
In Songbirds and Stray Dogs, 21 year old Beaufort waitress, Jolene, has spent the majority of her life living in the shadow of the pain her mother caused, and trying to prove herself worthy of her Aunt’s stingy love. Unintentionally pregnant and abandoned again, Jolene tries to outrun her shame in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Penniless, alone, and chased by demons from her past, she is forced to confront her mother’s legacy, and her own fear. Song Birds and Stray Dogs is a Southern story, born of sweet tea and the Bible Belt, chow-chow and cornbread, shot guns and porch rocking. But it is also a universal story of escaping the burden of your past and finding yourself at home in a strange land.

| Teen – (grades 6-12), Adult | |
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Join us at Pack Memorial Library to welcome Kathy Izard, author of “The Hundred Story Home” and children’s book, “A Good Night for Mr. Coleman.” She will be conducting a reading followed by a Q&A with guests from AHOPE Day Center- Homeward Bound of WNC. Kathy Izard is an award-winning author and speaker who helped bring transformation to Charlotte in homelessness, housing and mental health. Her memoir “The Hundred Story Home” has been featured on NPR and the TODAY Show and inspires people to be changemakers in their communities. kathyizard.com Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe will be here for book sales and help with the book signing. Program is free and everyone is welcome. Doors open at 5:30. |
An all star evening of secrets and truths. This immersive cabaret event will initiate you into a society of mysteries by our talented performers. High in the air or down on the earth, this show will amaze and enlist you to a wondrous otherworld.
Featured performers:
Carmel Clavin – Your Host
Luke Schares – Your Musician
Dana Beaufait Stevens – Your Bellydancer
Boo Velvet – Your Pole Artist
Satya Jvala – Your Aerialist
with Ella Minnope rounding out the cast
Encounter the Very Serious & Not At All Silly Disorder of the Key at this sumptuous display of variety talent!
Speakeasy, your loose lips could sink ships…
Produced by Spectacle & Mirth
$20 – General Admission – STANDING room only!
$28 – General Seating
$40 – VIP with preferred seating and swag
