Calendar of Events

To show support for Veterans and shine a light on the support services that Buncombe County has to offer, Buncombe County will be shining the green light for Veterans November 7-13 in three locations in downtown Asheville:

• Buncombe County Courthouse
• Health and Human Services Tower- Home to Buncombe County Veterans Services
• Buncombe County Family Justice Center

Spearheaded by the National Association of Counties (NACo), Operation Green Light aims to let those who served know they are seen, appreciated, and supported. Residents are encouraged to participate in this community-wide initiative by shining a green light for Veterans at your home or place of business. Together, we can show support and encourage the Veterans in our lives and communities to seek the resources they need to thrive here at home.

The contributions and sacrifices of the people who served in the Armed Forces have been vital in maintaining the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by all Americans. Upon returning to civilian life, many Veterans report experiencing high levels of stress due to financial hardship, mental health struggles, physical ailments, and lack of connection and community support.

Buncombe County stands in solidarity with Veterans and is home to a host of essential resources that can provide opportunities for health, safety, stability, and connection for those returning from service. Grounded in a commitment to support our Veterans, Heath Smith, Director of Buncombe County Veterans Services, accepted a proclamation from the Buncombe County Commissioners, designating Buncombe County as a Green Light for Veterans County. “Becoming a Green Light for Veterans County is an essential step in uniting our community in the effort to support local Veterans with the comprehensive resources and services they are entitled to.”

Veterans Services and Resources

BUNCOMBE COUNTY VETERANS SERVICES (BCVS)

6th Floor
40 Coxe Avenue in Downtown Asheville
Monday – Friday 8 AM – 5 PM
(828) 250-5726

BCVS offers essential benefits assistance to Veterans and their families. Services include:

• Health Care
• Home Loans
• Life Insurance
• Education & Training
• Vocational Rehabilitation & Training
• Burial Benefits
• Dependent & Survivor Benefits
• Disability Benefits

Charles George VA Medical Center

1110 Tunnel Road in Asheville
Open 24/7 for your convenience
Main phone: 828-298-7911
Mental health care: 828-298-7911 x2519

The Charles George VA Medical Center offers comprehensive medical care to Veterans and their families, including mental health care services, urgent care visits, and clinical care scheduling. Visit their website for a comprehensive list of medical services and support services offered at the Charles George VA Medical Center.

Veterans Treatment Court

60 Court Plaza- 9th Floor
Buncombe County Courthouse
(703) 389-9918

Veterans Treatment Court is an alternative to the conventional criminal justice system in which Veterans who are struggling to acclimate back into civilian life and find themselves charged with an offense are met with the support, structure, and resources they need to settle into life after service.

To show support for Veterans and shine a light on the support services that Buncombe County has to offer, Buncombe County will be shining the green light for Veterans November 7-13 in three locations in downtown Asheville:

• Buncombe County Courthouse
• Health and Human Services Tower- Home to Buncombe County Veterans Services
• Buncombe County Family Justice Center

Spearheaded by the National Association of Counties (NACo), Operation Green Light aims to let those who served know they are seen, appreciated, and supported. Residents are encouraged to participate in this community-wide initiative by shining a green light for Veterans at your home or place of business. Together, we can show support and encourage the Veterans in our lives and communities to seek the resources they need to thrive here at home.

The contributions and sacrifices of the people who served in the Armed Forces have been vital in maintaining the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by all Americans. Upon returning to civilian life, many Veterans report experiencing high levels of stress due to financial hardship, mental health struggles, physical ailments, and lack of connection and community support.

Buncombe County stands in solidarity with Veterans and is home to a host of essential resources that can provide opportunities for health, safety, stability, and connection for those returning from service. Grounded in a commitment to support our Veterans, Heath Smith, Director of Buncombe County Veterans Services, accepted a proclamation from the Buncombe County Commissioners, designating Buncombe County as a Green Light for Veterans County. “Becoming a Green Light for Veterans County is an essential step in uniting our community in the effort to support local Veterans with the comprehensive resources and services they are entitled to.”

Veterans Services and Resources

BUNCOMBE COUNTY VETERANS SERVICES (BCVS)

6th Floor
40 Coxe Avenue in Downtown Asheville
Monday – Friday 8 AM – 5 PM
(828) 250-5726

BCVS offers essential benefits assistance to Veterans and their families. Services include:

• Health Care
• Home Loans
• Life Insurance
• Education & Training
• Vocational Rehabilitation & Training
• Burial Benefits
• Dependent & Survivor Benefits
• Disability Benefits

Charles George VA Medical Center

1110 Tunnel Road in Asheville
Open 24/7 for your convenience
Main phone: 828-298-7911
Mental health care: 828-298-7911 x2519

The Charles George VA Medical Center offers comprehensive medical care to Veterans and their families, including mental health care services, urgent care visits, and clinical care scheduling. Visit their website for a comprehensive list of medical services and support services offered at the Charles George VA Medical Center.

Veterans Treatment Court

60 Court Plaza- 9th Floor
Buncombe County Courthouse
(703) 389-9918

Veterans Treatment Court is an alternative to the conventional criminal justice system in which Veterans who are struggling to acclimate back into civilian life and find themselves charged with an offense are met with the support, structure, and resources they need to settle into life after service.

Inspired by nature and following the self-published released of How to Heal the Planet from Wherever You Are, Cortina Jenelle introduces Oshanna Church of Spiritual Activism, with Oshanna debuting as a dynamic experience rooted in ceremony and inviting nature as a co-facilitator through theater, art and spoken word. After each production, all ticket proceeds are donated to a mission partner who is doing work in service to Mother Earth while also furthering truth, healing and reconciliation across race, gender and class.

Black Starseed: Immaculate Conception is the second installment of the Black Starseed series, which goes back in time as a prelude to Black Starseed: Revolutionary Reimagination (2020) – a debut partnership between adé PROJECT and PechaKucha Asheville co-creating a storytelling experience in voice of Black women at the intersection of creativity x spirituality. In this prelude, the life story of Cortina Jenelle becomes a moving memoir and an embodiment of a shared story from the matriarchs of Black, indigenous descent in a world where femininity, Blackness, sovereignty and indigeneity were not just criminal, but a threat to society. Black Starseed: Immaculate Conception may appear to just tell the story of one, yet is actually one version of the same story that constantly loops through time. Do you know how purposeful, brilliant and divine you already are, Starseed? This is heart song of the black sheep generation + millennials, and those born torn between ancestral remembrance and playing the game of life to win. Join us in a gathering of art, theater, ceremony (with a bonus book signing post-show) and storytelling and leave reminded of how to heal the planet from wherever you are.

Ticket proceeds benefit cleanup of the French Broad River with our mission partner for this show, Asheville Greenworks.

We are grateful to offer a benefit event again this December, the first since 2019.

This year’s performance will feature Chautauqua performer Carol Kessler, as Emily Dickinson, and the Asheville Flute Choir lending their talents to benefit Our Voice.

In the spirit of inclusivity and equity, PAN HARMONIA offers donation-based, pay-as-you-can community concerts. All are welcome.

Our VOICE serves all individuals in Buncombe County affected by sexual assault and abuse, through counseling, advocacy and education. https://www.ourvoicenc.org/

Advanced reservations are encouraged, as seating is limited. Those planning to attend are expected to be fully vaccinated for the safety of our community.
Email [email protected] or call the office at (828) 254-7123, if you have questions.
panharmonia.org

Punch Bucket Lit, West Asheville’s reading series at Cellarest Beer Project is back for more live readings in our taproom featuring authors Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn and Emily Paige Wilson. While the authors vary month-to-month you can always count on inspiring poetry, moving essays and heartfelt original literary works read aloud in the contemplative company of other lit nerds and creative types alike. We’ll booze, we’ll listen, we’ll feel feelings and we’ll see the world through a different lens for an evening.

– FULLY SEATED SHOW

THE MOTH resumes their recurring monthly Asheville StorySLAM at The Grey Eagle on the third Thursday of each month through December at 7:30pm! This month’s theme is….

ANNIVERSARY: Prepare a five-minute story about milestones. Enduring love or loss. The fondness of nostalgia and the lessons of growth. Seconds, minutes, hours, or when time stood still. Paper or silver…extra points if you make it to platinum. Rejoice or reflect on the past while plotting the course ahead. Cheers to many more years!

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

This virtual event is free but registration is required.

Jameka Williams holds an MFA in poetry from Northwestern University. Her poetry has been published in Prelude Magazine, Muzzle Magazine, and Gulf Coast, among others. A Pushcart Prize nominee, she resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Diamond Forde’s debut collection, Mother Body, is the winner of the 2019 Saturnalia Poetry Prize. Forde has received numerous awards and prizes, including a Pink Poetry Prize, a Furious Flower Poetry Prize, and was a finalist for the 2022 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. You can find more at her website, www.diamondforde.com.

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Kendra Allen is the author of The Collection Plate and When You Learn the Alphabet, an essay collection that won the 2018 Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction. She writes the music column Make Love in My Car for Southwest Review, and her memoir, Fruit Punch, is out now. You can keep up with her work at KendraCanYou.com.

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

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

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

Black Diamond Enterprise presents Black Poetry Theatre* for Black History Month @ The Foundry (*along with other happenings), Feb. 3rd, 5pm. This is a FREE event. Come join us as we explore the Joy, Pain, Sunshine & Rain of life. Enjoy the encouragement and singing with us!

Check for other dates as well.

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

We invite you to drink in the nectar of our heart’s creative delight… A Love Potion by OMotion!

THE SHOW

A one of a kind unique multi-dimensional event !!!!

Muses & Mocktails is not only a show to indulge the senses; it is also a fundraiser for our next full length production, Cycles of Dance, coming up Autumn 2023!

Join us for an evening of potent performance art & herbal elixirs!

OMotion Collective & featured performers convene to share an infusion of musings woven together.

Highlighting:

• Dance
• Burlesque
• Flow arts
• Comedy
• Poetry

– & –

• Looping Musical Mastery

The mocktails being served are The MerTails curated by local purveyor: The NOHM. These herbaceous libations hold a sweet reminder to savor every drop of this creative healing elixir as we rejoice with a cheers.

———————————————–

THE AFTER-SHOW DANCE PARTY

The show will be followed by a dance party. Electronic sets by local talents Blacknote and Atum are sure to getcha’ moving once you’re bubbling with inspiration after the spectrum of expressive acts we have brewed up.

TIming conflicts or preference to just come after the main show & shake it on out? If you can’t make it to the main show, you can purchase a reduced price ticket which is only valid for the after-show Dance Party.

_________________________

Doors at 6:30pm

Show at 7:30pm

Dance Party 9:15pm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENERAL ADMISSION: $33 per person – Full Access Show + Drink + Dance Party

VIP:  $88 for 2 persons – Full Access Show + Drink + Dance Party ( with reserved table for 2 with a decadent spread of fruits, nuts & local chocolate)

DANCE PARTY ONLY: $22 per person – Admittance following the end of the main show

Join us for a night of poetry and storytelling all about the pros, cons, and weirdness of sharing your body with others. All donations will be given directly to Asheville Prison Books. “Asheville Prison Books is a volunteer-run collective which has distributed free literature to people incarcerated in the southeast since 1999. We currently distribute books to North and South Carolina.

Fundraiser for Asheville Prison Books, Sliding scale $5-$25 Donation.

Time: Doors 7:00, Show 7:30PM

This event will be taking place in the covered outdoor space, so we suggest people dress warmly.

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

Poetry and A Talk with Dr. Gabrielle Foreman, MacArthur Fellow, and Glenis Redmond, Poet Laureate of Greenville about David Drake, the enslaved South Carolina potter and poet. 

Gabrielle Foreman and Glenis Redmond will discuss their collaboration on the book, Praise Songs for Dave the Potter, Art and Poetry for David Drake (University of Georgia Press, 2023).

David Drake is recognized as one of the United States’ most accomplished nineteenth-century potters. Yet, though his pots—many inscribed with original verse—sit in museums across the nation, he is too often passed over as one of the early progenitors of the African American poetic tradition. Born in South Carolina at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Drake produced hundreds of pieces while under the surveillance of the enslavers who claimed him and his work as their property. As Gabrielle Foreman notes, he is perhaps the only Black person in all of the free or slave states whose literary work was preserved in neither books nor pamphlets nor newspapers. His pots and jars served as pages as well as ceramic vessels.

– PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW
– GA SEATING IN FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. 

THE MOTH resumes their recurring monthly Asheville StorySLAM at The Grey Eagle at 7:30pm! This month’s theme is….

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

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

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

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

– PARTIALLY SEATED SHOW
– GA SEATING IN FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. 

THE MOTH resumes their recurring monthly Asheville StorySLAM at The Grey Eagle at 7:30pm! This month’s theme is….

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

Craig LeHoullier, author of Epic Tomatoes and Growing Vegetables in Strawbales, and a 40 year gardener with an expertise in heirloom tomatoes, moved to Hendersonville with his wife, Susan in January 2020 – then COVID hit, closing down his workshop agenda. Craig and Al met for coffee and the idea of providing workshops at the Veterans Healing Farm quickly took shape. At this event, Craig will tell some garden stories and provide some sneak peaks at four programs that will take place in the coming months. He will have plenty of time for questions, share some garden seeds, and his books will be available to flip through; signed copies will be available to purchase.

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

for veterans and their spouses

Mock interview, tips from employers. This workshop provides you with the unique opportunity to meet live with a panel of employers for candid conversation about the best ad worst practices with resumes and interviews.