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.

Many skills are required to start and expand a successful farm business: passion, clear goals, production experience, financial and marketing know-how, and more. Farm Beginnings® will help you build these skills through one year of farmer-led training, mentoring, and networking. Using a holistic management frame, farmer-led classroom sessions, on-farm tours, and an extensive farmer network, Farm Beginnings® will help you clarify your goals and strengths, establish a strong enterprise plan, and start building a profitable and sustainable operation. Although students do not need to own land, some farming or production experience is required to get the most out of the program. As we know, farming is more critical than ever. Apply to this program and be prepared when crisis hits!
Program Details: December 2020 – September 2021
2020-2021 Farm Beginnings® Farmer Training is 200+ Hours including:
— Winter Whole-Farm Business Planning Courses – 60 hours (October – March)**
— ASAP’s Business of Farming Conference (February) – 8 hours
— OGS Conferences – 40+ hours
— Mentorship with an experienced Farmer Mentor (March – September) – 15 hours
— Production Training – 45 hours (April – October): WNC CRAFT tours on sustainable farms around WNC & Field Days with regional partners Living Web Farms and the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Incubator Farm
— One year WNC CRAFT Farmer Network membership – Membership and mentoring in a regional farmer network
Presenter: Kay Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer
The amount of sun or shade in your garden will change as the sun moves across the sky during the day and with the seasons. By knowing how much sun the garden gets, you can better plan where your plants will thrive. In this video, Kay shows you how to create a “Sun Map” and a “Sun Chart” to record the sun and shade patterns in your garden. Using these simple tools will help you make better plant selections and reward you with better results.
Video access:
To access these videos on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website, click on the link below:
Sun to Shade—Changing Light Patterns in Your Garden
Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org, click on the ‘Resources’ tab at the top of the page, and select ‘Gardening Videos’ from the drop down menu.


Laura Brooks, co-chair of The Learning Garden’s vegetable plot located at the Buncombe County Extension office, highlights the three most common pests that were encountered last year in The Learning Garden: squash vine borers, flea beetles, and Mexican bean beetles. She describes the organic methods that Master Gardeners used to help ward off these pesky insects. Laura explains the life cycle of these insects, what they look like from larvae to adult stages, when they emerge, and effective treatments.
Friday, August 21, 2020 at 12 noon WNC Communities held the 30th Western North Carolina Agricultural Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mountain Horticulture Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River. North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Steve Troxler, was inducted during a modified awards presentation. Due to current restrictions regarding public gatherings, the scaled-down ceremony was livestreamed and a limited number of attendees were present to substitute for the normal luncheon and gathering of peers, guests and friends. The ceremony can be viewed via the WNC Communities Video YouTube Channel accessible through a link at wnccommunities.org.
The North Carolina Forest Service is accepting tree seedling orders as part of its annual sale.
Each year, the NCFS Nursery Program produces millions of quality seedlings for nearly 50 species of conifers, hardwoods and native understory plants, including eastern and Carolina hemlock seedlings, as well as an expanded selection of genetically improved third cycle loblolly pine seedlings.
How can you order tree seedlings from the NCFS Nursery Program?
- Tree seedlings can be ordered from the online seedling store at www.buynctrees.com.
- Tree seedlings can also be ordered by phone at 1-888-NCTREES (1-888-628-7337).
- Tree seedlings can be ordered using the order form found in our current catalog. Complete the form and mail to Seedling Coordinator, 762 Claridge Nursery Road, Goldsboro, NC 27530.
- A user-friendly catalog is available at the “Tree Seedlings & Nursery Program” link located at www.ncforestservice.gov. Catalogs are also available at local NCFS offices located in all 100 North Carolina counties. Inside the catalog, landowners can find information about the types of tree species, quantities and costs to order. Each tree description includes information about ideal planting locations and whether a species is typically used to benefit wildlife, restore habitats or as marketable timber.
Distribution of tree seedlings will occur December through mid-April, depending on weather conditions. Seedling orders can be shipped to one of 12 distribution centers statewide for a small fee or via UPS for a charge. Seedling orders are also available for pickup from the NCFS Claridge Nursery in Goldsboro or the Linville River Nursery, near Crossnore. For information on planting trees, people are encouraged to contact an NCFS county ranger. Contact information for your local NCFS county office and nursery locations is available at www.ncforestservice.gov/contacts.
While the UN reported that over 1 million species around the globe are at risk of extinction, the Trump administration responded by proposing rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act. Again and again, they have shown that they value profit over planet. But hope is not lost. Here is something you can do today. When you get any item in the Save the Bees collection, you are supporting LCV’s work to stop the climate crisis and protect endangered species.

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Join us a for a fun, socially distanced story time! A brand new story time video will be posted every day. Keep checking back! |
Friday, August 21, 2020 at 12 noon WNC Communities held the 30th Western North Carolina Agricultural Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mountain Horticulture Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River. North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Steve Troxler, was inducted during a modified awards presentation. Due to current restrictions regarding public gatherings, the scaled-down ceremony was livestreamed and a limited number of attendees were present to substitute for the normal luncheon and gathering of peers, guests and friends. The ceremony can be viewed via the WNC Communities Video YouTube Channel accessible through a link at wnccommunities.org.
While the UN reported that over 1 million species around the globe are at risk of extinction, the Trump administration responded by proposing rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act. Again and again, they have shown that they value profit over planet. But hope is not lost. Here is something you can do today. When you get any item in the Save the Bees collection, you are supporting LCV’s work to stop the climate crisis and protect endangered species.


The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.
Rules of the trail:
Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.
Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.
Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.
Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.
The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.
The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!
P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.
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Join us a for a fun, socially distanced story time! A brand new story time video will be posted every day. Keep checking back! |

Join us for this exciting Book Launch! This event is free but registration is required. Please CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Registrants will receive an email on the day of the event with the URL and password required to attend on Zoom. If you decide to attend and to purchase the author’s book(s), we ask that you purchase from Malalprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work and keeping more dollars in our community. For info about getting your book signed, please CLICK HERE.
THE ILLUSTRATED CRYSTALLARY
In the ancient world there were three medicine kingdoms: animal, vegetable, and mineral. Following her previous acclaimed volumes on animal ( The Illustrated Bestiary) and vegetable ( The Illustrated Herbiary), Maia Toll fulfills the call for mineral with The Illustrated Crystallary, exploring the mystical qualities of 36 fascinating crystals and minerals, including gold, silver, copper, amethyst, hematite, mica, Smokey quartz, emerald, ruby, and more. Combining bits of ancient wisdom with her own insights, Toll explores the aspects and energy of each stone and, through rituals and reflections, the life guidance it might offer contemporary readers. Obsidian’s shiny surface and sharp edges reflect the shadowy corners of the self and serve as the tool for cutting them loose. The sky-like color of earthly turquoise provides balance between opposing forces. The stunning illustrations of Kate O’Hara magnify the symbolism of each crystal throughout the book, and are also featured on 36 oracle cards included in an envelope bound in the back of the book.
Also available: The Illustrated Herbiary Collectible Box Set and The Illustrated Bestiary Collectible Box Set.
Maia Toll has been many things — including a horseback riding instructor, a clinical herbalist, and a university teacher — but being an author is by far her favorite. Her Wild Wisdom series, featuring bestseller The Illustrated Herbiary, The Illustrated Bestiary, and The Illustrated Crystallary, offers a glimpse into the knowings of the natural world and the wilds within ourselves — insights Toll contemplated during her yearlong apprenticeship to a traditional healer in Ireland. When not reading books and “talking” to trees, stones, and her two dogs, she helps to run Herbiary, a multi-city natural wellness and sacred living store she owns with her partner, Andrew. She teaches and blogs to an international following at maiatoll.com.
While the UN reported that over 1 million species around the globe are at risk of extinction, the Trump administration responded by proposing rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act. Again and again, they have shown that they value profit over planet. But hope is not lost. Here is something you can do today. When you get any item in the Save the Bees collection, you are supporting LCV’s work to stop the climate crisis and protect endangered species.


The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.
Rules of the trail:
Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.
Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.
Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.
Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.
The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.
The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!
P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

Malaprop’s is pleased to host a virtual launch for Fable. Click here to sign up to receive an email with the link required to attend online. Click here to Pre-order a signed copy of Fable! For personalization use the order comments field to provide the name to which the book should be autographed. Adrienne will also sign or personalize copies of her previous two books, Sky in the Deep (now in paperback) and The Girl The Sea Gave Back (paperback forthcoming). Signed books will be shipped or made available to pick up after September 1.
FABLE
The NY Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep starts a new fantasy duology in Fable. Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it, where a young girl must find her place while trying to survive in a world built for men. As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive, she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so, Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.
Adrienne Young is a born and bred Texan turned California girl, soon to turn into a Carolina girl. She is a foodie with a deep love of history and travel and a shameless addiction to coffee. When she’s not writing, you can find her on her yoga mat, scouring antique fairs for old books, sipping wine over long dinners, or disappearing into her favorite art museums. She lives with her documentary filmmaker husband and their four little wildlings.
Check the WILD book club’s Facebook page for COVID-19 related updates. Please RSVP the moderator at [email protected] for the Zoom meeting passcode for the meetings.
Join former Malaprop’s General Manager Linda-Marie Barrett for this woman-only book club that seeks to have fun by reading books (fiction & non) by women writers. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!
The club meets at 6:30 P.M. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Battery Park Book Exchange. It will be held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the UN reported that over 1 million species around the globe are at risk of extinction, the Trump administration responded by proposing rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act. Again and again, they have shown that they value profit over planet. But hope is not lost. Here is something you can do today. When you get any item in the Save the Bees collection, you are supporting LCV’s work to stop the climate crisis and protect endangered species.


The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.
Rules of the trail:
Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.
Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.
Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.
Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.
The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.
The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!
P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

Ready for a change of scene, but not ready to travel in the age of COVID-19? The library has just what you need. Check out Passport Around the World. Call BCPL’s Ask a Librarian line (828) 250-4700, email [email protected], or call or email your local library, and tell us where you would like to virtually visit. Your librarian will select 5-10 items about your destination of choice, anything from documentaries, folktales, and cookbooks to travel guides, poetry, and children’s books. We will notify you when your items are ready. Pick up your Passport bundle at the curbside pickup location of your choice. Bon Voyage!

This live stream event is free but registration is required. Registrants will receive an email on the day of the event with the URL and password required to attend on Zoom. Jennie Liu will sign and personalize books ordered prior to the event. Please purchase the book online via the link below and add your personalization request in the comments section during checkout.
LIKE SPILLED WATER
Na’s life at her vocational college in China ends when she has to go home and support her family.
Nineteen-year-old Na barely knows her parents, who work year-round in the city of Taiyuan. Even her younger brother, Bao-bao, became a stranger after joining their parents in the city to study for the National Higher Education Entrance Exam. Na’s modest freedom at vocational college ends when Bao-bao dies and she returns to live with her parents. As Na adjusts to being an only child, she looks through her brother’s possessions and begins to realize Bao-bao wasn’t the dedicated, high-achieving student she envied and she has questions about the circumstances surrounding his death. Na’s feelings of jealousy regarding male favoritism and her limited future options inspire sympathy. She filters detailed depictions of filial piety, funeral rites, grief, romantic relationships, and parental support through a modern teenager’s perspective. While the depiction of traditional Chinese sayings and expectations, their impact on Na, and her limited awareness of mental health might be jarring to some Western readers, Na is likewise puzzled by the characters in Jane Eyre and their individual freedoms. Na’s character-driven story arc is stealthily subversive. The multigenerational cast is all Chinese.
Jennie Liu is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. She has been fascinated by the attitudes, social policies, and changes in China each time she visits. She lives in North Carolina with her family.
Like most of our events, this event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase the author’s book(s), we ask that you purchase from Malalprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work and keeping more dollars in our community. Thank you!
While the UN reported that over 1 million species around the globe are at risk of extinction, the Trump administration responded by proposing rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act. Again and again, they have shown that they value profit over planet. But hope is not lost. Here is something you can do today. When you get any item in the Save the Bees collection, you are supporting LCV’s work to stop the climate crisis and protect endangered species.


The Fairy trail is open Monday thru Saturday, 9am-4pm. We encourage all visitors to be patient as there will be limits to the number of people allowed on the trail at the same time. While the trail is outdoors, there are some small spaces and we want to ensure our guests and fairies are safe. Please practice appropriate social distancing and bring a mask in case. Masks are not required, but are considerate in a close area. Our restrooms are not open to the public at this time. Please make arrangements prior to visiting.
Rules of the trail:
Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.
Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.
Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.
Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.
The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.
The Fairies can’t wait to see you all here!
P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

Ready for a change of scene, but not ready to travel in the age of COVID-19? The library has just what you need. Check out Passport Around the World. Call BCPL’s Ask a Librarian line (828) 250-4700, email [email protected], or call or email your local library, and tell us where you would like to virtually visit. Your librarian will select 5-10 items about your destination of choice, anything from documentaries, folktales, and cookbooks to travel guides, poetry, and children’s books. We will notify you when your items are ready. Pick up your Passport bundle at the curbside pickup location of your choice. Bon Voyage!

Relax and unwind at the Arboretum’s “ArborEvenings” after hours series. Held every Thursday, June – October, from 6 to 9 p.m., visitors will sip and stroll through the Arboretum’s beautiful gardens while enjoying live music amongst flowers and friends. Local beverages, including beer and wine, are available for purchase along with light food options.
Admission to ArborEvenings is free; however, standard parking fees apply to non-members.

Every first and third Thursday from August 2020 until September 2020
Inspired by Walidah Imarisha’s visit to Firestorm, the Visionary Readers Group is designed to engage with “literature that helps us understand existing power dynamics, and helps us imagine paths to creating more just futures” The group is for anyone wanting to explore avenues of increased community engagement, relationship building, and collective visioning.
This round of the VRG will explore two exciting titles. For fiction, we’ll read and discuss Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic sci-fi anarchist utopia “The Dispossessed.” For nonfiction, we’ll check out Cindy Milstein’s “Deciding For Ourselves,” an exciting new anthology detailing contemporary projects in direct democracy across the world.
We’ll meet over Zoom on a bi-weekly basis starting Thursday, August 6th. The full schedule for the reading group can be found below.
August 6th: Meet & Greet, Overview, and Intention Setting
August 20th: This Dispossessed Discussion
September 3rd: Deciding For Ourselves Discussion Part I
September 17th: Deciding For Ourselves Part II
To register, please email [email protected] with the subject title “Visionary Readers Group.”
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The Dispossessed
By Ursula K. Le Guin
A bleak moon settled by utopian anarchists, Anarres has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras—a civilization of warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Now Shevek, a brilliant physicist, is determined to reunite the two planets, which have been divided by centuries of distrust. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have kept them apart.
To visit Urras—to learn, to teach, to share—will require great sacrifice and risks, which Shevek willingly accepts. But the ambitious scientist’s gift is soon seen as a threat, and in the profound conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs even as he ignites the fires of change.
https://www.firestorm.coop/products/761-the-dispossessed.html
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Deciding for Ourselves: The Promise of Direct Democracy
By Cindy Milstein
In a time of social and ecological crises, people everywhere are looking for solutions. States and capitalism, rather than providing them, only make matters worse. There’s a growing sense that we’ll have to fix this mess on our own. But how? Deciding for Ourselves, in the spirit of the Zapatistas, demonstrates that “the impossible is possible.” A better world through self-determination and self-governance is not only achievable. It is already happening in urban and rural communities around the world–from Mexico to Rojava, Denmark to Greece–as an implicit or explicit replacement for nations, police, and other forms of hierarchical social control. This anthology explores this “sense of freedom in the air,” as one piece puts it, by looking at contemporary examples of autonomous, directly democratic spaces and the real-world dilemmas they experience, all the while underscoring the egalitarian ways of life that are collectively generated in them.
https://www.firestorm.coop/products/14685-deciding-for-ourselves.html
Many skills are required to start and expand a successful farm business: passion, clear goals, production experience, financial and marketing know-how, and more. Farm Beginnings® will help you build these skills through one year of farmer-led training, mentoring, and networking. Using a holistic management frame, farmer-led classroom sessions, on-farm tours, and an extensive farmer network, Farm Beginnings® will help you clarify your goals and strengths, establish a strong enterprise plan, and start building a profitable and sustainable operation. Although students do not need to own land, some farming or production experience is required to get the most out of the program. As we know, farming is more critical than ever. Apply to this program and be prepared when crisis hits!
Program Details: December 2020 – September 2021
2020-2021 Farm Beginnings® Farmer Training is 200+ Hours including:
— Winter Whole-Farm Business Planning Courses – 60 hours (October – March)**
— ASAP’s Business of Farming Conference (February) – 8 hours
— OGS Conferences – 40+ hours
— Mentorship with an experienced Farmer Mentor (March – September) – 15 hours
— Production Training – 45 hours (April – October): WNC CRAFT tours on sustainable farms around WNC & Field Days with regional partners Living Web Farms and the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Incubator Farm
— One year WNC CRAFT Farmer Network membership – Membership and mentoring in a regional farmer network


Laura Brooks, co-chair of The Learning Garden’s vegetable plot located at the Buncombe County Extension office, highlights the three most common pests that were encountered last year in The Learning Garden: squash vine borers, flea beetles, and Mexican bean beetles. She describes the organic methods that Master Gardeners used to help ward off these pesky insects. Laura explains the life cycle of these insects, what they look like from larvae to adult stages, when they emerge, and effective treatments.

