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.

Friday, July 10, 2020
The Appalachian Willow Chair 2-day Class
Jul 10 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
CURVE Studios & Garden

 

Wednesday/Thursday, October 7/8 OR Friday/Saturday, October 9/10.
The spring session didn’t happen so we have set new dates for October. Justin & Shannon Roberts (@walkthewillow) from Murray, KY will be teaching two traditional Appalachian Willow Chair classes at Silver River:  Sign up HERE. But don’t pay yet, just let us know you’re interested. We will keep looking at COVID numbers….Thanks!

Kentucky Crafted Artist and 2019 Regional Bernheim Artist in Residence, Justin Roberts specializes in the rare folk art of bent-wood willow furniture. Learn about the history, uses and process of the craft through this engaging process. You leave with your own willow chair! Bring a hammer, hand pruners, and work gloves. No experience is necessary.

Justin and his wife, Shannon are creators of epic public art willow sculptures and bird habitats including “Sounds of a Whippoorwill – Bernheim” and “Sounds of a Whippoorwill – Josephine,” and “Choices @ Calloway County Public Library” in Kentucky. Follow them on Instagram @walkthewillow

Strolling through History Online Tour
Jul 10 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Online

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, sky and outdoor

This year, we weren’t able to host our “Strolling through History” series of walking tours, but thanks to some awesome work by interns we hosted from UNC Asheville this spring, they will be partially available virtually!

Enjoy “Scrolling” through history from your couch, or grab your tablet or smartphone and follow the tour in real life. (Make sure to follow local safety guidelines!)

The tours will be posted as links in this event discussion. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Fused Silver Earrings
Jul 10 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Ignite Jewelry Studios

Join me in the studio as we use hammers, saws, files and fire to transform silver wire into a beautiful pair of silver drop earrings. Class price includes all materials.

Brews and Bears: WNC Nature Center CANCELLED
Jul 10 @ 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
WNC Nature Center

It’s happy hour at the WNC Nature Center! Join us for the always popular Brews & Bears after hours event featuring beer, cider, food, music, and an up close view of an awesome bear enrichment activity with our black bears Uno and Ursa!  Event will run from 5:30pm-8:00pm with food and drink available for purchase.

Tickets sell out quickly!

Children ages 2 and under get in free, all others will need a ticket to attend this event.

*Please bring valid photo ID to purchase alcoholic beverages.

This is a rain or shine event. If the weather is so bad that we are forced to cancel/reschedule, we will post that information on our Facebook event page and email everyone who has purchased tickets.

Saturday, July 11, 2020
Anti-Racisim: Resources Literacy Council
Jul 11 all-day
Online

Recognizing and understanding racism, and actively unlearning the everyday, built-in mechanisms of systemic racism is an ongoing effort that must be made by every single one of us. It can be difficult to navigate issues, origins, and solutions surrounding systemic racism, especially with so many different angles portrayed by the media.
There are countless truthful resources to help us find our way to social justice and equity. Here are just a few educational resources and ways to help our Black communities:
Educational reading:
The above photo has an excellent list of books!
Community:
Media:
Follow Black activists and voices on social media! Please reach out to us if you’d like suggestions on whom to follow.
Dogwood Alliance: Woods + Wilds: The Podcast!
Jul 11 all-day
Online

https://www.dogwoodalliance.org/2020/07/woods-wilds-the-podcast-episode-one/?fbclid=IwAR1i8UtIuKNXhpfQPJbkQB4jw5XW4tWGLyXBTqpSz3hWejTTWROWIeYOAa8

For the safety and well-being of our supporters, Dogwood Alliance will not hold our annual Woods & Wilds live storytelling event this year. It’s an event we look forward to every year because it’s an opportunity to celebrate the magic of forests with our community. We still wanted to find a way to bring that same kind of magic to people wherever they are, so we teamed up with SlayTheMic to launch Woods & Wilds: The Podcast! We will be releasing an episode every other Monday.

The podcast will sometimes offer tales of the forest and other times will be an interview with our guests about their unique connection to nature – often touching on the connection between hip hop and nature.

We were overjoyed to welcome our very first guest, Dr. Thomas RaShad Easley aka RaShad Eas, also known as the Hip Hop Forester and the Assistant Dean of Community and Inclusion at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, where he helps strengthen community diversity and develops programming around workplace equity. He’s also the author of the incredible article How Hip Hop Can Bring Green Issues To Communities of Color.

Experience WNC History From Home
Jul 11 all-day
online
Douglas Ellington: Asheville’s Boomtown Architect presents a look at his iconic Asheville creations along with other buildings he completed throughout his career in other cities.
Hillbilly Land explores the power, prevalence, and persistence of the hillbilly stereotype from the days of its beginnings in the late 19th century to the present day.
In 1918 vs 2020, we take an in-depth look at the 1918 influenza epidemic in Western North Carolina through newspaper clippings, advertisements, ephemera, photographs, and oral history and place the events of 1918 into context with our present-day response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Folk Music of North Carolina
Jul 11 all-day
Online

Explore a series of posts to learn how the roots of American music run deep in North Carolina.

Plastic Free July
Jul 11 all-day
Online

Image

Join us as we celebrate the global movement of going plastic-free this July! Our Plastic Reduction Task Force will be celebrating all month with community shoutouts, games, reading lists, resources, and more! Follow our Facebook page @goingplasticfreeAVL and Instagram @going_plasticfree for updates so that you won’t miss a thing.

Save these dates:
Saturday, July 11th – Going Plastic Free Scavenger Hunt
Thursday July 23rd – Plastic Free July Trivia

Virtual Exhibit: Hillbilly Land Myth and Reality of Appalachian Culture
Jul 11 all-day
Online WNC Historical Society
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

The hillbilly stereotype is one that is alive and well in American popular culture as a quick survey of the cable dial reveals with such shows as Moonshiners, Appalachian Outlaws, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and countless others.

Surprisingly, it is one often displayed among educated sorts here in Western North Carolina who would never dream of disparaging any minority or “out group,” but do not hesitate to characterize native Western North Carolinians, as a group, as ignorant, in-bred, hopelessly retrograde, violent, snake-handling, moonshining/meth-making rednecks.

The Hillbillyland Exhibition explores the power, prevalence, and persistence of the hillbilly stereotype from the days of its beginnings in the late 19th century to the present day. The exhibit takes a unique approach by focusing on photography featuring the people of the region, some of them stereotypical images, combined with poetry and short prose pieces that challenge and complicate these stereotypes.

Visit the Virtual Exhibit
Virtual North Carolina Veterans Songwriting Workshop
Jul 11 all-day
livestream zoom

National touring musicians and veteran Ron Capps will lead the Virtual North Carolina Veterans Songwriting Workshop via Zoom the weekends of July 11-12 and July 18-19.

The workshop is designed for songwriters of all levels and will include programming in writing lyrics, song structure, and basic music theory.

Instructor and mentors include Tony Rosario, Jana Pochop, Shawnee Kilgore, Mike Lille, Karl Werne, and Ron Capps. The workshop is free and is open to veterans, active duty or reserve military and their family members.

Virtual Tour 1918 vs. 2020 Flu Pandemics WNC
Jul 11 all-day
Online Smith-McDowell House

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

In the midst of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, we take an in-depth look at the 1918 influenza epidemic in Western North Carolina through newspaper clippings, advertisements, ephemera, photographs, and oral history and place the events of 1918 into context with our present-day response to the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.wnchistory.org/virtual-exhibits/influenza/?utm_source=Western%20North%20Carolina%20Historical%20Association&utm_campaign=78fa0bbdf8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_23_05_25_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7424f63c4d-78fa0bbdf8-329482143

Animal Habitats VIP Tours
Jul 11 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Grandfather Mountain

See where the cougars and otters sleep overnight, meet black bears that are not commonly on display, learn the ins and outs of what it takes to care for the animals year-round, observe a training session and find out why the animals call Grandfather Mountain home.

Offered on weekends, April – October.

Environmental Impact II Exhibit
Jul 11 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

This exhibit will reopen on Wednesday, July 1, and will be on display daily through Sunday, August 2. On display daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Baker Exhibit Center, Environmental Impact II features more than 50 artworks, including paintings, photography, sculptures and film, focused on generating public attention surrounding environmental issues and unintended consequences…

To help protect the safety of our guests and staff, a one-way route will be enforced inside the exhibit hall. All guests ages 11 years and older will be required to wear a face covering while inside the Baker Exhibit Center. Thank you for your cooperation! 

Chimney Rock Park “Photos by Phone” Photography Class
Jul 11 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Chimney Rock Park

Join professional photographer Buddy Morrison for an interactive session on the basics of smartphone photography. Whether you’re an Android or iPhone user, you’re sure to take away some great photo editing skills from this three-hour classroom session. Time permitting, you may embark on a quick photo-taking odyssey to various spots in the Park, so be prepared to do some moderate hiking.
Pre-registration is required

Hands-on History Carl Sandburg House
Jul 11 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Carl Sandburg House


Hands-on History

Join Park Rangers on Saturdays in July to get hands-on with history. Each Saturday features a different topic and allows visitors of all ages to interact with history related to the Sandburg family experience at Connemara. Come anytime between 11am to 3pm. All programs will be offered at the amphitheater.

Strolling through History Online Tour
Jul 11 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Online

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, sky and outdoor

This year, we weren’t able to host our “Strolling through History” series of walking tours, but thanks to some awesome work by interns we hosted from UNC Asheville this spring, they will be partially available virtually!

Enjoy “Scrolling” through history from your couch, or grab your tablet or smartphone and follow the tour in real life. (Make sure to follow local safety guidelines!)

The tours will be posted as links in this event discussion. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Sunday, July 12, 2020
Anti-Racisim: Resources Literacy Council
Jul 12 all-day
Online

Recognizing and understanding racism, and actively unlearning the everyday, built-in mechanisms of systemic racism is an ongoing effort that must be made by every single one of us. It can be difficult to navigate issues, origins, and solutions surrounding systemic racism, especially with so many different angles portrayed by the media.
There are countless truthful resources to help us find our way to social justice and equity. Here are just a few educational resources and ways to help our Black communities:
Educational reading:
The above photo has an excellent list of books!
Community:
Media:
Follow Black activists and voices on social media! Please reach out to us if you’d like suggestions on whom to follow.
Dogwood Alliance: Woods + Wilds: The Podcast!
Jul 12 all-day
Online

https://www.dogwoodalliance.org/2020/07/woods-wilds-the-podcast-episode-one/?fbclid=IwAR1i8UtIuKNXhpfQPJbkQB4jw5XW4tWGLyXBTqpSz3hWejTTWROWIeYOAa8

For the safety and well-being of our supporters, Dogwood Alliance will not hold our annual Woods & Wilds live storytelling event this year. It’s an event we look forward to every year because it’s an opportunity to celebrate the magic of forests with our community. We still wanted to find a way to bring that same kind of magic to people wherever they are, so we teamed up with SlayTheMic to launch Woods & Wilds: The Podcast! We will be releasing an episode every other Monday.

The podcast will sometimes offer tales of the forest and other times will be an interview with our guests about their unique connection to nature – often touching on the connection between hip hop and nature.

We were overjoyed to welcome our very first guest, Dr. Thomas RaShad Easley aka RaShad Eas, also known as the Hip Hop Forester and the Assistant Dean of Community and Inclusion at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, where he helps strengthen community diversity and develops programming around workplace equity. He’s also the author of the incredible article How Hip Hop Can Bring Green Issues To Communities of Color.

Experience WNC History From Home
Jul 12 all-day
online
Douglas Ellington: Asheville’s Boomtown Architect presents a look at his iconic Asheville creations along with other buildings he completed throughout his career in other cities.
Hillbilly Land explores the power, prevalence, and persistence of the hillbilly stereotype from the days of its beginnings in the late 19th century to the present day.
In 1918 vs 2020, we take an in-depth look at the 1918 influenza epidemic in Western North Carolina through newspaper clippings, advertisements, ephemera, photographs, and oral history and place the events of 1918 into context with our present-day response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Folk Music of North Carolina
Jul 12 all-day
Online

Explore a series of posts to learn how the roots of American music run deep in North Carolina.

Plastic Free July
Jul 12 all-day
Online

Image

Join us as we celebrate the global movement of going plastic-free this July! Our Plastic Reduction Task Force will be celebrating all month with community shoutouts, games, reading lists, resources, and more! Follow our Facebook page @goingplasticfreeAVL and Instagram @going_plasticfree for updates so that you won’t miss a thing.

Save these dates:
Saturday, July 11th – Going Plastic Free Scavenger Hunt
Thursday July 23rd – Plastic Free July Trivia

Virtual Exhibit: Hillbilly Land Myth and Reality of Appalachian Culture
Jul 12 all-day
Online WNC Historical Society
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

The hillbilly stereotype is one that is alive and well in American popular culture as a quick survey of the cable dial reveals with such shows as Moonshiners, Appalachian Outlaws, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and countless others.

Surprisingly, it is one often displayed among educated sorts here in Western North Carolina who would never dream of disparaging any minority or “out group,” but do not hesitate to characterize native Western North Carolinians, as a group, as ignorant, in-bred, hopelessly retrograde, violent, snake-handling, moonshining/meth-making rednecks.

The Hillbillyland Exhibition explores the power, prevalence, and persistence of the hillbilly stereotype from the days of its beginnings in the late 19th century to the present day. The exhibit takes a unique approach by focusing on photography featuring the people of the region, some of them stereotypical images, combined with poetry and short prose pieces that challenge and complicate these stereotypes.

Visit the Virtual Exhibit
Virtual North Carolina Veterans Songwriting Workshop
Jul 12 all-day
livestream zoom

National touring musicians and veteran Ron Capps will lead the Virtual North Carolina Veterans Songwriting Workshop via Zoom the weekends of July 11-12 and July 18-19.

The workshop is designed for songwriters of all levels and will include programming in writing lyrics, song structure, and basic music theory.

Instructor and mentors include Tony Rosario, Jana Pochop, Shawnee Kilgore, Mike Lille, Karl Werne, and Ron Capps. The workshop is free and is open to veterans, active duty or reserve military and their family members.

Virtual Tour 1918 vs. 2020 Flu Pandemics WNC
Jul 12 all-day
Online Smith-McDowell House

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

In the midst of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, we take an in-depth look at the 1918 influenza epidemic in Western North Carolina through newspaper clippings, advertisements, ephemera, photographs, and oral history and place the events of 1918 into context with our present-day response to the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.wnchistory.org/virtual-exhibits/influenza/?utm_source=Western%20North%20Carolina%20Historical%20Association&utm_campaign=78fa0bbdf8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_23_05_25_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7424f63c4d-78fa0bbdf8-329482143

Animal Habitats VIP Tours
Jul 12 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Grandfather Mountain

See where the cougars and otters sleep overnight, meet black bears that are not commonly on display, learn the ins and outs of what it takes to care for the animals year-round, observe a training session and find out why the animals call Grandfather Mountain home.

Offered on weekends, April – October.

Environmental Impact II Exhibit
Jul 12 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

This exhibit will reopen on Wednesday, July 1, and will be on display daily through Sunday, August 2. On display daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Baker Exhibit Center, Environmental Impact II features more than 50 artworks, including paintings, photography, sculptures and film, focused on generating public attention surrounding environmental issues and unintended consequences…

To help protect the safety of our guests and staff, a one-way route will be enforced inside the exhibit hall. All guests ages 11 years and older will be required to wear a face covering while inside the Baker Exhibit Center. Thank you for your cooperation! 

Strolling through History Online Tour
Jul 12 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Online

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, sky and outdoor

This year, we weren’t able to host our “Strolling through History” series of walking tours, but thanks to some awesome work by interns we hosted from UNC Asheville this spring, they will be partially available virtually!

Enjoy “Scrolling” through history from your couch, or grab your tablet or smartphone and follow the tour in real life. (Make sure to follow local safety guidelines!)

The tours will be posted as links in this event discussion. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Monday, July 13, 2020
Folk Music of North Carolina
Jul 13 all-day
Online

Explore a series of posts to learn how the roots of American music run deep in North Carolina.

Environmental Impact II Exhibit
Jul 13 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

This exhibit will reopen on Wednesday, July 1, and will be on display daily through Sunday, August 2. On display daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Baker Exhibit Center, Environmental Impact II features more than 50 artworks, including paintings, photography, sculptures and film, focused on generating public attention surrounding environmental issues and unintended consequences…

To help protect the safety of our guests and staff, a one-way route will be enforced inside the exhibit hall. All guests ages 11 years and older will be required to wear a face covering while inside the Baker Exhibit Center. Thank you for your cooperation!