Calendar of Events

A holiday toy drive conducted by off-duty Law Enforcement Officers and firefighters who fill patrol cars with gifts donated by the community for kids in need this Christmas.  The 28-hour event will take place at The Well and all donations will go to families in the local area.

Drop off unwrapped, newly purchased toys for the LEO Santa Toy Drive, where the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office and Greenville Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team (S.W.A.T.) will be on hand for live demonstrations.  Donations will be collected curbside outside of the GSP International Airport Box Office from 6:00am on December 1 until 10:00am on December 2.

The LEO Santa Toy Drive is part of The Well’s Serving Together: Arena’s Giving Experience (STAGE) program that supports the community through special events and community engagement initiatives.

Ingles Magical Christmas Toy Drive begins Thursday., Dec. 1 from 5 a.m.-7 p.m. at Ingles (151 Smokey Park Hwy.), and continues through Dec. 2 from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Dec. 3 from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Donations are for new, unwrapped toys, books, and clothing.

Immerse yourself in a Winter Wonderland with Santa and his elves and of course, Santa’s reindeer at Carolina Ace Hardware. Bring the whole family and take your Christmas pictures in the magical Christmas display in the Garden Center. Free to the public. Bring your cameras.

The WNC Farmers Market is the premier destination for buying and selling the region’s best agriculture products directly from farmers & food producers to household & wholesale customers in an environment that celebrates the region’s diverse culture, food & heritage.

House of Operation:

WNC Farmers Market: 24/7, 361 days a year market access for farmers
Office: Monday- Friday, 8am-5pm
Market Shops: 7 days a week, 8 am-5 pm
Wholesale and Truck Sheds: 7 days a week

Open to the public, and no registration is required.

• 9:00 – 10:30 am: Planning & Design
  • What urban design elements are critical to a revitalized Park Square Plaza?
• 10:30 -12:00 pm: Events, Programming + Amenities
  • What will inclusive programming look like in Pack Square Plaza?
• 2:00 – 3:30 pm: Art & History
  • What role should public art, historic walking trails, and monuments play in the future of Pack Square Plaza?
• 4:00 – 5:30 pm: Racial Equity
  • How can Pack Square Plaza become a place of belonging for everyone?

Getting there: Parking in the Civic Center Garage will be validated if you bring your ticket to the meeting. Transit routes N3 and N4 serve this location, and bicycle parking is available on Haywood Street.

The City of Asheville and Buncombe County are partnering with McAdams Co to document the community’s vision for a more equitable, accessible and inclusive Pack Square Plaza, which sits in the heart of downtown Asheville and serves as a social and economic hub for the region. The first phase of the project includes site analysis and community engagement. There will be several public engagement opportunities December 1-3 including focus group on design, programming, art, equity, tourism, livability and economic development. A First Friday Collaborative and Pop Up will be hosted by Noir Collective, Penny Cup and The Foundry Hotel on Friday, December 2 and site tours will be available on Saturday, December 3.

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

 

For the second consecutive year, Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville (HCCA) and Grateful Bread will team up to host a Winter Coat Drive to benefit our local community. Guests, community members, and more are encouraged to bring their lightly used and recently cleaned jackets, coats, and related winter apparel to the HCCA Box Office during business hours (Tuesday-Friday, 10a-4p) or during active event times until December 22nd. Grateful Bread will also be hosting a special pop up coat drive event on December 10th in front of the venue for the Christmas Jam.

Limited Capacity: 12 Guests per Tour
A truly memorable experience featuring rare photo opportunities, this exclusive guided tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at the design and construction of Biltmore House in areas unavailable on the regular house visit. Imagine yourself a Vanderbilt (or cherished Vanderbilt guest) as you take in stunning views seen only from the house’s rooftop and balconies.

Advance reservation required. Tour includes 250 stairs with no elevator access. Wheelchairs, strollers, and baby backpacks are prohibited. Backpacks are not allowed on any guided tours. Guests are required to leave backpacks in a locker or in their vehicle. To participate in this tour, guest must have a daytime ticket, a Biltmore Annual Pass, or a stay at one of the estate’s splendid overnight properties.

The Fall Studio Tour Preview Exhibition opens in the Kokol Gallery, in Toe River Arts’ Spruce Pine location at 269 Oak Ave, October 29 and runs through the end December 2022.  This exhibition gives visitors an opportunity to have a glimpse into each studio and plan their route. It’s also a great place to begin the tour or take a break from a day of non-stop art and artists.

There’s something breathtaking and awe-inspiring about driving through the mountains of western North Carolina in the Fall.  The way the trees show off by turning vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange before leaving bare branches to the crisp winds and snowy days of winter, reminds us that nature herself is the original artist.

For more than a quarter century, the Toe River Arts Studio Tour has intrigued those who make the journey to visit places of inspiration and creation. Situated between Roan Mountain which boasts the world’s largest rhododendron garden and Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, the Toe River Arts Studio Tour is a free, self-guided journey of the arts. This arts adventure through Mitchell and Yancey Counties will take visitors along the meandering Toe River, across its many bridges, around barns, acres of fields and miles of forests all while visiting the 83 talented studio artists who often take inspiration from the mountains they call home and 8 galleries featuring local and international art.

It doesn’t matter if you live up the hill or across the state. The Studio Tour provides an adventure for the intrepid seeker of the art experience. Artist studios come in many iterations—the building off to the side of the house, or across the field or down the road or right off the main road or down a gravel one-lane. Two-stories with a gallery space or small and cozy with a table set up or cleared off for display. Still there are others that devote a corner to each artist sharing the space. Wherever and however they are set up, the studios are exciting places to visit because they demonstrate the dynamic process used to create a finished piece. Every artist has their own way of telling a story, inviting visitors to ask questions, hold their work, and share a moment.

The art is as diverse as the artists who create it and features the work of glassblowers, jewelers, printmakers, potters, fiber artists, ironworkers, painters, sculptors, and woodworkers.

As a prelude to our 20th year of supporting and advocating for Asheville’s local, independent restaurants, we are thrilled to announce that the 2023 AIR Passport is now on sale, just in time for your holiday gift giving!

Packed with discounts, freebies and buy-one-get-one deals from dozens of Asheville’s most popular and beloved eateries, the AIR Passport is your year-long ticket to favorite local flavors as well as brand-new taste adventures!

AIR’s largest annual fundraiser, all proceeds from sales of the Passport benefit our ongoing efforts to strengthen and sustain Asheville’s eclectic and dynamic food scene.

AIR Passports are $65 each and can be found online on the AIR website and at The Asheville Shop at 36 Montford Ave.

Supplies are limited so be sure to get yours before they’re gone!

Capacity is limited.
Tasting room by reservation only. Make reservations in-person on the day of your Winery visit.

To participate in this activity, guest must have a daytime ticket, a Biltmore Annual Pass, or a stay at one of the estate’s splendid overnight properties.

Reservations are required for all wine tastings and must be made on the day of your visit. Because our complimentary wine tastings fill up quickly, we recommend you reserve your tasting when you arrive for your visit.

Natural Collector is organized by the Asheville Art Museum. IMAGE: Christian Burchard, Untitled (nesting bowls), 1998, madrone burl, various from 6 × 6 × 6 to ⅜ × ⅜ × ⅜ inches. Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2021.76.01.

Natural Collector | Gifts of Fleur S. Bresler features around 15 artworks from the collection of Fleur S. Bresler, which include important examples of modern and contemporary American craft including wood and fiber art, as well as glass and ceramics. These works that were generously donated by contemporary craft collector Bresler to the Asheville Art Museum over the years reflect her strong interest in wood-based art and themes of nature. According to Associate Curator Whitney Richardson, “This exhibition highlights artworks that consider the natural element from which they were created or replicate known flora and fauna in unexpected materials. The selection of objects displayed illustrates how Bresler’s eye for collecting craft not only draws attention to nature and artists’ interest in it, but also accentuates her role as a natural collector with an intuitive ability to identify themes and ideas that speak to one another.” This exhibition presents work from the Collection representing the first generation of American wood turners like Rude Osolnik and Ed Moulthrop, as well as those that came after and learned from them, such as Philip Moulthrop, John Jordan, and local Western North Carolina (WNC) artist Stoney Lamar. Other WNC-based artists in Natural Collector include Anne Lemanski, whose paper sculpture of a snake captures the viewer’s imagination, and Michael Sherrill’s multimedia work that tricks the eye with its similarity to true-to-life berries. Also represented are beadwork and sculpture by Joyce J. Scott and Jack and Linda Fifield.

Wednesday through Monday from 11am to 6pm

Rebel/Re-Belle: Exploring Gender, Agency, and Identity | Selections from the Asheville Art Museum and Rubell Museum combines works, primarily created by women, from two significant collections of contemporary art to explore how artists have innovated, influenced, interrogated, and inspired visual culture in the past 100 years.

Asheville-born and Raleigh-Durham-based interdisciplinary artist Sherrill Roland’s socially driven practice draws upon his experience with wrongful incarceration for a crime he did not commit and seeks to open conversations about how we care for our communities and one another with compassion and understanding. Through sculpture, installation, and conceptual art, Roland engages visitors in dialogues around community, social contract, identity, biases, and other deeply human experiences. Comprised of artwork created from 2016 to the present, Sherrill Roland: Sugar, Water, Lemon Squeeze reflects on making something from nothing, lemonade from lemons, the best of a situation. A reference to a simple recipe from the artist’s childhood, the title also speaks to Roland’s employment of materials available to him while incarcerated, such as Kool-Aid and mail from family members. In the face of his personal experiences, he invites viewers to confront their own uncomfortable complicity in perpetuating injustice. Roland’s work humanizes these difficult topics and creates a space for communication and envisioning a better future. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator, in collaboration with the Artist. This exhibition is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Join us for our annual Holiday BAC event, where we’ll share a hot meal and some fun activities that will help us get to know one another. Please feel free to bring fliers, brochures, and business cards to share.

The BAC brings together the business and non-profit service provider communities to network and talk about how we can all partner together to help those in need of employment.

Hosted by: The Buddhist Studies Institute

FREE – ONLINE – 30 MINUTES – DAILY
🌺Guided meditation support and community🌺

🌸Stabilization and Liberation:
In order to liberate our minds– we need stable calm.

🌸Consistency & Commitment:
Stabilizing in calm clear presence takes consistent training.

🌸Support & Community:
Daily Meditation is a container and support for your meditation focus.

Expand your meditation circle- join us online any day or every day!

Formerly known as 100 Days of practice to support a Tibetan Yogis tradition to practice 100 days in the winter, this has now been expanded to continue daily. To learn more and register: https://buddhiststudiesinstitute.org/daily-meditation/

We are seeking volunteers to assist us in our small after school program for children in West Asheville in low-income housing.  We provide a safe and nourishing environment, healthy snacks, and creative activities.  Our program currently meets during the school year on most Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:00-5:00pm. You may volunteer for one or two days a week. 

Volunteer Responsibilities:

• Assist with serving snacks
• Interact with children during activity time
• Supervise games and outdoor free time
• For people with background in education, there is also an opportunity to assist with curriculum development and program planning and administration

Requirements:

• Background check
• Orientation booklets will be provided
• Masks are required if unvaccinated

TBC is once again partnering with local Outback Steakhouse restaurants to host blood drives across North and South Carolina.  TBC is thankful for our partners at Outback who amplify the importance of blood donation and encourage community members to roll up their sleeves and donate blood.

The Blood Connection’s mobile donation units will be at fourteen select Outback Steakhouse locations across North and South Carolina on December 1.  As a thank you for helping save local lives, all donors will receive a $20 eGift card, redeemable for an Outback eGift card, plus a coupon for a free Bloomin’ Onion.

THE POLAR EXPRESS™ with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is back in 2022! The 1¼ hour round-trip passenger excursion comes to life as the train departs the Bryson City depot for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, guests on board will enjoy warm cocoa and a treat while listening and reading along with the magical story. Children’s faces show the magic of the season when the train arrives at the North Pole to find Santa Claus waiting. Santa will board THE POLAR EXPRESS™, greeting each child and presenting them with a special gift as in the story, their own silver sleigh bell. Christmas carols will be sung as they return back to the Bryson City Depot.

Weather

We encourage guests to plan ahead and stay apprised of the latest weather developments. Cancellations of a POLAR EXPRESS departure because of inclement weather are very rare. If you’re staying in the Gatlinburg/Sevierville, Tennessee area, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Service announces road closures and openings on Twitter, or call (865) 436-1200 extension 631 for a recorded message. In such case Highway 441 is closed through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Interstate 40 typically remains open. Use 45 Mitchell Street, Bryson City, North Carolina 28713 as your destination to find an alternate route.

$1 off draft beers every Thursday!

Imagine a solid trivia stack with a magnetic host in an outdoor intimate setting.  Then add the excitement of BYOB and pedaling around the City on a one-of-a-kind contraption.

Kinda like if Willy Wonka did Trivia… you will be completely entertained, with no sense left unfulfilled.

And come back for more as we have several questions sets available with a good ole just for locals option!

Trivia tours seat up to 15 people, 1.5 or 40 mins hours long.  Bring your own beer in cans or wine and your thinking while drinking caps on let’s do this thing!