Gather bathing suits and sunscreen, Buncombe County’s outdoor pools are getting ready to open. The County’s five outdoor pools will open for the 2023 season on May 27. This includes the pools at Cane Creek, Erwin, Hominy Valley, North Buncombe, and Owen.

Outdoor pools will be open on weekends only until area schools are out for the summer. Starting on June 10, Pools will be open seven days a week.

Pool hours are Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Cost for pool entry is $3 per person.

Private lessons at the outdoor pools are available for different age groups from 3-year-olds and up. For more information on lessons or to register for a class, click here.

The pools can also be booked for private parties 14 days in advance and must have a minimum of 50 patrons. Pool bookings are available Monday through Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Click here for more information on booking pools.

Buncombe County Pool Locations:

• Cane Creek Pool – 590 Lower Brush Creek Road, Fletcher
• Erwin Pool – 58 Lees Creek Road, Asheville
• Hominy Valley Pool – 25 Twin Lakes Road, Candler
• North Buncombe Pool – 734 Clarks Chapel Road, Weaverville
• Owen Pool – 117 Stone Drive, Swannanoa

In addition, lap swimming is available year-round at the Buncombe County Schools Aquatics Center, a 10-lane pool managed by the YMCA of Western North Carolina and Buncombe County Schools.

For more information on outdoor pools, visit the County’s pool website or call (828) 348-4770.

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!

The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1 hour and 20 minute layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, a brewery, and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.

Here’s what we plan on doing. Refer to this train’s schedule for departures times.

Given the nature of railroading, durations are approximate and subject to change without notice.

On Wednesdays through October, check out the Etowah Lions Farmers Market, which
showcases local farmers, vendors and artisans and the delicious produce the area is known for, all items sold are made by or
grown by the vendor.

From Friday, July 21 through Sunday, August 6, 2023, D & J Amusements is bringing the Summerfest Carnival to Asheville Outlets! Enjoy carnival rides and games for all ages along with favorite fair foods including funnel cakes, fried Oreos, turkey legs and more. Operating hours are Monday through Thursday from 5pm to 10pm; Fridays from 5pm to 10pm; Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm and Sundays from 1pm to 10pm. Tickets are $20 Monday – Thursday, and $25 Friday -Sunday. For more information, visit AshevilleOutlets.com.

Explore hands on activities and experiments while we learn about the Science of Bubbles or the Science of Sound. Every other week we will play and learn together using a variety of tools, instruments, and toys. AMOS has a plethora of science to intrigue the zeal of every learner!

This live streamed virtual event is free but registration is required.

Please click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!

Seventeen-year-old Agnes is a genius. Getting her doctorate in physics isn’t challenging enough so she builds a time machine. When her mother, Claudia, dies from an apparent suicide, Agnes blames herself. If Claudia hadn’t had Agnes when she was seventeen, she would have had a better life. Agnes goes back in time to stop Claudia from having sex the night she got pregnant. If Agnes succeeds, she’ll no longer exist, but she’s determined to save her mother. During her journey through time, Agnes learns there are some things you can never change.

For over thirty years, Mickey Dubrow wrote television promos, marketing presentations, and scripts for various clients including Cartoon Network, TNT Latin America, and HGTV. His short stories and essays have appeared in Prime Number Magazine, The Good Men Project, The Signal Mountain Review, Full Grown People, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. His first novel, American Judas, was a Finalist for the 2020 Georgia Author of the Year Award in the category of First Novel. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, author Jessica Handler.

David Kettlehake’s fascination with reading began at a very young age. His father was a Lutheran minister and his mother was a social worker but, even though money was tight, his parents never said no to books. He still vividly remembers reading under the covers at night with a flashlight, while listening for the footfalls of his parents telling him (for the last time!) to go to sleep. The first book he ever checked out of a library was Robert A. Heinlein’s  Rocket Ship Galileo, back in elementary school. But as often as not, he could be found reading an Alistair MacClean thriller, or horror short stories from H.P. Lovecraft. Other science fiction and fantasy novels came later, and even now the books he picks up are from genres all across the board. David and his wife live in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. They love traveling here and abroad and seeing the world, which is why his stories tend to gravitate outside of the U.S. His third novel, the YA dystopian thriller, Gray, was released in September of 2020. Black, the sequel to Gray and the second book in the Firebrand Trilogy, was released in October 2021.The Firebrand Trilogy concludes with White, due out this year.

Wednesday Pub Run Join us every Wednesday at 6:15pm at Archetype Brewing – West off of Haywood, for a fun pub run featuring two different routes! Follow us on social media to stay up to date on when we have special guests, shoe demos, and giveaway nights!

The Malaprop’s Book Club, hosted by Jay Jacoby, explores a diverse selection of fiction and nonfiction books determined by member suggestion. 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 the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM. The club will meet virtually until further notice. To join the club, please email [email protected]

the topic will be Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ GREATEST HITS, released 30 years ago this year. My special guest will be DAMON GOLDMAN, singer-and guitarist with popular Asheville-based tribute group Somewhat Petty. We’ll discuss the album, play key tracks from the record, and Damon will even sing and play a few Tom Petty classics.

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION SERIES
Music to Your Ears is Bill Kopp’s monthly discussion series hosted by Asheville Guitar Bar and co-sponsored by AshevilleFM. On the first Wednesday of each month, music enthusiasts gather to discuss an important album, artist or musical movement. An interactive evening, Music to Your Ears isn’t a lecture; it’s a discussion led by experts and designed to enrich the listening experience. The character of each session is defined by the participants (that’s you). The conversation goes where the attendees take it: the person seated next to you might have attended Woodstock or seen The Beatles in concert. The insights of everyone in the room are what make each and every Music to Your Ears a unique experience.

ABOUT BILL KOPP
With over 500 bylines in Western North Carolina publications (Mountain Xpress, Bold Life, WNC Magazine and more), Asheville-based author and music journalist is an acknowledged expert on popular music. Author of two books – Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon and Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave – Bill Kopp writes for publications across the country and abroad. A contributing editor at Goldmine Magazine and contributing writer at GRAMMY.com, he has authored more than 30 album liner note essays and conducted more than 1000 interviews. He regularly hosts lecture/discussions on artists and albums of historical importance, and is a frequent guest on music-focused radio programs and podcasts.

“Music to Your Ears” discussion series at Asheville Guitar Bar. Led by Asheville-based author and music journalist Bill Kopp (that’s me), Music to Your Ears explores significant albums, artists,personalities and movements in popular music. The event is held at the Asheville Guitar Bar in the River Arts District on the first Wednesday of each month.

The next installment is Wednesday, August 2, and the topic will be Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ GREATEST HITS, released 30 years ago this year. My special guest/co-host will be DAMON GOLDMAN, leader, singer and guitairst in Asheville-based Tom Petty tribute band Somewhat Petty. We’ll discuss the album and play key recordings from it. And Damon has agreed to sing and play a few Tom Petty songs live and in person.

Every Wednesday Trivia Night

Trivia Night at Hickory Tavern

The “One Singular Sensation,” A Chorus Line, is coming to Flat Rock Playhouse for the first time and we are thrilled to share this award-winning musical with everyone! A Chorus Line is a celebration of those unsung heroes of the American Musical Theatre: the chorus dancers. The show follows 17 would-be dancers in their quest to make the cut for a new Broadway Musical. One by one, the dancers come forward to share the stories of their lives, giving it their all and putting themselves on the line to make the cut. Only eight will remain. Capturing the spirit, tension, and hope of an audition, A Chorus Line is the musical for everyone who’s ever had a dream and put it all out there to make it come true!

A Chorus Line once held the record as the longest running show on Broadway with over 6000 performances, and heralds nine Tony® Awards including Best Musical, Best Director and Best Choreographer, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Michael Bennett. Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante, Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kleban. Co-Choreographed by Bob Avian. Original Broadway production produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival, Joseph Papp, Producer, in association with Plum Productions, Inc.

Franz Schubert’s final chamber work is known as the “Cello Quintet,” as it is scored for two violins, one viola, and two cellos. Completed just two months before the composer’s death, the C major String Quintet did not receive its first performance for over two decades. This sublime work is widely regarded as one of the crowning achievements of chamber music writing. Roberto Díaz, BMC alumnus and President of Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute, joins BMC Artist Faculty in this performance.

PERFORMANCE & ARTIST DETAILS

Auditorium seating is reserved.

So much happened before Dorothy dropped in.

WICKED, the Broadway sensation, looks at what happened in the Land of Oz…but from a different angle.  Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another young woman, born with emerald-green skin—smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships…until the world decides to call one “good” and the other one “wicked.”

From the first electrifying note to the final breathtaking moment, WICKED—the untold true story of the Witches of Oz—transfixes audiences with its wildly inventive story that USA Today cheers is “a complete triumph! An original musical that will make you laugh, cry, and think.”

Flow with us at our Rooftop Yoga Series hosted by Asheville Community Yoga! This powerful Vinyasa flow is perfect for yogis of every experience level. Bring your water bottle and your mat to The Solarium on the 6th Floor of The Restoration Hotel and get ready to feel restored.