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.

This performance is free of charge and requires a ticket for admission. Tickets may be reserved online, at the Wortham Center Box Office, or by phone at 828-257-4530 .
The Jazz Ambassadors is the official touring big band of the United States Army. Formed in 1969, this 19-member ensemble has received great acclaim at home and abroad performing America’s greatest original art form, jazz.
Concerts by the Jazz Ambassadors are programmed to entertain all types of audiences. The band’s diverse repertoire includes big band swing, bebop, Latin, contemporary jazz, standards, popular tunes, Dixieland, vocals, and patriotic selections, many of which are written or arranged by members of the Jazz Ambassadors.
The Jazz Ambassadors has appeared in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, India, and throughout Europe. Recent notable performances include concerts at the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Jazz Education Network Conference, and an appearance on the Colbert Report. Gordon Goodwin, Bobby Shew, Ernie Watts, and the Dave Brubeck All-Star Quintet are just a few of the outstanding jazz artists who have shared the stage with the Jazz Ambassadors. The band has been featured in joint concerts with Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Pops, the Colorado Pops Orchestra, and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. The Jazz Ambassadors’s rigorous touring schedule and reputation for excellence has earned it the title “America’s Big Band.”
Ticketholders should be seated by 3:45 PM
Unclaimed seats will be released to non-ticketholders at 3:50 PM
MA based Folk troubadours Mark Mandeville & Raianne Richards will perform Friday October 19 at 7 pm at Isis Music Hall. Mandeville & Richards offer some new material and songs from their CD “Live in Manitoba” featuring original songs and stories recorded live during a two week tour of house concerts throughout the province of Manitoba, Canada.
The duo were invited by the organization Home Routes to complete a route during their fall 2017 season. Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous was initiated by the founders of the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the West End Cultural Centre, (Mitch Podolak and Ava Kobrinsky in collaboration with Tim Osmond) to create new performance opportunities for French and English speaking musicians and audiences in rural, remote and urban, communities across Canada, hosted by volunteers in their homes and other community venues.
Mark Mandeville & Raianne Richards have just completed their 10th Annual walking tour of Massachusetts. Each summer since 2010 they have organized the “Massachusetts Walking Tour” where they hike the roads and trails of the Commonwealth, more than 100 miles in less than two weeks, in support of the arts in local communities along the way. Each evening they stop over in yet another Massachusetts town, putting on a free concert there, along with local performers and fellow artists who accompany them on their journey. These annual two-week treks also raise awareness of the trails and greenways in Massachusetts, using music to make important connections. In the fall of 2017 Mandeville and Richards received official recognition before congress and were added to the congressional record by Senator Ed Markey for their efforts in the community through the Massachusetts Walking Tour.
After 8 years together, DEPARTURE has become the most respected Journey tribute band in the nation. DEPARTURE replicates the look, sound and feel of the original 80’s rock super group. The five band members are from the original line-up and have been together from the very beginning. These veteran musicians have developed an amazing on-stage chemistry and pride themselves on giving their audience an incredible high-energy, qualitative stage show from start to finish. DEPARTURE plays all the hit songs that everyone knows and loves and was voted “Best Local Entertainer” for 2011, 2012 and 2014 by Gwinnett Magazine. Performing approximately one-hundred shows annually, DEPARTURE brings the very best of Journey to audiences of all ages.
Ticket Prices: $18, $20

Desert Dwellers is the convergence of music producers Amani Friend and Treavor Moontribe, who honed their individual skills in the mystical deserts of New Mexico and California, long before electronic music reached the mainstream. Amani and Treavor combine the raw sounds of the natural world, wrapped in dance-floor and chill-out productions; blending deep bass, earthy percussion, etheric voices, and cross-cultural instrumentation into a sonic incense for the mind and body. Desert Dwellers’ unique global sounds are a bridge between worlds, and their label Desert Trax has become a platform to spotlight similar alchemical artists.
Ticket price includes applicable sales tax.
August 23, Appalachian Ridge Hard Cidery in Hendersonville
August 24, HiWire Brewing Company at the Big Top
Sept. 22, UpCountry Brewing on Haywood Road
Sept. 28, Southern Appalachian Brewery in Hendersonville
Oct. 4, Garden Deli in Burnsville
Oct. 6, Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School in West Asheville
Oct. 10, Highland Brewing Company and
Oct. 20, Saint Paul Mountain Vineyard in Hendersonville
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Buncombe County Special Olympics’ annual Coffee for Champions fundraiser returns for a third year on October 1. During the month of October, local coffee shops donate up to five cents for each cup of coffee purchased at their establishments to support Special Olympics training and competitions for area youth and adults.
“We are a completely volunteer-driven, donation-funded program focused on inclusionary sporting opportunities for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities,” said Karla Furnari of Buncombe County Recreation Services, who is also a Buncombe County Special Olympics coach and Local Coordinator. “Coffee for Champions helps build connections between our athletes and the community. It also allows us to move away from labor intensive fundraising campaigns that often pull volunteers from other critical program needs such as coaching and transporting athletes.”
A map on the organization’s website lists participating coffee shops:
- Donating Five Cents Per Cup
- Ivory Road Café & Kitchen (1854 Brevard Road in Arden)
- Mosaic Café & Coffee House (1 Town Square Boulevard in Biltmore Park)
- Trout Lily Market (1297 Charlotte Highway in Fairview)
- Donating One Cent Per Cup
- Dynamite Roasting Company (3198 US Highway 70 in Black Mountain)
- PennyCup Coffee Company West (362 Depot Street in Asheville’s River Arts District)
- PennyCup Coffee Company East (6 Beverly Road in Asheville’s Haw Creek)
- PennyCup Coffee Company North (857 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville)
- Round Earth Roasters (518 Hendersonville Road in Asheville)
Buncombe County Special Olympics is made possible through funding from donors and support from Buncombe County Government. To donate or volunteer, visit buncombecountyspecialolympics.org.
Special Olympics was founded by Eunice Kennedy in 1968 to celebrate changing attitudes about the talents of people with intellectual disabilities. Buncombe County Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for youth and adults. Sports include alpine skiing and snowboarding, aquatics, athletics, basketball, bocce, bowling, cheerleading, gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, and tennis. The organization also offers the Adaptive Athlete Program in a partnership with South Slope CrossFit and Buncombe County Recreation Services.
A great afternoon at the vineyards with a German twist! Bring your Lederhosen and Polka shoes. We’ll have the wine and German party atmosphere ready.

Have you always wanted to learn how to make your own apple cider? Join Noble Cider Co-Founder and Lead Cider-Maker Lief Stevens for an introductory class in hard cider making. Participants will receive all the necessary tools for making one gallon of hard cider.
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM at our Cidery here in Asheville, N.C. Tickets are $30.00 per person
Max of 20 participants. Must be 21+ to attend.
Jack of the Wood : Sunday-Irish Session
Sundays
1 till who knows when?
Traditional Irish music is kept alive at Jack of the Wood with our unplugged Sunday session.
Jack of the Wood
95 Patton ave
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 252.5445

Raymond Charles Jack “Ray” LaMontagne is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released seven studio albums, Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain, God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise, Supernova, Ouroboros and Part of the Light. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after hearing an album by Stephen Stills. Critics have compared LaMontagne’s music to that of Otis Redding, The Band, Van Morrison, Nick Drake and Tim Buckley
Our free Jazz Hour is back for the fall season! Please join us in our auditorium to listen to an hour of jazz from Steinway pianist and composer Michael Jefry Stevens and his musician friends. Each performance is different and will take place on the third Monday evenings of each month. Everyone is welcome.

Buncombe County Special Olympics’ annual Coffee for Champions fundraiser returns for a third year on October 1. During the month of October, local coffee shops donate up to five cents for each cup of coffee purchased at their establishments to support Special Olympics training and competitions for area youth and adults.
“We are a completely volunteer-driven, donation-funded program focused on inclusionary sporting opportunities for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities,” said Karla Furnari of Buncombe County Recreation Services, who is also a Buncombe County Special Olympics coach and Local Coordinator. “Coffee for Champions helps build connections between our athletes and the community. It also allows us to move away from labor intensive fundraising campaigns that often pull volunteers from other critical program needs such as coaching and transporting athletes.”
A map on the organization’s website lists participating coffee shops:
- Donating Five Cents Per Cup
- Ivory Road Café & Kitchen (1854 Brevard Road in Arden)
- Mosaic Café & Coffee House (1 Town Square Boulevard in Biltmore Park)
- Trout Lily Market (1297 Charlotte Highway in Fairview)
- Donating One Cent Per Cup
- Dynamite Roasting Company (3198 US Highway 70 in Black Mountain)
- PennyCup Coffee Company West (362 Depot Street in Asheville’s River Arts District)
- PennyCup Coffee Company East (6 Beverly Road in Asheville’s Haw Creek)
- PennyCup Coffee Company North (857 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville)
- Round Earth Roasters (518 Hendersonville Road in Asheville)
Buncombe County Special Olympics is made possible through funding from donors and support from Buncombe County Government. To donate or volunteer, visit buncombecountyspecialolympics.org.
Special Olympics was founded by Eunice Kennedy in 1968 to celebrate changing attitudes about the talents of people with intellectual disabilities. Buncombe County Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for youth and adults. Sports include alpine skiing and snowboarding, aquatics, athletics, basketball, bocce, bowling, cheerleading, gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, and tennis. The organization also offers the Adaptive Athlete Program in a partnership with South Slope CrossFit and Buncombe County Recreation Services.
Taste and analyze their one of a kind “Fire Ciders”. These ciders were crafted in the spirit of Halloween and in honor of their Anniversary with a variety of hot peppers. The evening of sensory analysis will introduce the sensory techniques used for wine, beer and cider. How to discern between different aroma and flavor compounds and more. You will also be given an in-depth tour of the cider production facility so that you can understand how the cider flavors you taste later are affected by their unique production process.


Select a wine on draft and fill a plēb urban winery 500mL or 1L growler for a reduced price (see menu for availability and pricing). Growler purchase is separate. Carry out only.
https://www.facebook.com/events/859748727719594/?event_time_id=859748881052912

PULP presents
Breakfast Cigarette
Wed, Oct 23
Show : 8pm
at 
Doors : 7pm
$5 members
$7 non-members
$2 surcharge for under 21
CLINT BLACK
It is one of the most storied careers in modern music. Clint Black surged to superstardom as part of the fabled Class of ’89, reaching #1 with five consecutive singles from his triple-platinum debut, Killin’ Time. He followed that with the triple-platinum Put Yourself in My Shoes, and then a string of platinum and gold albums throughout the ’90s. Perhaps most impressively, Clint wrote or co-wrote every one of his more than three dozen chart hits, including “A Better Man,” “Where Are You Now,” “When My ShipComes In,” “A Good Run of Bad Luck,” “Summer’s Comin’,” “Like the Rain” and “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” part of a catalog that produced 22 #1 singles and made him one of the most successful singer/songwriters of the modern era. Along the way, Clint has sold over 20 million records, earned more than a dozen gold and platinum awards in the U.S. and Canada including a GRAMMY, landed nearly two dozen major awards and nominations, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Clint continues to tour throughout North America in 2019 as he celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Killin’ Time.

Buncombe County Special Olympics’ annual Coffee for Champions fundraiser returns for a third year on October 1. During the month of October, local coffee shops donate up to five cents for each cup of coffee purchased at their establishments to support Special Olympics training and competitions for area youth and adults.
“We are a completely volunteer-driven, donation-funded program focused on inclusionary sporting opportunities for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities,” said Karla Furnari of Buncombe County Recreation Services, who is also a Buncombe County Special Olympics coach and Local Coordinator. “Coffee for Champions helps build connections between our athletes and the community. It also allows us to move away from labor intensive fundraising campaigns that often pull volunteers from other critical program needs such as coaching and transporting athletes.”
A map on the organization’s website lists participating coffee shops:
- Donating Five Cents Per Cup
- Ivory Road Café & Kitchen (1854 Brevard Road in Arden)
- Mosaic Café & Coffee House (1 Town Square Boulevard in Biltmore Park)
- Trout Lily Market (1297 Charlotte Highway in Fairview)
- Donating One Cent Per Cup
- Dynamite Roasting Company (3198 US Highway 70 in Black Mountain)
- PennyCup Coffee Company West (362 Depot Street in Asheville’s River Arts District)
- PennyCup Coffee Company East (6 Beverly Road in Asheville’s Haw Creek)
- PennyCup Coffee Company North (857 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville)
- Round Earth Roasters (518 Hendersonville Road in Asheville)
Buncombe County Special Olympics is made possible through funding from donors and support from Buncombe County Government. To donate or volunteer, visit buncombecountyspecialolympics.org.
Special Olympics was founded by Eunice Kennedy in 1968 to celebrate changing attitudes about the talents of people with intellectual disabilities. Buncombe County Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for youth and adults. Sports include alpine skiing and snowboarding, aquatics, athletics, basketball, bocce, bowling, cheerleading, gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, and tennis. The organization also offers the Adaptive Athlete Program in a partnership with South Slope CrossFit and Buncombe County Recreation Services.
The Asheville Marathon began 8 years ago with only a marathon option, which sold out quickly in its first year, and again the next year. A nationwide interest in half marathons was becoming popular, so for the 3rd year a half marathon option was added. In the 4th year, the event expanded to two days of races and a half marathon on each day. To add a twist in the 5th year the Backyard to Vineyard Challenge was created, where participants race in the Saturday half and Sunday full. The challenge was very popular and for the 6th anniversary, Backyard to Backyard Challenge was added, where participants run both the Saturday half and the Sunday half. Now in its 8th year both days of races, including the challenges, are expected to be sold out, with 3,100 participants.
The Asheville Marathon & Half at Biltmore Estate is held on and run entirely on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate, where runners will wind through paved and packed dirt roads to see hardwood forest, meadows, gardens, and extraordinary views of the Biltmore House and Estate. This is the original Asheville Marathon and first race of its kind to come to Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina; don’t miss out on being part of history at Biltmore Estate.
For more information about the Asheville Marathon & Half at Biltmore Estate, visit
https://ashevillemarathon.com/. Follow the race on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Come out and watch the game!

In this Halloween-themed program, ballad singer Saro Lynch-Thomason shares Appalachian songs and folklore of ghosts, death, magic, and mystery.

THE BEST MONTY PYTHON MOVIE EVER
THIS WILL SELL OUT IN ADVANCE!
Fifty years ago on October 5th, 1969 the first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired, and comedy around the world was changed forever. Celebrate their birthday with us!
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles. Considered one of the funniest movies ever! (RUNNING TIME = 1 hour 31 minutes)
Chris Staples is a Seattle based multi-instrumentalist and song maker. His songs are narratives that are plainspoken and universal, with simple, disarming arrangements and delicate melodies that seemed to float on air. His music has been covered by NPR Music, Washington Post, NY Times, American Songwriter, and Apple Music. Staples tours relentlessly and has played over 500 shows since he started releasing solo material in 2012. His newest record “Holy Moly” came out June 28th on Barsuk Records. He’s worked as a side-man for Father John Misty, David Bazan, Jeremy Enigk(Sunny Day Real Estate), and Telekinesis.
This show is an intimate performance, hosted by a fan in their home. A truly unique environment to hear music and a great way to meet people in your own community. Online tickets sales only. When you buy a ticket you receive the address and other pertinent info via email.

Clint Patrick Black is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black’s debut album Killin’ Time produced four straight number one singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Although his momentum gradually slowed throughout the 1990s, Black consistently charted hit songs into the 2000s. He has had more than 30 singles on the US Billboard country charts, twenty-two of which have reached number one, in addition to having released twelve studio albums and several compilation albums. In 2003, Black founded his own record label, Equity Music Group. Black has also ventured into acting, having made appearances in a 1993 episode of the TV series Wings and in the 1994 film Maverick, as well as a starring role in 1998’s Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack.
Mt. Joy w/ Special Guest SUSTO
Show: 9pm
Doors: 8pm
$23 – $73
Ages 18+
Tickets & Info: www.theorangepeel.net/event/mt-joy/
“These dreams are more than paper things,” sings Matt Quinn on Mt. Joy’s infectious folk-rocker “Astrovan,” a warm, yearning bit of road-trip philosophy that posits the existence of a Deadhead Jesus cruising the dusty highways of the countryside, nursing a roach on his way to only He knows where. It’s an auspicious line from a band predicated on the revival of teenage dreams.
Mt. Joy started off as a rekindling of shared musical ambitions between Philadelphia high school friends Matt Quinn (vocals, guitar) and Sam Cooper (guitar). Reunited in Los Angeles thanks to the ebbs and flows of adult life, the pair met multi-instrumentalist Michael Byrnes through a Craigslist ad. They named themselves Mt. Joy as an ode to a mountain in Valley Forge National Park near Sam’s childhood home, and together, with Byrnes’ roommate Caleb Nelson producing, they recorded three songs and sent them out into the world, hoping for the best. “I knew I still wanted to write songs, but the realities of life made that dream seem pretty impossible,” Quinn says.
Much to the band’s amazement, “Astrovan” accomplished the impossible. Without initial promotion or fanfare, the song took off on Spotify, racking up 5 million streams to date. “The irony of ‘Astrovan’ was that song was really about being stuck in a life and wanting to have the opportunity to pursue a dream, and in an instant it gave us that opportunity. ” Quinn says. Mt. Joy quickly transitioned from a part-time calling into a full-fledged band rounded out by Byrnes on bass, Sotiris Eliopoulos on drums and Jackie Miclau on keyboard.
Come 2017, Mt. Joy hit the road, and hit it hard: They played tour dates alongside the likes of The Shins, The Head and The Heart, The Lone Bellow, and Whitney, and popped up at some of the summer’s biggest festivals, including Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza and Made In America. “We were put on some big shows very quickly,” Quinn says. “The growth for us has been exponential – we’ve really just become a family that’s constantly pushing each other and the live show to be great.” They eventually caught the attention of Dualtone Records and began work on their debut album.
Steeped in folk-rock tradition and powered by the intuitive creative connection between Quinn and Cooper, the songs on ‘Mt. Joy’ depict Quinn wrestling with his own conscience, where the mundane and the fantastic collide as he processes tragedy, society, and love. Opener “I’m Your Wreck” describes “monsters in (the) closet, using up the wi-fi” as it cycles from its desperate, spiraling verses to its swinging, stubbornly optimistic coda, while the loping, plaintive chords of “Younger Days” meditate on a frayed psyche and the fear of choosing the wrong path. “Sheep,” with its collapsing, hoarse-voiced cry of “freedom was paid in blood,” is a post-Trump salvo on the responsibilities of the fortunate to overcome political and social despondency. And on “Silver Lining,” perhaps the album’s brightest moment, Quinn surveys the damage of hard drugs and the vicious cycle of addiction, as the song’s melancholic sentiment kicks into its fervid, defiant chorus, all shout-along vocals and trilling guitars.
Taken together, the self titled ‘Mt. Joy’ LP is a startlingly open document, wracked with the anxieties and fears that come just as life seems to start working out. It’s a natural reaction from a wary band like Mt. Joy – the result of a sort of professional vertigo, as they’ve gone from virtual unknowns to hot young commodity in little over a year. But there’s a sense of hope underlying everything, girded by the fact that the Mt. Joy LP is an impressive, honest portrayal of a young band facing that moment where dreams become reality, and finding beauty in the exhilarating uncertainty of it all.
www.mtjoyband.com
https://www.facebook.com/events/1096683710504247/
On Friday OCT the 25th, DJ AUDIO + Brent Brown are coming to Ole Shakey’s to kill everything! Get ready to dance that ass off to big beats under the most amazing light show ever . Music Powered by the Hottest Dj’s in the city. NO COVER. 21+. RSVP NOW & Tag a friend!



