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.

Saturday, January 11, 2020
Volunteer Educator Training
Jan 11 @ 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
RiverLink
Volunteer Educator Training
January 11, 10 AM-1 PM
We still have a few open spots for our volunteer educator training in January. If you’re interested in environmental education and working with youth, this is a great opportunity to combine the two!
RiverLink staff will teach you about aquatic environments, and cover aspects of stream shape and water quality. Once you’ve completed the training and been cleared by a background check, you’ll be ready to come with us to schools and assist with lessons.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade Volunteers Needed
Jan 12 all-day
South Slope
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23
The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.

Details include: 

* About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads.  It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba.  Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
Improving Farm Communications
Jan 12 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Community Farm

Effective communication is essential, and can be transformative for your farm operation. In this two day long interactive workshop, Improving Farm Communication, participants will address real life situations to learn about communication styles, ways to have better conversations, and have a chance to practice new skills. In this workshop we will cover the basics of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), aka, Compassionate Communication, and how it can be applied to your personal as well as your farm life and business. On-farm communication is critical for farm viability, and is one of the most common sources of conflict and frustration for farmers, family members, business partners, employees, and customers.

NVC has been used around the world for decades in all areas of people’s lives and has one of the most proven track records for reducing conflict and creating teamwork, increasing efficiency, and boosting morale.

By using examples from participants’ lives we will create a highly interactive learning environment and learn skills that can be immediately applied to your home and work life.

 

Come if you:

  1. Are part of a farm family or farm team
  2. See the benefit of improved communication skills
  3. Would like to have conversations that aren’t so awkward
  4. Are ready to tackle difficult conversations
  5. Find the stress of farm life difficult to express to others
Friday, January 17, 2020
Organic Growers School 27th Annual Spring Conference, March 6–8
Jan 17 all-day
Mars Hill University

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

  1. Community Food

  2. Cooking

  3. Earth Skills

  4. Farmers: Beginning

  5. Farmers: Experienced

  6. Gardening: Beginning

  7. Gardening: Experienced

  8. Herbs

  9. Homesteading

  10. Livestock

  11. Mushrooms

  12. Permaculture

  13. Poultry

  14. Soils

  15. Sustainable Forestry

  16. Sustainable Living

  17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

  1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

  2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

  3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

A Wild Food Stroll at The Grove Park Inn
Jan 17 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
The Grove Park Inn

Ready to go WILD? Join us for a trip “off the eaten path.” You’ll learn how to safely gather edible wild plants, mushrooms, and other “extreme cuisine.” Stay for a stunning view of the sunset and enjoy dinner at Vue 1913 featuring a free appetizer with the edibles you met on your tour. Suitable for all ages and abilities. To register or for more info, see here. Three-hour foraging tours also available, year-round, by arrangement.

Wild food is the ultimate natural food: ultra-local, fresher, more flavorful, 10 to 100 times more nutritious than its garden-variety descendants, AND it’s free! With over 300 wild edibles, Western North Carolina is the richest temperate ecosystem on Earth. For a taste of the wild life, forage ahead and experience the life of a modern hunter-gather firsthand. It’s a unique experience in self-catering, a memorable lesson in high-class survival.

Saturday, January 18, 2020
Artist Opportunities: Asheville Area Arts Council
Jan 18 all-day
Asheville NC

Artist Opportunities

The Asheville Area Arts Council is pleased to share the following opportunities for artists that have recently been submitted to us. If you have any questions about an opportunity, please contact the listed organization.

The Asheville Area Arts Council does not endorse or recommend any specific opportunities, but provides this list for information only. We encourage artists to research each opportunity thoroughly before applying.

Call for Artists: NRCC Art Society

The North Ridge Country Club Art Society wishes to promote art and area artists, while also developing increased art appreciation within its membership. The NRCC Art Society continues to expand the permanent art collection in the clubhouse for members …

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January 3, 2020 – January 19, 2020

Call for Musicians: Chamber Music Raleigh

ANNOUNCING THE FOLLOWING OPPORTUNITY FOR NC-BASED MUSICIANS   Performance Venue: North Carolina Museum of Art, SECU Auditorium Dates: Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 2pm or Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 2pm Artists Fee: up to $2500   Submission Instructions:  …

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January 2, 2020 – January 24, 2020

Call for Artists: Shenandoah National Park

The Shenandoah National Park Artist-in-Residence program offers professional artists focused time to creatively explore the natural and cultural resources of this astounding landscape. It also allows artists the opportunity to share their work through …

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November 25, 2019 – January 31, 2020

Call for Artists: Zapow Juried Show

ZaPow Gallery, the premier Illustration and Narrative Art Gallery in the Southeast, will be hosting its Second Annual Juried Open Show March 2020. If you are an Illustrator or Narrative artist living in the WNC area this is your chance to show your wor …

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December 9, 2019 – February 1, 2020

Call for Artists: Magnetic Theater

SPECIAL EVENT – ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL Script Submission Guidelines:   – The submission deadline is Saturday, February 1st at 11:59pm. – Plays should be between 10 and 30 minutes long, though there is a bit of wiggle room. – No more than 10 roles (prefe …

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January 3, 2020 – February 1, 2020

Call for Artists: Chilkoot Trail Residency

The Yukon Arts Centre, the US National Park Service, Parks Canada and the Skagway Arts Council are calling for submissions for the 2021 Chilkoot Trail Artist Residency Program. Participants will combine their artistic abilities with a love of the outdo …

December 9, 2019 – February 11, 2020

Call for Artists: International Artist Residency

Open Call for 2020-21 International Artist Residencies at Farm Studio in Rajasthan, India The deadline for applications is 20th February, 2020. Residencies will take place October, November, December 2020 and January, February 2021. All residency infor …

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Asheville Mardi Gras Parade Volunteers Needed
Jan 18 all-day
South Slope
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23
The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.

Details include: 

* About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads.  It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba.  Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
Organic Growers School 27th Annual Spring Conference, March 6–8
Jan 18 all-day
Mars Hill University

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

  1. Community Food

  2. Cooking

  3. Earth Skills

  4. Farmers: Beginning

  5. Farmers: Experienced

  6. Gardening: Beginning

  7. Gardening: Experienced

  8. Herbs

  9. Homesteading

  10. Livestock

  11. Mushrooms

  12. Permaculture

  13. Poultry

  14. Soils

  15. Sustainable Forestry

  16. Sustainable Living

  17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

  1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

  2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

  3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

Registration OPEN: 27th Annual Organic Growers School Spring Conference
Jan 18 all-day
Mars Hill University

Get the Early Registration Discount!

Early-registration prices for the 2020 Spring Conference are available through Friday, January 31, 2020.
Farm Dreams
Jan 18 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Elma C. Lomax Research and Education Farm

Explore Sustainable Farming

If you’re in the exploratory stages of starting your own farm, this entry-level workshop is designed just for you. You will receive practical, common-sense information on sustainable farming and how to move forward.

Learn about sustainable farming careers in Western North Carolina.

Discover and assess your resources, skills and farming intentions.

Begin to develop an educational plan toward farming.

Connect with regional training opportunities and support networks.

Prioritize your next steps toward your farming goals.

Hear from experienced farmers running successful farms in WNC.

HIKE: Craven Gap
Jan 18 @ 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Asheville NC

Approximately 4.4 miles on this Shuttle Hike. Level of difficulty is Mod to Medium. Meet at 10:30 a.m; return around 4:30 p.m. There will be an opportunity to view a Chestnut Sapling with Blight. This hike is often sheltered from winds, and offers a variety of trees/shrubs to identify, including Hornbeam, Spice bush, Sourwood, and Ash. NOTE: This section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is usually open in winter, but if not, we can try starting from closer to the Folk Art Center.

Sunday, January 19, 2020
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade Volunteers Needed
Jan 19 all-day
South Slope
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23
The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.

Details include: 

* About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads.  It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba.  Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
Organic Growers School 27th Annual Spring Conference, March 6–8
Jan 19 all-day
Mars Hill University

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

  1. Community Food

  2. Cooking

  3. Earth Skills

  4. Farmers: Beginning

  5. Farmers: Experienced

  6. Gardening: Beginning

  7. Gardening: Experienced

  8. Herbs

  9. Homesteading

  10. Livestock

  11. Mushrooms

  12. Permaculture

  13. Poultry

  14. Soils

  15. Sustainable Forestry

  16. Sustainable Living

  17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

  1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

  2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

  3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

Improving Farm Communications
Jan 19 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Community Farm

Effective communication is essential, and can be transformative for your farm operation. In this two day long interactive workshop, Improving Farm Communication, participants will address real life situations to learn about communication styles, ways to have better conversations, and have a chance to practice new skills. In this workshop we will cover the basics of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), aka, Compassionate Communication, and how it can be applied to your personal as well as your farm life and business. On-farm communication is critical for farm viability, and is one of the most common sources of conflict and frustration for farmers, family members, business partners, employees, and customers.

NVC has been used around the world for decades in all areas of people’s lives and has one of the most proven track records for reducing conflict and creating teamwork, increasing efficiency, and boosting morale.

By using examples from participants’ lives we will create a highly interactive learning environment and learn skills that can be immediately applied to your home and work life.

 

Come if you:

  1. Are part of a farm family or farm team
  2. See the benefit of improved communication skills
  3. Would like to have conversations that aren’t so awkward
  4. Are ready to tackle difficult conversations
  5. Find the stress of farm life difficult to express to others
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Forest Floor Wilderness Programs
Jan 22 all-day
Forest Floor

Forest Floor is offering sixteen different week-long camp options for ages ranging from K-10. Camps begin with the first week June 15-19 and end with the week of August 10-14. The program is structured to get kids out in the forest, exercising and playing, sharing stories and songs, solving challenges, and learning traditional crafts, wilderness skills, survival skills, and martial arts. Forest Floor programs are unique in the Asheville area because of the focus on Nature Connection Mentoring and helping children reach and exceed their potential.

Parents can drop their children off at Haw Creek Commons in Asheville between 8:30 – 9:00 AM daily, and then pick them up there between 3:00 – 3:30 PM. Camp staff will transport the children via passenger van to the forest location and back each day. An After Camp” option with games and nature activities is available for parents who choose to pickup as late as 5:30 PM. After Camp can be reserved for specific days or the entire camp week.

 

The standard pricing for the camps is $295 per week including transportation. The Blacksmithing and Knife-making camps for Grades 6-10 only are priced at $384 per week. After Camp adds $15-30 per afternoon depending on the specific reservations. A payment plan and sibling discount are offered as well. A limited number of partial scholarships are also available. Registrations are taken online in advance at the company website www.OnTheForestFloor.org.

 

About Forest Floor Wilderness Programs – Forest Floor Wilderness Programs (FFWP) is a unique Asheville provider of Nature-Connection Mentoring programs. FFWP was founded in 2011 by Executive Director Clint Corley to bring a nationally-proven youth mentoring model to the Asheville area. The group offers summer camps, and a wide variety of other programs including weekly programs for homeschool families, bi-weekly programs for teens & public school children, Saturday programs, family campouts, and workshops for adults.

Friday, January 24, 2020
Organic Growers School 27th Annual Spring Conference, March 6–8
Jan 24 all-day
Mars Hill University

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

  1. Community Food

  2. Cooking

  3. Earth Skills

  4. Farmers: Beginning

  5. Farmers: Experienced

  6. Gardening: Beginning

  7. Gardening: Experienced

  8. Herbs

  9. Homesteading

  10. Livestock

  11. Mushrooms

  12. Permaculture

  13. Poultry

  14. Soils

  15. Sustainable Forestry

  16. Sustainable Living

  17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

  1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

  2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

  3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

A Wild Food Stroll at The Grove Park Inn
Jan 24 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
The Grove Park Inn

Ready to go WILD? Join us for a trip “off the eaten path.” You’ll learn how to safely gather edible wild plants, mushrooms, and other “extreme cuisine.” Stay for a stunning view of the sunset and enjoy dinner at Vue 1913 featuring a free appetizer with the edibles you met on your tour. Suitable for all ages and abilities. To register or for more info, see here. Three-hour foraging tours also available, year-round, by arrangement.

Wild food is the ultimate natural food: ultra-local, fresher, more flavorful, 10 to 100 times more nutritious than its garden-variety descendants, AND it’s free! With over 300 wild edibles, Western North Carolina is the richest temperate ecosystem on Earth. For a taste of the wild life, forage ahead and experience the life of a modern hunter-gather firsthand. It’s a unique experience in self-catering, a memorable lesson in high-class survival.

Saturday, January 25, 2020
Artist Opportunities: Asheville Area Arts Council
Jan 25 all-day
Asheville NC

Artist Opportunities

The Asheville Area Arts Council is pleased to share the following opportunities for artists that have recently been submitted to us. If you have any questions about an opportunity, please contact the listed organization.

The Asheville Area Arts Council does not endorse or recommend any specific opportunities, but provides this list for information only. We encourage artists to research each opportunity thoroughly before applying.

Call for Artists: NRCC Art Society

The North Ridge Country Club Art Society wishes to promote art and area artists, while also developing increased art appreciation within its membership. The NRCC Art Society continues to expand the permanent art collection in the clubhouse for members …

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January 3, 2020 – January 19, 2020

Call for Musicians: Chamber Music Raleigh

ANNOUNCING THE FOLLOWING OPPORTUNITY FOR NC-BASED MUSICIANS   Performance Venue: North Carolina Museum of Art, SECU Auditorium Dates: Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 2pm or Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 2pm Artists Fee: up to $2500   Submission Instructions:  …

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January 2, 2020 – January 24, 2020

Call for Artists: Shenandoah National Park

The Shenandoah National Park Artist-in-Residence program offers professional artists focused time to creatively explore the natural and cultural resources of this astounding landscape. It also allows artists the opportunity to share their work through …

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November 25, 2019 – January 31, 2020

Call for Artists: Zapow Juried Show

ZaPow Gallery, the premier Illustration and Narrative Art Gallery in the Southeast, will be hosting its Second Annual Juried Open Show March 2020. If you are an Illustrator or Narrative artist living in the WNC area this is your chance to show your wor …

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December 9, 2019 – February 1, 2020

Call for Artists: Magnetic Theater

SPECIAL EVENT – ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL Script Submission Guidelines:   – The submission deadline is Saturday, February 1st at 11:59pm. – Plays should be between 10 and 30 minutes long, though there is a bit of wiggle room. – No more than 10 roles (prefe …

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January 3, 2020 – February 1, 2020

Call for Artists: Chilkoot Trail Residency

The Yukon Arts Centre, the US National Park Service, Parks Canada and the Skagway Arts Council are calling for submissions for the 2021 Chilkoot Trail Artist Residency Program. Participants will combine their artistic abilities with a love of the outdo …

December 9, 2019 – February 11, 2020

Call for Artists: International Artist Residency

Open Call for 2020-21 International Artist Residencies at Farm Studio in Rajasthan, India The deadline for applications is 20th February, 2020. Residencies will take place October, November, December 2020 and January, February 2021. All residency infor …

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Asheville Mardi Gras Parade Volunteers Needed
Jan 25 all-day
South Slope
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23
The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.

Details include: 

* About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads.  It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba.  Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
Environmental Education: RiverLink Summer Camps
Jan 25 all-day
Buncombe County NC

Environmental Education is crucial to what RiverLink does. We believe that in order for someone to protect their environment, they must first understand it. Our education programs focus on getting students out in the watershed for hands-on experiential learning. We help students foster a love and appreciation for their water resources by allowing them to see, hear and interact with their local waterways. As a result of engaging with our program we hope that students will be inspired to become the next generation of watershed stewards.

RiverRATS Education Program

Forest Floor Wilderness Programs
Jan 25 all-day
Forest Floor

Forest Floor is offering sixteen different week-long camp options for ages ranging from K-10. Camps begin with the first week June 15-19 and end with the week of August 10-14. The program is structured to get kids out in the forest, exercising and playing, sharing stories and songs, solving challenges, and learning traditional crafts, wilderness skills, survival skills, and martial arts. Forest Floor programs are unique in the Asheville area because of the focus on Nature Connection Mentoring and helping children reach and exceed their potential.

Parents can drop their children off at Haw Creek Commons in Asheville between 8:30 – 9:00 AM daily, and then pick them up there between 3:00 – 3:30 PM. Camp staff will transport the children via passenger van to the forest location and back each day. An After Camp” option with games and nature activities is available for parents who choose to pickup as late as 5:30 PM. After Camp can be reserved for specific days or the entire camp week.

 

The standard pricing for the camps is $295 per week including transportation. The Blacksmithing and Knife-making camps for Grades 6-10 only are priced at $384 per week. After Camp adds $15-30 per afternoon depending on the specific reservations. A payment plan and sibling discount are offered as well. A limited number of partial scholarships are also available. Registrations are taken online in advance at the company website www.OnTheForestFloor.org.

 

About Forest Floor Wilderness Programs – Forest Floor Wilderness Programs (FFWP) is a unique Asheville provider of Nature-Connection Mentoring programs. FFWP was founded in 2011 by Executive Director Clint Corley to bring a nationally-proven youth mentoring model to the Asheville area. The group offers summer camps, and a wide variety of other programs including weekly programs for homeschool families, bi-weekly programs for teens & public school children, Saturday programs, family campouts, and workshops for adults.

Organic Growers School 27th Annual Spring Conference, March 6–8
Jan 25 all-day
Mars Hill University

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

  1. Community Food

  2. Cooking

  3. Earth Skills

  4. Farmers: Beginning

  5. Farmers: Experienced

  6. Gardening: Beginning

  7. Gardening: Experienced

  8. Herbs

  9. Homesteading

  10. Livestock

  11. Mushrooms

  12. Permaculture

  13. Poultry

  14. Soils

  15. Sustainable Forestry

  16. Sustainable Living

  17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

  1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

  2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

  3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

Redesigning Our Future: National Environmental Summit for High School Students
Jan 25 all-day
Catawba College
Registration OPEN: 27th Annual Organic Growers School Spring Conference
Jan 25 all-day
Mars Hill University

Get the Early Registration Discount!

Early-registration prices for the 2020 Spring Conference are available through Friday, January 31, 2020.
Asheville Hot Chocolate Races
Jan 25 @ 8:30 am – 11:00 am
Isaac Dickson Elementary School

Participate in one of the Asheville Hot Chocolate Races and enjoy a steaming cup of cocoa from French Broad Chocolates after completing your race, 5k and 10k are chip timed, 1K Kids Hill Climb and Marshmallow Dash are untimed fun runs for ages 12 and under.

Snowflake Hike
Jan 25 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Carvers Gap

Location: Carvers Gap
Difficulty: Moderate (5-6) with an elevation gain of 650′ and snow
Distance: 4~ miles out and back
Cost: FREE but Pre-Registration is Required!
In 1885, a self educated farmer Wilson A. Bently attached a microscope to his bellows camera and became the first person to photograph a snowflake. After photographing over 5000 snowflakes, he found that no two snowflakes are alike and come in all sorts of shapes and patterns. Join SAHC in our own snowflake observations as we trek through the gorgeous, high elevation winter wonderland of Carvers Gap. If weather permits, we will collect snowflakes on cardboard sheets and examine their delicate and unique patterns through hand lenses and magnifying glasses.
NOTICE: Please bring your own magnifying glass or hand lens (5x-10x should be fine). We have a limited number of magnification tools for individuals to use.
Public Roadside Cleanup
Jan 25 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
175 Bingham Road

Image

Join our Water Quality Coordinator, Laura Anderson, on a public roadside cleanup! This 2hr event will focus around picking up litter along one of Asheville’s heavily trashed roads.

Bingham Road is a frequently trafficked and polluted road within the Asheville City Limits. As it rains, water sweeps this man-made debris into drains that lead directly into our streams — polluting our land and water. Keeping these areas free from litter is important to us as a community, so lets work together to protect the areas we love!

We will meet in the Buncombe County School’s parking lot, look for the Asheville GreenWorks truck.

All supplies will be provided, including: gloves, grabbers, yellow safety vests and trash bags. Just bring yourself dressed in warm clothes that can get dirty!

Sunday, January 26, 2020
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade Volunteers Needed
Jan 26 all-day
South Slope
Asheville Mardi Gras Parade February 23
The 13th annual Asheville Mardi Gras parade will take place on February 23 in South Slope and we’re looking for parade day volunteers. The Asheville Mardi Gras parade is an all-inclusive, family friendly, full-color spectacle that is fun, entertaining, full of music, floats, dancing and celebrating. Spectators receive beads and candy and the photo opportunities are always amazing.

Details include: 

* About 20-25 volunteers needed for this rain or shine event. There will be 2 shifts, estimated to be from approx. 11a to 2/3p, and 2p to 5/6p.
*Setting up, manning and breaking down street barricades
*Assisting with krewe and float line up and timing as the parade begins
*Identifying parked cars that might need to be towed and checking for obstacles to smooth crowd control along the parade route.
*Coordinating with the Parade Logistics manager and city police
*Carrying 1 or 2 parade banners (Costumes optional but always encouraged!)
*Assisting with end of parade float disbursement
*Trash pick up following the parade set up and marching route. This is mostly paper trash and beads.  It’s rarely more than a few bags total.
Returning barricades, cones, etc. to the post-parade collection point
Confirmed Volunteer perks include $10 gift card to Vortex Donuts & Coffee and a free beer at Catawba.  Possibly more perks to come!
Email Dane if you’re interested in helping out, [email protected]
AMG is also seeking a Parade Day Logistics Manager as a PAID POSITION for Sunday, Feb. 23. Ideal person should have outdoor event coordination experience, flexibility and a good sense of humor. Duties include coordinating volunteers, ensuring cones and barricades are in place at all check points, answering any traffic/parked car/pedestrian concerns, acting as parade day primary contact for police and security and Mardi Gras leadership, coordinating compliance with City parade permit requirements, and helping ensure a timely start and finish to the parade. Candidate could plan to cover the parade route via bicycle or scooter or use walkie talkies to accomplish oversight of the .5 mile parade route. This position pays $125 for the day. More details available to any interested candidate. Email Dane if you’re interested in the position, [email protected]
Organic Growers School 27th Annual Spring Conference, March 6–8
Jan 26 all-day
Mars Hill University

The 27th Annual Spring Conference—for farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability seekers—is hosted by Organic Growers School (OGS), an Asheville-based non-profit organization. The conference takes place Friday–Sunday, March 6–8, 2020. The weekend event takes place at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill and the pre-conference events are in Buncombe and Henderson Counties.

Cost for  the pre-conference workshops are $60 with conference registration (Saturday, Sunday, or both) and $75 without. Cost for the weekend conference if registered by January 31, 2020 is $65 for Saturday and $80 for Sunday with the full weekend for $110.  For registration  after January 31, the cost of Saturday is $80, Sunday is $70 and the full weekend is $140.

The Spring Conference offers practical, region-specific workshops on farming, gardening, permaculture, urban growing, and rural living and includes a trade show, a seed exchange, special guest speakers, and a Saturday evening social.

More than 150 classes—both 90-minute sessions and half-day workshops—are offered on Saturday and Sunday in 17 learning tracks:

  1. Community Food

  2. Cooking

  3. Earth Skills

  4. Farmers: Beginning

  5. Farmers: Experienced

  6. Gardening: Beginning

  7. Gardening: Experienced

  8. Herbs

  9. Homesteading

  10. Livestock

  11. Mushrooms

  12. Permaculture

  13. Poultry

  14. Soils

  15. Sustainable Forestry

  16. Sustainable Living

  17. Thinking Big

This one-of-a-kind event brings people of all walks of life together for a weekend of learning, inspiration, and networking and features a host of local and regional experts. The mission of the Spring Conference is to provide down-to-earth advice on growing and sustainable living while remaining affordable and accessible. The Spring Conference is the largest locally run sustainability conference in the Southeast and is proudly focused on regionally appropriate growing methods.

Three full-day, on-farm, pre-conference workshops with special guest instructors are available on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are:

  1. Mushroom Cultivation at the Farm & Home with William Padilla-Brown & Leif Olson at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden, NC.

  2. Healing Our Soils through Compost, and Compost Tea: Safe & Natural Fertilizers with Troy Hinke at Living Web Farms in Mills River, NC

  3. Chickens & You: From Egg to Table with Pat Foreman & Meagan Coneybeer at Franny’s Farm in Leicester, NC.

The conference will also host an evening lecture on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Leah Penniman entitled, Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming & Food Justice. The location for this event is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St, Asheville, NC 28801.

The Spring Conference features a trade show on Saturday and Sunday that showcases a wide array of exhibitors and products from local farms, gardening suppliers, and cottage industries that specialize in organic products and resources. Also featured on Saturday and Sunday is the annual Seed and Plant Exchange booth which offers the opportunity to preserve genetic diversity and protect regionally adapted varieties. Attendees may bring excess seeds and small plants to share, barter, or trade.

For more information, visit the website at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/ and see the entire weekend schedule at https://organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring/schedule/.

Redesigning Our Future: National Environmental Summit for High School Students
Jan 26 all-day
Catawba College