River Arts Tour
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.
Friday, April
9, 2021
Self-Guided WNC Tours
Victoria: The Forgotten Town Walking Tour
Virtual Arts + Crafts Home Tour
Tour a Local Greenway w/ GPS based tour app: TravelStorys
Biltmore Gardens Railway
Biltmore: Stickwork by Patrick Dougherty
Smith-McDowell House Museum Open for private, pre-booked tours
Brunch B’yahad Virtual
A Taste of Appalachian Whiskey and Gin
Tip-Based Walking Tour
Bun Intended Food Truck
Gunslinging Parrots – (A Phish Experience)
Son’s of Ralph
Cosmic Charlie
Love Bubble
Nick Shoulders: “Home on the Rage” Album Listening Party
Waxahatchee w/ Fenne Lily
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| Western North Carolina is defined as much by the various chains and valleys within the Appalachian Mountains as it is by the various people here. The region contains large swaths of national forest lands and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It contains old rivers and old folkways, along with an increasingly large stream of transplants and temporary visitors. This virtual tour gives a broad overview of our region. |
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| Contained by its larger growing neighbor (Asheville), the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, and the Southern Railway line, the Town of Victoria existed from 1887 until 1905, when it was absorbed into Asheville. The community—which included the Smith-McDowell House and Fernihurst mansion—originally incorporated into a town to prevent unwanted development (particularly from the Vanderbilts). |
This year you can join us for the Arts & Crafts Home Tour from the comfort of your home! Tour Possum Trot and Dogwood Cottages in Albemarle Park and finish with Sondley House in Haw Creek. Due to location and accessibility, these homes would not normally be included in the tour, so this is a special treat!
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Included with admission
Our fun-for-all-ages botanical model train displays invite you to experience our grounds in an engaging new way. Located in the Conservatory in the Walled Garden, the displays feature replicas of structures connected with Biltmore and its founder George Vanderbilt. Each beautifully executed piece was handcrafted from such natural elements as leaves, bark, and twigs.
In compliance with state and local mandates related to COVID-19, all guests must enter the Conservatory via the ADA entrance in the back and follow a one-way route.
Included with admission
A unique-to-Biltmore, large-scale outdoor sculpture will be crafted and installed in Antler Hill Village this spring by Patrick Dougherty. Over the last three decades, this internationally-acclaimed artist has combined his carpentry skills and love of nature to build over 300 of these wondrous works, captivating the hearts and imaginations of viewers worldwide.
Image: Close Ties (2006) Scottish Basketmakers Circle, Dingwall, Scotland. Photo: Fin Macrae
NOTE: This is an example of Patrick Dougherty’s work; the artist will create Biltmore’s unique structure in Antler Hill Village this spring.
We are OPEN Fridays and Saturdays
for private, pre-booked tours at:
10:30 AM
12:00 PM
1:30 PM
3:00 PM
Brunch B’Yahad is now available through Zoom meeting here.
Join new and old friends for light brunch, socialization and lively discussion. Featured guest speakers, and relevant cultural and timely topics will fill our minds.
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This insider excursion provides you with tips and local secrets about the best way to do Asheville on a budget! You will have a better understanding of how Asheville became the unique, quirky city you see now and learn everything we are doing to “Keep Asheville Weird.” This is the only walking tour provided that allows you to choose how much you think a walking tour is worth and pay whatever you like. We will follow the urban trail, stop along the way for some free honey tastings and finish the tour with some special beer tastings at one of the best local breweries in South Slope! At the brewery, you will also be able to participate in a free raffle where you receive gifts donated from local businesses like free salsa classes, local theatre performances, books and more! I want you to know and love my city as much as I do and I am excited to share this experience with you!
Pay what you want at the end!
Downtown Tour
We will meet at Pack Square where the road cuts through the park! I will be wearing a free walking tour Tshirt
My parking recommendations are either street parking in the square or the Aloft parking deck on Biltmore Ave. If it’s a weekend, there should be free parking on the streets but be sure to check the meter! Feel free to ask any other questions you may have!
We will meet outside of the Magentic Theatre and your guide will be wearing a blue T-shirt !
I recommend parking in the public parking lot directly beside the theatre for free parking close to the meeting spot!
Gunslinging Parrots – (A Phish Experience) is a Phish tribute band that focuses on the band’s early content (1.0). Formed in the summer of 2020 during the pandemic lockdown, the band has since been playing weekly shows and has developed a large repertoire of the music. They focus on sounding like Phish and not just playing their music. With Natalie Allen on guitar and lead vocals sounding astonishingly like Trey Anastasio in all ways, Benjamin Falcon on drums and vocals, Daniel Combs on keyboards and vocals, and Ryan Crabtree on bass guitar, this quartet will take you to a place you may be missing or have yet to experience – a Phish concert! Two full sets of classics and improvisation in the style of the quintessential jam band. Social distancing and mask-wearing is in effect at this great outdoor venue to see live music, something we all need more of in our lives. Please feel free to dance with your group in your table area. 
The Sons of Ralph are the sons of Bluegrass pioneer Ralph Lewis. In the heart of WNC, these masters of Bluegrass are “The Sons of Ralph”. Martin and Don Lewis, Cousin Steve Moseley, and the “other brother” Ozzie Orengo, Jr. have been playing and singing the unique style of bluegrass music since Ralph’s upbringing in Madison County.
Cosmic Charlie was born in the musical Mecca of Athens, Georgia. From its summer 1999 inception, the band swiftly cemented its reputation as a band that puts a unique and personal twist on the Grateful Dead catalogue, a Dead cover band for folks that are ambivalent about Dead cover bands. Rather than mimicking the Dead exactly, Cosmic Charlie chooses to tap into the Dead’s energy and style as a foundation on which to build. The result is healthy balance of creativity and tradition, and both the band and its audience are taken to that familiar edge with the sense that, music is actually being MADE here tonight.
“Love Bubble” is the name of the freshest harmony-driven trio in WNC! Made up of 3 of our areas finest and most sought after singers, you’re in for a nostalgic, heartwarming and whimsical time. For this show, they’re adding Beatles songs to their already eclectic mix of originals and 1940’s-1980’s cover songs. Crooner extraordinaire, Hank Bones (3 Cool Cats, The Jon Henry’s), who is affectionately known as “the man of 1000 songs” is also a master on guitar, arranging and songwriting. Best in Blues ‘Chanteuse’ Peggy Ratusz (Daddy LongLegs Band, Love is a Rose, Bygone Blues) on harmonica and percussion and scintillating vocalist, Paula Hanke (The Perfect Mix, In-the-Pocket, Love is a Rose) on uke and flute, these 3 create a quintessential musical ménage e trois!
Come enjoy an evening of live music, food and drinks at the Isis Music Hall. Reservations are highly recommended.
Nick Shoulders brings his immersive, one of a kind show to The Grey Eagle, focusing on his artwork and latest release “Home on the Rage.”
– ALL AGES
– 6:30PM DOORS / 7:30PM SHOW
– SOCIALLY DISTANCED, RESERVED SEATING
– FEATURING A LISTENING PARTY FOR THE NEW ALBUM “HOME ON THE RAGE,” A LIVE SET OF SONGS, NEW MERCH, ORIGINAL PAINTINGS FOR RAFFLE
– 6:30PM DOORS / 7:30PM SHOW
– SOCIALLY DISTANCED, RESERVED SEATING
– FEATURING A LISTENING PARTY FOR THE NEW ALBUM “HOME ON THE RAGE,” A LIVE SET OF SONGS, NEW MERCH, ORIGINAL PAINTINGS FOR RAFFLE
NICK SHOULDERS
Illustrator, yodeler and whistler Nick Shoulders takes the sights and sounds of his second full length album, “Home on the Rage” to a limited capacity audience near you. Featuring original new pieces, a live performance and a whole mess of shirts, records and tapes, this is a travelling listening party and art show tailored to the serious country music fan. Original, one of a kind paintings are available for raffle at every event, specialty merchandise will be for sale and space is limited, so track down tickets now!
Illustrator, yodeler and whistler Nick Shoulders takes the sights and sounds of his second full length album, “Home on the Rage” to a limited capacity audience near you. Featuring original new pieces, a live performance and a whole mess of shirts, records and tapes, this is a travelling listening party and art show tailored to the serious country music fan. Original, one of a kind paintings are available for raffle at every event, specialty merchandise will be for sale and space is limited, so track down tickets now!
Waxahatchee returns to The Grey Eagle in Asheville NC on April 9, 2021 in celebration of the latest album , “Saint Cloud.” Fenne Lilly opens.
– ALL AGES
– 8PM SHOW, 7PM DOORS
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
– 8PM SHOW, 7PM DOORS
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
WAXAHATCHEE
What do we hold on to from our past? What must we let go of to truly move forward?
What do we hold on to from our past? What must we let go of to truly move forward?
Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, a lyricist who has always let her listeners know exactly where she is at a given moment, spent much of 2018 reckoning with these questions and revisiting her roots to look for answers. The result is Saint Cloud, an intimate journey through the places she’s been, filled with the people she’s loved.
Saturday, April
10, 2021
2021 Summer Cuba Agroecology Tour
Driving Tour with Smith-McDowell House
Haunted Asheville Tour
Self-Guided WNC Tours
Victoria: The Forgotten Town Walking Tour
Virtual Arts + Crafts Home Tour
Tour a Local Greenway w/ GPS based tour app: TravelStorys
Grab Brunch at River’s End
Biltmore Gardens Railway
Biltmore: Stickwork by Patrick Dougherty
Bold Souls Morning Yoga
Smith-McDowell House Museum Open for private, pre-booked tours
A Taste of Appalachian Whiskey and Gin
Organic Growers School is partnering with Food First and Altruvistas to offer their fourth Cuba Agroecology Tour and their first such trip in the summer from June 22 through July 1, 2021, with a focus on the country’s intensive sustainable agriculture practices. The tour, to be comprised of growers, community leaders, educators, and activists who are passionate about sustainable agriculture, will begin in Havana and travel to destinations such as Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, and Matanzas. The trip offers participants on-the-ground exposure to Cuban agriculture and the food sovereignty movement and will highlight their engagement with the global food system. The intention is for participants to acquire the knowledge and strategies to create just, sustainable, local, and healthy food systems in their own communities.
Cuba has had a focus on organic agriculture production methods since the 1970s. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 ended Cuba’s access to agricultural inputs overnight, propelling them into what is now known as the “Special Period”—a crisis of reduced resources and increased hunger. The country embarked on a massive and rapid conversion to agroecology in an attempt to boost food production. The tour will focus on small farmers, sustainable food systems, and national security. There are multiple opportunities in Cuba’s diverse agricultural landscape to learn many lessons and insights for the development of a secure and sustainable food system elsewhere.
“The purpose of this tour is not to romanticize or glorify Cuban agriculture,” says Sera Deva, Director of Programs with Organic Growers School and the trip organizer. “It is instead an opportunity to learn about what a country-wide commitment to sustainable, local agriculture can look like. It will broaden and deepen our region’s wisdom regarding alternative food systems. Our goals are to show our participants the importance of cooperative farming models and sustainable farming techniques, as well as encouraging them to think critically about practical and governmental structures that could support a thriving community of organic growers and consumers.”
Local partners will provide an overview of Cuban history, culture, politics, agriculture, and ecology. Additionally, the group will meet with specialists who will provide background on the country’s transition into agroecological farming practices and the national policies that prioritize organic farming and the remediation of hunger. With a firm commitment to sustainability and justice, this tour will connect participants to farmers, consumers, activists, NGOs, policymakers and experts working to transform the global food system.
Tour highlights will include the following:
- Discuss agroecology with Fernando Funes, co-author of Food First’s book Sustainable Agriculture & Resistance in Cuba.
- Visit community permaculture and agricultural education, and food conservation projects.
- Discuss changes in US-Cuba relations and how they might affect the future of tourism and agriculture in Cuba.
- Meet with the National Association for Small Farmers (ANAP) and the Ministry of Agriculture.
- Meet with a variety of small farmers and farmers’ cooperatives.
For the purposes of this trip, OGS is partnering with Food First, a “people’s think tank” dedicated to ending the injustices that cause hunger and helping communities to take back control of their food systems. Food First has been offering tours to Cuba for more than 20 years with the organizing assistance of Altruvistas, a socially responsible and philanthropic travel company that has facilitated 20,000 travelers to Cuba.
The cost of the trip is $2,950 and will serve, in part, as a fundraiser for Organic Growers School (OGS), a 501c3 non-profit organization. Thanks to a grant from the Christopher Reynolds Foundation, there are a limited number of partial scholarships for farmers and food activists to attend. This tour and all registrants will not be affected by recent political actions to restrict American travel to Cuba. Cuba is considered one of the safest destinations for travel, partially due to their diligent and holistic approaches to healthcare. Due to COVID-19, the traveling climate of the US (as well as tourist restrictions in Cuba) is changing daily. Cuba has implemented many of the same precautionary measures implemented around the world to minimize the spread of COVID-19 including social distancing, limiting travel to the island completely through the summer, and closing schools. In early November 2020, Cuba reopened its borders to travelers.
Potential tour participants can visit the OGS FAQ page which answers questions such as, “Why Cuba?,” “What are the legal considerations when traveling to Cuba?,” “Why ravel with Organic Growers School?,” “What does the tuition cover?,” and “What can I expect to experience?” Traveler testimonials from previous trips, the full itinerary, as well as a photo gallery can also be found on the website.
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| The residents of the Smith-McDowell House and grounds were woven in to the fabric of Asheville.
This driving tour begins at the Smith-McDowell House Museum on the campus of A-B Tech and continues through historic sites related to early occupants of the house. |
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| Asheville, and the surrounding mountains, have also hosted numerous writers, musicians, and folklorists who have promoted (if not possibly created) some of these legends. Perhaps these are some of the reasons lore permeates the streets, hills, and valleys of this mountain city. You can see many of these sites for yourself, if you dare. |
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| Western North Carolina is defined as much by the various chains and valleys within the Appalachian Mountains as it is by the various people here. The region contains large swaths of national forest lands and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It contains old rivers and old folkways, along with an increasingly large stream of transplants and temporary visitors. This virtual tour gives a broad overview of our region. |
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| Contained by its larger growing neighbor (Asheville), the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, and the Southern Railway line, the Town of Victoria existed from 1887 until 1905, when it was absorbed into Asheville. The community—which included the Smith-McDowell House and Fernihurst mansion—originally incorporated into a town to prevent unwanted development (particularly from the Vanderbilts). |
This year you can join us for the Arts & Crafts Home Tour from the comfort of your home! Tour Possum Trot and Dogwood Cottages in Albemarle Park and finish with Sondley House in Haw Creek. Due to location and accessibility, these homes would not normally be included in the tour, so this is a special treat!
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River’s End Restaurant is an iconic spot for locals and visitors to Bryson City. Enjoy spectacular views of the gorge, with paddlers passing through as they complete their Nantahala River Rafting trip. Stop in for year-round lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch during the summer season, and choose from a wide range of appetizing entrees, burgers, salads, pizza, and sandwiches. Hang out for a while and enjoy a large selection of signature cocktails, wine, and beer, including local favorites.
In River’s End Restaurant, every seat has a view of the river! Enjoy music by the river and views of paddlers passing through as they complete their Nantahala River Rafting trip. Join our waitlist online to reserve a table or order online and grab your meal to go, for a sunny lunch right by the river!
Included with admission
Our fun-for-all-ages botanical model train displays invite you to experience our grounds in an engaging new way. Located in the Conservatory in the Walled Garden, the displays feature replicas of structures connected with Biltmore and its founder George Vanderbilt. Each beautifully executed piece was handcrafted from such natural elements as leaves, bark, and twigs.
In compliance with state and local mandates related to COVID-19, all guests must enter the Conservatory via the ADA entrance in the back and follow a one-way route.
Included with admission
A unique-to-Biltmore, large-scale outdoor sculpture will be crafted and installed in Antler Hill Village this spring by Patrick Dougherty. Over the last three decades, this internationally-acclaimed artist has combined his carpentry skills and love of nature to build over 300 of these wondrous works, captivating the hearts and imaginations of viewers worldwide.
Image: Close Ties (2006) Scottish Basketmakers Circle, Dingwall, Scotland. Photo: Fin Macrae
NOTE: This is an example of Patrick Dougherty’s work; the artist will create Biltmore’s unique structure in Antler Hill Village this spring.
Bring your yoga mats to Bold Rock for a mindful way to begin your Saturday! Get your “ohm” on with a local trainer and yoga instructor as they lead a fun and playful yoga session. This class is open to all levels of yoga experience for a $5 suggested donation!
After yoga, feel free to have a cider or some delicious lunch from the food truck.
We are OPEN Fridays and Saturdays
for private, pre-booked tours at:
10:30 AM
12:00 PM
1:30 PM
3:00 PM
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