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.
Wednesday, May
17, 2023
Bingo: Pack Memorial Library
Flower Power – Asheville Gallery of Art
Pre-K Story Craft: Leicester Library
Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper
Stained with Glass: Vitreograph Prints from the Studio of Harvey K. Littleton Exhibition
The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad
Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration
Smart Series: Everyone Knows Marketing Sucks
Houseplant Exchange at the Weaverville Library
Getting Started with Libby – Online Training
Steel Magnolias
Enka History Book Club
River Arts District Farmers Market
Weaverville Tailgate Market
Preschool Story Time: Pack Memorial Library
Open Interest Meeting: Friends of Buncombe County Special Collections
Read to Puptart!
PATIO: STRAWHOUSE, OLD WEATHER AND TAYLOR KNIGHTON
Adults Only Trivia Night Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company
Improv Level One: Communicate. Collaborate. Play
Witty Wednesday Trivia
LAZOOM Tours: GHOST COMEDY BUS TOUR
Trivia Night
AN EVENING WITH RIKI RACHTMAN: ONE FOOT IN THE GUTTER
Steel Magnolias
The Revolutionists (produced by Immediate Theatre Project)
HARI KONDABOLU
Blue Ghost Firefly Twilight Tour
Shamanic Global Healing Meditation
Puppet Playtime: East Asheville Library
Join us for Bingo! No cost to participate. Donated prizes available. Lots of fun, fellowship, and laughter. Light refreshments will be served. Suitable for all ages. Prizes are donated by the Friends of Pack Library. This will be held downstairs at Pack Library. No registration is required.
Asheville Gallery of Art’s May show, “Flower Power,” introduces three new Gallery members: Nick Colquitt, Jean-Pierre Dubreuil, and Yvonne McCabe. This delightful exhibition takes its audience on a journey through the mountains of North Carolina, showcasing the mysterious beauty they display within their natural terrain. The show runs May 1-31 during Gallery hours, 11am-6pm daily.
Similar to a Story Time but group discussions inspired by books will be encouraged and connected themes explored. A related craft or activity will be included.
 |
|
Paul Wong, Carbon, silver and gold, 2016, pigmented linen and cotton pulp, publisher: Dieu Donné, New York, edition 3/25, 18 × 11 inches. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.27.06. © Paul Wong. |
On View March 8 through July 24, 2023
The Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery • Level 1
Paper is an essential part of the art-making process for many artists, serving as the base for drawing, painting, printmaking, and other forms of art. As a substrate, paper can vary in weight, absorbency, color, size, and other aspects. Since industrialization, paper has primarily been produced through mechanical means that allow for consistency and affordability.
What happens, then, when an artist chooses to return to the foundations of paper, wherein it is made by hand using pulps, fibers, and dyes that reflect the human element through variations, inconsistencies, flaws, and surprises? Certain artists have sought out these qualities and embraced them, making paper not just a support on which to work, but fully a medium in and of itself.
Pulp Potential: Works in Handmade Paper is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, former assistant curator, with assistance from Alexis Meldrum, curatorial assistant. Special thanks to Dieu Donné, New York, NY.
|
|
|
|
|
Included with admission
Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:
- An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
- A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
- Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels
Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.
In the past 50 years in the United States and beyond, artists have sought to break down social and political hierarchies that include issues of identity, gender, power, race, authority, and authenticity. Unsurprisingly, these decades generated a reconsideration of the idea of pattern and decoration as a third option to figuration and abstraction in art. From 1972 to 1985, artists in the Pattern and Decoration movement worked to expand the visual vocabulary of contemporary art to include ethnically and culturally diverse options that eradicated the barriers between fine art and craft and questioned the dominant minimalist aesthetic. These artists did so by incorporating opulence and bold intricacies garnered from such wide-ranging inspirations as United States quilt-making and Islamic architecture.
Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration features more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present. The artworks in this exhibition demonstrate the vibrant and varied approaches to pattern and decoration in art. Artworks from the 21st century elucidate contemporary perspectives on the employment of pattern to inform visual vocabularies and investigations of diverse themes in the present day.
Artworks drawn from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection join select major loans and feature Pattern and Decoration artists Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, and Miriam Schapiro, as well as Anni Albers, Elizabeth Alexander, Sanford Biggers, Tawny Chatmon, Margaret Curtis, Mary Engel, Cathy Fussell, Samantha Hennekke, John Himmelfarb, Anne Lemanski, Rashaad Newsome, Peter Olson, Don Reitz, Sarah Sense, Billie Ruth Sudduth, Mickalene Thomas, Shoku Teruyama, Anna Valdez, Kehinde Wiley, and more.
This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Marilyn Laufer & Tom Butler.
Many people avoid, dread, and even hate marketing, but why? Oftentimes it’s because their understanding of marketing is out of date. Marketing has evolved to become something else in the modern world and brands must let go of the old marketing paradigms and embrace the new. Take a leap of faith and learn to fall in love with marketing! Discover ways in which your marketing can be a powerful voice in the world for your brand and the people you serve.
Our speaker for this event is Sarah Benoit. Sarah is the lead instructor of JB Media Institute, a digital marketing school, and president of Creative Original, Inc., a small business web design and consulting firm. She is an SEO, social media, and marketing and communications strategist who has worked in this field since 2003. Sarah has also led classes, workshops, and presentations about many aspects of digital marketing throughout North Carolina and the U.S. since 2006.
Sarah received the 2017 Woman Executive of the Year Award from WomanUp at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. She was inducted into Asheville’s 40 Under Forty in 2013 and is a graduate of Leadership Asheville. She is also a 2017 graduate of the Hive Global Leaders program.
Registration is required so we may plan accordingly.
This event is offered as a benefit for Chamber membership. We also believe these are important topics for everyone, so we are opening this event to non-members for $15. We welcome you to come and check us out! Please contact Jessica Kanupp, our Member Development Specialist, at [email protected] if you’re considering a Chamber membership.
Do you have an overactive Spider Plant? Is your Aloe Plant giving you the stink eye? Maybe it’s time to mix things up! Bring any & all unwanted houseplants to the Weaverville Library in May and swap them out for something new. Houseplant Exchange is available and self serve during all open hours.
Join the team from Libby for a one-hour Getting Started with Libby webinar, and learn Libby with the Experts! This webinar will show you everything you need to know to get started with Libby or to make the switch from the OverDrive app.
“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.” Written in just 10 days as a tribute to his sister Susan by playwright Robert Harling, Steel Magnolias explores the relationships between a tight-knit group of Louisiana southern ladies who gather in Truvy’s small-town beauty parlor, celebrating the milestones in each other’s lives. Filled with hilarious repartee and humorously acerbic verbal lacerations, the play deepens when the spunky Shelby (who is diabetic) contradicts her doctor’s advice and risks pregnancy. Steel Magnolias exemplifies the universal and unconditional strengths of sisterhood, resilience, and love.
The Enka History Book Club reads historical fiction and non-fiction. We’ll be discussing, Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk. Books are available for pick up at the library in large print and regular print. The group meets in the community room and newcomers are always welcome.
Located in the River Arts District, and surrounded by art galleries and breweries, come find out about Asheville’s favourite mid-week market!
Proudly serving the Weaverville community since 2009
Join us for a story time designed for children ages 3 to 5 years as we share books, songs, rhymes, and activities.
|
***Attention AVL History Buffs*** The Friends of Buncombe County Special Collections invite all current dues-paying members and potential members to join us for an open meeting to learn more Buncombe County Special Collections and learn or re-engage with the history of our area. Our goal is to advocate for the preservation of history, public access to knowledge and empowering the community to tell its own story. Hear answers to questions like: -Who are The Friends of Buncombe County Special Collections? A casual reception to follow at Bier Garden. Have questions before the event? Email [email protected]. |
|
Puptart is a tail wagging robot dog who sits and stays, pants when listening, and responds to someone talking to and petting it. It will not jump up or run away, plus it’s fur free, so no sneezes and runny noses coming your way! Every Wednesday afternoon, Puptart will be available for reading practice in the children’s picture book room. Help establish a joy of reading and develop early literacy skills. Sign up at the front desk, pick a book and practice reading for up to 15 minutes. |
– ALL AGES
– LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED
STRAWHOUSE
A band based out of Asheville, NC that weaves the musicial leanings of Joey Lee Intermingling Folk, Rock, Americana, Country, and Pop writing into a style that catches your ears and sticks with you. Crafting songs starting in the Latter half of 2020, Strawhouse was built upon the prior experience playing in other projects throughout the years. With a thought provoking and soulful vocal style as well as the skillifill guitar playing of Joey Lee , Strawhouse is bringing you our brand of Folk Rock right to you.
Absolved by time, an instinctive design. Inspired by shape and shade, shadow and line; a boy in a world left to the utterly blind.
An unknower of truth and seeker of mind, the unsung story of the gracious sublime.TAYLOR KNIGHTON
Singer-songwriter Taylor Knighton grew up on the Gulf Coast but now calls the mountains of Western North Carolina home. Her musical stylings reflect her southern roots, with plenty of twang, a big heartfelt voice, and a sweet pop influence. She likes to incorporate her love of mythology and folk tales into her songwriting, telling timeless stories with a fresh, fun spin.
Singer-songwriter Taylor Knighton grew up on the Gulf Coast but now calls the mountains of Western North Carolina home. Her musical stylings reflect her southern roots, with plenty of twang, a big heartfelt voice, and a sweet pop influence. She likes to incorporate her love of mythology and folk tales into her songwriting, telling timeless stories with a fresh, fun spin.
EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 6:30 pm ~ FREE!
AGES 18+ ADULTS ONLY ~ NO KIDS ALLOWED
ON OUR HUGE SCREEN IN THEATER 2!
ENJOY DINNER & DRINKS (FULL BAR) WHILE PLAYING
There are 3 rounds with new winners each round so you can show up late, miss a round and still be a winner. Plus, we have mid-round prizes to create as many winners as possible.
The questions are presented by a hilarious host on our giant movie screen and includes fun videos in each round. You haven’t played a trivia night like this one!
Enrollment is now open for two adult improvisation acting classes offered by Hendersonville Theatre (HT). Classes will be taught by professional improvisation actor and comedian Emily Swindal. Both classes are open to anyone over the age of 18, regardless of experience level.
Improv Level One: Communicate. Collaborate. Play. meets on Wednesdays from April 5 to May 24. Tuition is $180. In the class, students will work at getting comfortable on stage while having fun doing it. Students will learn to have compassion for themselves and their classmates as performers as they learn the fundamentals of improvisation and develop support and spontaneity. Together, they will learn the importance of “yes-and-ing,” heightening the absurdity and raising the stakes. They will also cover the differences between short form and long form improv. This is a short form class similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Beat the mid week grind with some fun trivia! Win a $25 gift card for our taproom along with a $25 gift card from our resident kitchen, Bears Smokehouse BBQ!
GHOST COMEDY BUS TOUR
Grab a local beer, crucifix and a rubber chicken* —You might survive this hour long hilarious haunted ghost tour of Asheville.
- Guided comedy bus tour of Haunted Asheville
- 60 minutes; tours run nightly after dark
- $33 per person (Ages 17+ only)
- Departs from 76 Biltmore Avenue
*Legal Note: Crucifix not required to board the bus; we do not condone exorcisms, chickens, rubber, or any combination of the three.
Every Wednesday
Trivia Night
– AGES 18+
– FULLY SEATED SHOW
– LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE
RIKI RACHTMAN
After his hugely successful spoken word show debut in Charlotte, North Carolina in September, Cathouse founder and former host of Headbangers Ball, Riki Rachtman will take One Foot In The Gutter on the road. An intimate evening of stories, tales and true life fables from Riki himself…from growing up in Hollywood, to all the raunch roll sleaze and debauchery that happened at the Cathouse. Never before has he shared his experiences of Headbangers Ball in an uncensored spoken word event.
In all the “Once In A Lifetime” moments he’s had, and he’s had A LOT, this spoken word show is a personal highlight
The former host of MTV’s legendary Headbanger’s Ball as well as the Founder of Hollywood’s most notorious rock club and epicenter of raunch, the infamous party place, the Cathouse, Riki did something he’s never done before: appeared in front of a very large audience and told his stories…not only some never before shared stories of the early days with some of the biggest names in rock n roll, but he opened up with his tales of drug addiction, jail, bankruptcy and his true rags to riches to rags to riches story.
“One Foot In The Gutter,” is Riki’s very first speaking tour, the first time he’s discussed with an audience his career and past, how he helped define metal culture, and beyond. Riki is uncensored, unapologetic and not at a loss for words. What was it really like hanging with some of the biggest rock stars on the planet when the cameras weren’t on? What really happened on MTV with Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Ozzy and others?
Riki explains, “In my entire career, there is nothing that I am more proud of than this show. Walking out on stage was surreal for me. I was not introducing another band as I had done for decades. I was the opener and headliner. It was bizarre for me to realize that the packed house was there for me. The show was far more than a behind the scenes Headbanger’s Ball tell all. The show was not just the description of the raunch that happened at my club Cathouse.
I opened up about my battles with drugs, my arrests, bankruptcy and a lot of bad choices. To know that some found inspiration in this show is the highest form of flattery.”
“With one show done I am ready to do it again and again and again. I will incorporate multimedia more and deliver an experience with highs and low’s. The idea of taking OFITG on tour truly is not only a dream come true, but the highlight of my career”.
“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.” Written in just 10 days as a tribute to his sister Susan by playwright Robert Harling, Steel Magnolias explores the relationships between a tight-knit group of Louisiana southern ladies who gather in Truvy’s small-town beauty parlor, celebrating the milestones in each other’s lives. Filled with hilarious repartee and humorously acerbic verbal lacerations, the play deepens when the spunky Shelby (who is diabetic) contradicts her doctor’s advice and risks pregnancy. Steel Magnolias exemplifies the universal and unconditional strengths of sisterhood, resilience, and love.
By Lauren Gunderson
Produced by Immediate Theatre Project
Four badass women lose their heads in this irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in 1793 Paris. It’s a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection…that ends in a song and a scaffold.
From the people who brought you Silent Sky comes this grand and dream-tweaked comedy about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world.
Discretionary Content: Adult themes and badass ladies
Ages 18+
FULLY SEATED SHOW
Hari Kondabolu is a comedian, writer and podcaster based in Brooklyn. The NY Times called him “one of the most exciting political comics in stand-up today” and described his 2018 Netflix special Warn Your Relatives as “an incisively funny and formally adventurous hour that reveals a comic in command of his powers.” The special was named on many “Best of” lists, including for Time, Paste Magazine, Cosmopolitan, E! Online, and Mashable. He was also named one of 2018’s “Comics To Watch” by Variety. Hari currently hosts the new Netflix food competition series Snack vs Chef along with Megan Stalter.
In 2017, his truTV documentary The Problem with Apu was released to critical acclaim and spurred a global conversation about race and representation. The Nation called it “a devastating critique of the ultimate comedic sacred cow: The Simpsons.” It is now used in high school, college and grad school curriculums around the US.
Hari has also released two comedy albums, Waiting for 2042 & Mainstream American Comic with legendary indie rock label Kill Rock Stars. Additionally, he has performed on such shows as Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and The Late Show with David Letterman among many others. He is also a former writer & correspondent on the much loved, Chris Rock produced FX show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.
A regular on the public radio, Hari is a panelist on the NPR game show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me. As a podcaster, he co-hosted the popular Politically Reactive with dear friend W. Kamau Bell. Additionally, he also co-hosts what he politely describes as a “pop up podcast,” The Untitled Kondabolu Brothers Podcast with his younger brother Ashok (“Dap” from HBO’s Chillin’ Island and defunct rap group Das Racist.)
Hari attended both Bowdoin College and Wesleyan University, graduating from the former institution with a B.A. in Comparative Politics. A former immigrant rights organizer in Seattle who worked under the leadership of now-Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Hari also earned a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics in 2008. He was the “Artist In Residence” at NYU’s APA Institute for the 2014-2015 Academic Year and at Shangri La Museum in Honolulu in 2018.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to a very unique creature that some say resembles a tribe of fairies carrying blue candles through the forest.
The Blue Ghost Firefly (Phausis reticulata) is a secretive, hard-to-find native insect that calls our area home, and for a very short amount of time in early summer, they inhabit our surrounding woodlands of Transylvania County.
You’ll experience an educational presentation at our outdoor amphitheater starting at 9:00pm and then use the cover of darkness and special flashlights to go in search of the Blue Ghost fireflies while hiking on a paved trail through the forest. Cradle of Forestry team members will be stationed at key locations around the trail to provide further information about this amazing natural phenomenon. Please feel free to congregate near these areas with your fellow firefly enthusiasts or go explore on your own! We require everyone to stay on the trail to prevent habitat damage, and team members will clear the trail and require everyone to depart by 10:30pm.
Ticket Purchase/Pre-registration is required. This is a light rain or shine, family-friendly event!
In order to maximize our participant experience while minimizing our impact on the resource, we limit each night to 125 participants.
Hosted by The Heart of the Healer Foundation (THOTH)
Join us on the THOTH Facebook Page and contribute to a concentrated global intention for the healing of Pachamama as well as the collective psyche. This is a wonderful opportunity to energetically connect in soul presence with the circle of Pachakuti Mesa Practitioners worldwide, strengthening the Great Work of our shamanic planetary tribe. The power that is being harnessed and transmitted is deep and sentient nourishment for the Earth.
Learn more about the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition Link-Up HERE.
NOTE: If you cannot attend this ceremony live, the video recording will be posted on THOTH’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
FB Livestream link to join: www.facebook.com/theheartofthehealer
Ceremonialist: PMT Sanctioned Teachers
Join us each week for imaginative playtime with puppets! Puppet play has the potential to improve language skills, creativity, social awareness, and more. Perfect for ages 0-5. Children must be supervised at all times.