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.
Support one of the greatest traditions at Flat Rock Playhouse!
2023 Apprentice Benefactors Charlotte and Bob Otto will match your gift 1:1 up to $25,000.
Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2023 Apprentice Program! Don’t miss this chance to DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT!
For over 65 years, a select group of college-age performers participate in an intensive summer at Flat Rock Playhouse that includes on-stage performance and mentoring from FRP professionals. They also perform Rootabaga stories four times a week at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site and take original educational programs out to schools in four area counties. Apprentices come from prestigious theatre schools across the country and are chosen from more than 1000 students who audition.
Apprentice graduates have gone on to major professional engagements on and off-Broadway, on national tours, and in regional theatres. Notable alumni who have played on Broadway include Michael Luwoye (Hamilton in Hamilton, An American Musical), Adam Kaplan (A Bronx Tale), Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda in Wicked), Jared Goldsmith (Dear Evan Hansen) and Ben Hope (Once).
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Support one of the greatest traditions at Flat Rock Playhouse!
2023 Apprentice Benefactors Charlotte and Bob Otto will match your gift 1:1 up to $25,000.
Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2023 Apprentice Program! Don’t miss this chance to DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT!
For over 65 years, a select group of college-age performers participate in an intensive summer at Flat Rock Playhouse that includes on-stage performance and mentoring from FRP professionals. They also perform Rootabaga stories four times a week at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site and take original educational programs out to schools in four area counties. Apprentices come from prestigious theatre schools across the country and are chosen from more than 1000 students who audition.
Apprentice graduates have gone on to major professional engagements on and off-Broadway, on national tours, and in regional theatres. Notable alumni who have played on Broadway include Michael Luwoye (Hamilton in Hamilton, An American Musical), Adam Kaplan (A Bronx Tale), Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda in Wicked), Jared Goldsmith (Dear Evan Hansen) and Ben Hope (Once).
We are excited to bring this special package to you and your loved ones. It’s super easy!
- Pick your show date – June 14, 17, 21, 24 (Evening only)
- Choose 2 Adult Seats and 2 Student Seats
- At Checkout, discount will be applied
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!
Your wish is granted!
If you have any problems, our Box Office is happy to help!
828.693.0731
Voted “Best Place to Learn” by Outside, NOC Paddling School has taught more paddlers than anyone else, with 50 years of experience going into every class. Our commitment to the sport and to providing the best possible instruction has not waivered. So come and let us be your respected and experienced instructor.
Experience some of the best road running in Asheville with The Flying Squirrel Ten Miler, Asheville’s premier 10 Mile road race. Enjoy the ease and convenience of a road race with the spectacular views and seclusion of a mountain race. The race starts and finishes just blocks from downtown Asheville and then promptly takes runners on the winding roads of Town Mountain. Participants will enjoy shaded mountain roads typically only used by locals, such as the beautiful Sunset Drive and Patton Mountain Road. One thing about The Flying Squirrel Ten Miler is sure: you’ve got to “earn” those views. The Southern Appalachians are hilly and so is The Flying Squirrel Ten Miler.
Course
The course features five miles of gradual uphill and five miles of gradual downhill with a bit of flat at the beginning and end. Runners will gain over 1,400′ and lose over 1,400′ throughout the 10 mile long course. Check out our Course Description for a course map, elevation profile, and turn-by-turn instructions.
Start
The race will Start at 8:00AM on Saturday June 3, 2022. The race also Finishes at this same location. Click here for map.
Wildlife
Asheville is home to an amazing diversity of wildlife, including white squirrels, black bears, and fox. Yes, there are white squirrels that live on the course that sometimes make an appearance. A portion of race proceeds to go towards conserving the endangered Carolina Flying Squirrel.
About Us
Brought to you by the same race organizers that bring you the Asheville Turkey Trot (now in its 20+ year) and the Shut-In Ridge Trail Run (now in its 40+ year), The Flying Squirrel Ten Miler is committed to providing the absolute BEST experience for each and every participant!
Aid Stations
Our Aid Stations will have water. Cross the finish line and you will be greeted by spectators and a bunch of other runners.
Finish Zone
Post-Race: Once you catch your breath you’ll enjoy post-race refreshments.
There are several great places to grab a late breakfast or early lunch within a short walk of the Finish Zone including Liberty Coffee (fresh and healthy seasonal plates and full coffee bar – all Ten Mile participants get one free coffee!), City Bakery (classic Asheville bakery and cafe serving up sandwiches and soups), and Pulp + Sprout (juice bar and vegan cafe).
What’s Included With Your Registration?
Registrants are guaranteed the following:
- Custom Flying Squirrel Ten Miler Shirt
- Legit Post Race Food
- Post Race Food
- Coupons/Giveaways from our sponsors
- Custom Race Bib
- Professionally Timed Chip Time
- Spectacular Views of Asheville (weather permitting)
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) permanently protects and stewards our region’s most beloved natural areas. Since 1974, over 80,000 acres of unique plant and animal habitat, clean water sources, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for people to enjoy outdoor recreation have been permanently protected in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. SAHC is committed to creating and supporting equitable, healthy and thriving communities for everyone in our region.
We value our local Western North Carolina community and are committed to giving back. A portion of our race proceeds go towards our charity partner for that year. For the inaugural Flying Squirrel Ten Miler we are proud to be supporting a Western North Carolina based non-profit who is helping to conserve the endangered Carolina Flying Squirrel. The Carolina Flying Squirrel is a subspecies of the Northern Flying Squirrel and requires high elevation habitat to thrive. Read more about the Carolina Flying Squirrel here: https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/mammals/carolina-northern-flying-squirrel/
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Join us for this 5K Run for Life event hosted by Open Arms Pregnancy Center to help support women and teens facing unplanned pregnancies. This will be a run/walk-timed event to be held at The Park at Flat Rock located at 55 Highland Golf Drive, Flat Rock, NC US 28731 June 3,2023 with a start time of 8:30 AM.
Runners should register by May 14 to secure a T-shirt for the race.
Sign up at https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/FlatRock/Run4for5k
Those interested in sponsoring the event should contact Open Arms Pregnancy Center by May 15th to learn more. (Marlies Zerressen at [email protected] or Lydia Bright at 864-921-5770)
Open Arms’ ministry is love, our aim: to support and guide, our purpose: to serve God and preserve life. We provide a safe and supportive place for pregnancy related needs with ultrasounds, material and emotional support for those facing difficult circumstances or perhaps the loss of a child.
All are services are Free and Confidential.
Written by Brevard playwright Stephen Marsh, Where the Heart Is tells the story of Maria Shaughnessy, who runs an unofficial boarding house that’s home to several elders. All goes well until… Presented in a reader’s theater format, actors don’t memorize scripts but read them to the audience while using their voices and upper bodies to convey the roles they are playing. Actors also use vocal and facial expressions, as well as hand and arm movements. All Seats: $15 and includes a glass of wine
Where the Heart Is is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the Arts Council of Henderson County, the City of Hendersonville, Exceptional Papers, Inc., A Growing Concern Garden Center and the Carolina Ace Hardware and Garden Center.
Written by Brevard playwright Stephen Marsh, Where the Heart Is tells the story of Maria O’Shaughnessy, who runs an unofficial North Carolina boarding house that’s home to several elders. Presented as a stage reading, actors don’t memorize scripts but read them while incorporating minimal staged movements.
Brevard playwright Stephen Marsh wrote Where the Heart Is over a few months. Born in Bournemouth, England, at age 15, Marsh participated in local theatre productions and was later accepted into drama school in London. Marsh later moved to California and then the East Coast, becoming a production designer in motion pictures, film and television that spanned his 45-year career.
The cast of Where the Heart Is features Natalie Broadway as Maria, Jeb Buffinton as Dan, Chris Hanks as Jim, Lyn Morton as Henry, Lynn Place as Mrs. Carlisle, Joan Rinchisen as Henderson, Don Schwartz as Toad, and Terry Terranova as Ted.
Where the Heart Is’ artistic team includes director Rowan Duncan and stage manager Amanda McLoughlin.
A Greenville, SC native, Duncan was recently seen on stage at HT in The Importance of Being Earnest, Calendar Girls and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. They currently works as HT’s Production Manager, and loves putting their theatre degree to use every day. Duncan studied theatre at North Greenville University and loves to act, direct, and costume design.
The show is rated PG due to mild language. Showtimes are 3 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday, June 3. Running time is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes with one 15 minute intermission. Hendersonville Theater has made masks optional for patrons, and no proof of vaccination is required to attend a performance.
The first 1,000 fans through the gates receive a Jade Jersey courtesy of Prestige Subaru.
The Moppets present six student written and directed short plays June 2 & 3 at Attic Salt Theater.
“Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘2BR02B’ ” – Everything was perfectly swell. Or was it?
“The After School Superhero” – A small town where nothing happened and a hero no one asked for.
“A Holiday Song” – A grumpy businessman is warned to change his ways. Sound familiar? Prepare to be surprised.
“Mary, Mary” – A bloody history explored through the lens of a nursery rhyme.
“Salome” – A humorously re-told act in one tragedy.
“Swords, Lights and Nuts” – This is not your typical Nutcracker story.

By Andrew Lippa and John August
On the Steve Lloyd Stage
Directed by Candice Dickinson
What tall tales will we tell to be the hero of our own stories?
When Will finds out his father is dying of cancer, he is on a mission to find the truth behind the tall tales his father has always told him. Audiences will be in awe as they travel back and forth from Will and Edward’s stark reality to the beautiful and larger than life fantasies of Edward Bloom’s past. This charming, warm hug of a musical features Southern-fried music from Andrew Lippa and is based on the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace that also inspired the 2003 big-screen adaptation directed by Tim Burton. A musical for dreamers, this show has sweeping melodies, gorgeous dance numbers, and celebrates the imagination, culminating in a thrilling theatrical experience. Full of giants, witches, mermaids, and, of course, an exceptionally large fish, Big Fish is about what’s real and what’s fantastic, what’s true and what’s not true, what’s partially true and how, in the end, it’s all true.
Suitable for all audiences.
DA CLASSROOM AIN’T ENUF
By Charles Payne
Directed by Katie Jones
Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf is an exploration of the intersection of Black and Brown communities, particularly in and around the American educational system. The play features an ensemble of four actors who play teachers, students, and their families, and is a mix of poetry, prose, and music, with original tracks by composer Richard Jones. This choreopoem is inspired by the work of Ntozake Shange.
HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANEY SISTERS’ FIRST 100 YEARS opens as 103-year-old Sadie Delany and 101-year-old Bessie Delany welcome us into their Mount Vernon, New York, home. As they prepare a celebratory dinner in remembrance of their father’s birthday, they take us on a remarkable journey through the last hundred years of our nation’s history, recounting a fascinating series of events and anecdotes drawn from their rich family history and careers as pioneering African-American professionals. Their story is not simply African-American history or women’s history. It is our history, told through the eyes of two unforgettable women as they look not only into the past, but also ahead into the twenty-first century.
All shows will be at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in the Montford District of Asheville, and all will be presented absolutely FREE of charge!
Written and Directed by Skyler Goff
This World Premiere was penned by local playwright Skyler Goff and tells of the continuing adventures of our favorite Lost Boy. A fantastical way to kick off our season!
All shows will run Fridays through Sundays and all will be presented at 7:30pm and prime seats can be reserved.
Montford Park Players has been bringing some of theater’s greatest works to Western North Carolina for over 50 years. Montford Park Players continues its mission of bring free theater to the community. The summer season allows everyone to come spend an evening under the stars, seeing some of the best live performances presented in Asheville.
Montford Park Players allows patrons to bring their favorite food and beverages to their shows and sells beer, wine and concessions at the shows. If you’ve never been to the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre for a Montford show, there’s no better season than this one. If you have been, you know why you should come back and catch everything we have to offer!
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
Written by Brevard playwright Stephen Marsh, Where the Heart Is tells the story of Maria Shaughnessy, who runs an unofficial boarding house that’s home to several elders. All goes well until… Presented in a reader’s theater format, actors don’t memorize scripts but read them to the audience while using their voices and upper bodies to convey the roles they are playing. Actors also use vocal and facial expressions, as well as hand and arm movements. All Seats: $15 and includes a glass of wine
Where the Heart Is is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the Arts Council of Henderson County, the City of Hendersonville, Exceptional Papers, Inc., A Growing Concern Garden Center and the Carolina Ace Hardware and Garden Center.
Written by Brevard playwright Stephen Marsh, Where the Heart Is tells the story of Maria O’Shaughnessy, who runs an unofficial North Carolina boarding house that’s home to several elders. Presented as a stage reading, actors don’t memorize scripts but read them while incorporating minimal staged movements.
Brevard playwright Stephen Marsh wrote Where the Heart Is over a few months. Born in Bournemouth, England, at age 15, Marsh participated in local theatre productions and was later accepted into drama school in London. Marsh later moved to California and then the East Coast, becoming a production designer in motion pictures, film and television that spanned his 45-year career.
The cast of Where the Heart Is features Natalie Broadway as Maria, Jeb Buffinton as Dan, Chris Hanks as Jim, Lyn Morton as Henry, Lynn Place as Mrs. Carlisle, Joan Rinchisen as Henderson, Don Schwartz as Toad, and Terry Terranova as Ted.
Where the Heart Is’ artistic team includes director Rowan Duncan and stage manager Amanda McLoughlin.
A Greenville, SC native, Duncan was recently seen on stage at HT in The Importance of Being Earnest, Calendar Girls and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. They currently works as HT’s Production Manager, and loves putting their theatre degree to use every day. Duncan studied theatre at North Greenville University and loves to act, direct, and costume design.
The show is rated PG due to mild language. Showtimes are 3 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday, June 3. Running time is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes with one 15 minute intermission. Hendersonville Theater has made masks optional for patrons, and no proof of vaccination is required to attend a performance.
Support one of the greatest traditions at Flat Rock Playhouse!
2023 Apprentice Benefactors Charlotte and Bob Otto will match your gift 1:1 up to $25,000.
Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2023 Apprentice Program! Don’t miss this chance to DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT!
For over 65 years, a select group of college-age performers participate in an intensive summer at Flat Rock Playhouse that includes on-stage performance and mentoring from FRP professionals. They also perform Rootabaga stories four times a week at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site and take original educational programs out to schools in four area counties. Apprentices come from prestigious theatre schools across the country and are chosen from more than 1000 students who audition.
Apprentice graduates have gone on to major professional engagements on and off-Broadway, on national tours, and in regional theatres. Notable alumni who have played on Broadway include Michael Luwoye (Hamilton in Hamilton, An American Musical), Adam Kaplan (A Bronx Tale), Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda in Wicked), Jared Goldsmith (Dear Evan Hansen) and Ben Hope (Once).
Voted “Best Place to Learn” by Outside, NOC Paddling School has taught more paddlers than anyone else, with 50 years of experience going into every class. Our commitment to the sport and to providing the best possible instruction has not waivered. So come and let us be your respected and experienced instructor.
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Join a group of like-minded female paddlers for a weekend festival, hosted by inspirational paddler Anna Levesque! This festival is all about fostering community by connecting, sharing, paddling, and supporting each other on the river. Trips will be offered on different rivers and lakes representing a range of skill levels, and are open to all women in all watercraft!
Donations and registration fees benefit the Shannon Christy Memorial Fund, an organization that supports non-profits focused on women’s empowerment, and also benefits the Live Like Maria Fund.
New for 2023!
Lake Paddle Guided Excursion– Join professional women instructors for a guided lake excursion paddle with a stand up paddleboard or sit on top kayak, included with the activity! If you’re newer to paddling or not quite ready for whitewater, select a lake paddle and also enjoy the rest of the festivities.
Paddlefest Scholarship- This year, we are offering scholarships for BIPOC women to attend and stay onsite. See below for details and to apply.
2023 Weekend Schedule
Schedule is subject to change and will be updated here.
Paddlefest Scholarship
NOC and Mind Body Paddle want to make a more equitable outdoors for all. We would like to offer scholarships for this event to support a more accessible outdoor community where all are welcome. Three BIPOC women will be chosen to receive the following scholarship:
- Admission to the weekend of events
- Event T-shirt
- Group lake paddle with all equipment provided (if applicable)
- Saturday Evening Dinner
- Friday and Saturday Lodging Accommodations in NOC’s Basecamp
Interested participants must apply HERE by May 1, 2023.
If you have any questions, please email them to [email protected]













