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, September 30, 2023
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: International Literacy Month
Sep 30 all-day
online
We are currently celebrating Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library gifting 200 million books globally since 1995. In honor of this milestone, seven magical Dolly bookmarks will be hidden in Imagination Library books for enrolled children and families during September’s International Literacy Month.
Lucky recipients who discover the bookmarks will have the chance to receive a video chat, a personalized letter, autographed photo from Dolly, and four Dollywood Theme Park tickets. Additionally, the Dollywood Foundation will donate $2000 on behalf of each chosen child to their local Imagination Library partner, recognizing them as the true heroes of the program.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Program Launch and Expansions

Literacy Together became a Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library affiliate in November 2015 with support from the Buncombe Partnership for Children. Through this program, registered children in Buncombe County receive a free book in the mail each month. Their parents also have the opportunity to attend workshops to learn how to build their children’s early literacy skills. Parents in need of literacy assistance are encouraged to receive tutoring through Literacy Together’s adult programming.

The program served 200 children during the 2015/16 fiscal year. The program expanded to serve 400 children in July 2016, and 600 in August 2017. In July 2018, capacity increased to 1,900 thanks to a special allocation in the North Carolina state budget. We’re now serving 4,600 kids in Buncombe County.  

Hops for Hunger w/ 12 Bones Brewing and Appalachian Mountain Brewing
Sep 30 all-day
12 Bones Brewing and Appalachian Mountain Brewing

This month, you can make a difference for someone needing food by enjoying a local beer! Our friends at 12 Bones Brewing and Appalachian Mountain Brewing are designating one of their delicious beers as their Pint with Purpose, where every beer sold in September helps provide FOUR MEALS we can get to our neighbors right now!

12 Bones Brewing will be donating $1 of every pint of Coastal Grandmother Kölsch, and Appalachian Mountain Brewery is donating $1 for every pint of their Spoaty Oaty Pale Ale!

Thank you to these Hops for Hunger brewery partners for taking action in September to help feed WNC families!

 

12 Bones Brewing   5 Foundy St Ste 10, Asheville, NC 28801

Appalachian Mountain Brewing 46 N Mills River Rd, Mills River, Nc 28759

Time Traveling Gala Tickets on sale now
Sep 30 all-day
online
Tickets for our Time Traveling Gala on Saturday September 30th are going on sale next week! Tickets will go fast, so if you want to make sure you’re on the guest list please consider sponsoring this event by reaching out to Jamie at [email protected].
PSABC Members – $175 on sale Tues. July 18th
Non-Members – $200 on sale Tues. July 25th
 On September 30th, the Time Traveling Gala is back –
and it’s bigger and better than ever before!
You are invited to travel with us to the Enchanted (Biltmore) Forest.  Guests in groups of 100 will tour three historic homes and be treated to live music, delicious food and libations.  At our final stop of the evening, all 300 guests will come together and party the night away!
Join us and have fun while showing your commitment to keeping Asheville the historic jewel of the mountains. Thank you in advance for your support, dedication and sponsorship of preservation!
The Details:
Sponsors: Your party starts at 6:30 pm with a trolley ride to Raoulwood.  You will be greeted with a glass of bubbly and ample time to explore the gorgeous home and grounds.  From there you will visit the Adams house and then end up at the Sawyer house to party the night away! Trolleys back to your car will run from 10:30 pm to midnight.
Ticket holders:  Your party starts at 7:00 pm with two groups of 100 guests each riding trolleys to Biltmore Forest with hour long stops at our three incredible homes.  Trolleys back to your car will start at 10:30 pm or you will have the option of returning to the Sawyer house to party the night away!
Parking: This year guests will park at Asheville High School.  Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before your party starts to ensure enough time to park and load onto the trolleys.
Attire: Asheville Formal… which pretty much means anything goes!  Dress for the 1920’s or today!  From business casual to black tie, have fun with it!
This party would not be possible without our amazing sponsors! It’s not too late to get on board, just email Jamie Moody at [email protected] or sign up through the ticket link above. 
Sunday, October 1, 2023
Eliada Fall Festival
Oct 1 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Eliada Homes
Monday, October 2, 2023
Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 2 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 3 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Pumpkins and Boosters for Eblen Charities
Oct 3 all-day
Various Locations in WNC
An Evening with Jaki Shelton Green, Poet Laureate of NC
Oct 3 @ 6:00 pm
Black Mountain Library

The Black Mountain Library will be hosting a reading and conversation with Jaki Shelton Green, Poet Laureate of North Carolina on Oct. 3 at 6 p.m.

Jaki Shelton Green is the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the North Carolina Poet Laureate. When he appointed her in 2018, Governor Cooper stated that “Jaki Shelton Green brings a deep appreciation of our state’s diverse communities to her role as an ambassador of North Carolina literature. Jaki’s appointment is a wonderful new chapter in North Carolina’s rich literary history.”

Born in Alamance County and raised in Orange County, Ms. Green has written books of poetry, co-edited poetry anthologies, and authored a play. Green won the North Carolina Award for Literature in 2013 and was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 2014. Ms. Green teaches Documentary Poetry at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.

This event is free and everyone is invited. Ms. Green will be signing and selling copies of her work after the reading.

Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 4 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Read to Puptart!
Oct 4 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Enka-Candler Library

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.

Malaprop’s Book Club
Oct 4 @ 7:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore

The Malaprop’s Book Club, hosted by Jay Jacoby, explores a diverse selection of fiction and nonfiction books determined by member suggestion. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM. The club will meet virtually until further notice. To join the club, please email [email protected]

Thursday, October 5, 2023
Community Build, Jones Park – Candace Pickens Memorial Park
Oct 5 all-day
544 Kimberly Avenue

Jones Park Playground was a treasured community park used by families from across the city of Asheville. Unfortunately, it was removed without a replacement plan in September of 2021. Members of the community began working immediately to find a solution to get this playground rebuilt with donated funds and labor from the community. In this process the park was renamed Candace Pickens Memorial Park. Candace played in this park and brought her son to play. She was tragically killed here in 2016. October 4-8 hundreds of volunteers from neighborhoods across the city and county will be giving their time to help bring this playground back. Working side by side we are building more than just a playground, we are building community and connections that will last lifetimes.

Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 5 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Crime and Politics Book Club
Oct 5 @ 4:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

Crime and Politics Book Club

Crime and Politics is a book club for people who want to explore the overlap between true crime and public affairs. We will explore scandals, malfeasance, murder, corruption, and cover-ups. We will alternate months, beginning with a work of true crime, then a book on politics or public affairs. Crime, from the most personal to the global, is the theme. We meet the first Thursday of the month at 4 p.m. Contact [email protected].

Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Patricia Furnish to discuss a range of books across true crime and public affairs. The club meets in Asheville and offsite, usually at a restaurant, on the first Thursday of the month at 4 p.m. Please email [email protected] for info and instructions to attend. See the list of upcoming dates above and click here to learn more about the club, view important news, and find the pick for this month!

A Taste of the Vineyard ~ Roaring 20’s
Oct 5 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Point Lookout Vineyard

Tickets for A Taste of the Vineyard Roaring 20’s 2023 are on sale now! Visit the website here to purchase tickets. The evening will include dinner by Amanda’s Catering, live music by Dinah’s Daydream, a complimentary glass of wine, and access to a silent auction!

Join us in our efforts to raise $30,000 to support our mission of igniting the power and promise in youth!

Friday, October 6, 2023
Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 6 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Home in One Golf Tournament
Oct 6 @ 10:30 am – 5:30 pm
Cummings Cove Golf Course

Attention Golfers!

 

Please join the Housing Assistance Corporation for a day on the green to support workforce and affordable housing initiatives in Henderson County and surrounding areas.

Check-in will begin at 10:30am with a shotgun start at 11:30am

Lunch and after play snacks will be provided. Prizes will be awarded to the winners and we have a fabulous door prize raffle.

Pawpaw Seedling Sales
Oct 6 @ 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
The Hop

Support Asheville GreenWorks’ Urban Forestry program by planting a native Paw Paw grown in our nursery to celebrate the release of The Hop’s Paw Paw ice cream.

You’ll need a mate to pollinate! – If you don’t have a Paw Paw already planted at your home, you may want to consider purchasing 2 from us. We will choose two different genetic strains, which is needed for cross-pollination to produce fruit. Paw Paws are self-infertile, so for good fruit set, each variety must be fertilized with pollen from a different variety of Paw Paw tree.

Paw Paws are also the host plant for Zebra Swallowtail butterflies. Learn more about Paw Paws.

Paw Paw’s can be picked up on either:

  • (Paw Paw Ice Cream release day!) Friday October 6th, 3-6pm at The Hop Merrimon – 640 Merrimon Ave #103, Asheville, NC 28804

  • Tuesday October 10th, 10am-1pm at the Sand Hill Nursery at the Buncombe County Sports Park 24 Apac Circle, Asheville, NC 28804 (first parking lot on the left past the dog park)

Please note, seedlings vary in size and will be in either 1 or 3 gallon pots.

Saturday, October 7, 2023
Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 7 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Sunday, October 8, 2023
Asheville Veganfest
Oct 8 all-day
Pack Square Park

We are thrilled to announce that Asheville Veganfest will be held again in Pack Square on October 8, 2023 from 11am-6pm.
We’re excited for Veganfest this year and hope you’ll support our FREE festival by donating to our fundraiser.
We’re bringing a very FUN Family Fun Zone, shopping, live music, and lots of incredible vegan food, and more back to Asheville!
$25 – VIP tickets – enter the event 30 minutes early. Get a cool upgraded goody bag that is reusable with items different from the GA bags. Limited to 100. Get entered into our raffle and get 25 entries for each VIP Entry you purchase.
****NEW THIS YEAR****
$35 – VIP PLUS – Not interested in a bag filled with items you don’t want or need? Our VIP PLUS will be a cool reusable bag (different from the VIP bag) and also comes with our newest shirt design, Unapologetically Vegan. 35 entries into our raffle too! Make sure to let us know your shirt size!
Winners will be picked randomly after the festival and winners will be notified via email. Prize Packs TBD.
Please donate $5 or more or get a free ticket to help our vendors know how much to prepare ahead of the festival.
This will be a FREE festival with a $5 (or more) suggested donation.
*Food Trucks
*DJ & Mz. Jazzy
*Family Fun Zone
*Free Face Painting
*Vegan Food
*Shopping
Come out and support our vendors and plan on enjoying the music, too. Our Be-Ve Kids’ Family Fun Zone is perfect for children of all ages and includes life-sized games, coloring, basketball hoop game, and more!

Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 8 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Monday, October 9, 2023
Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 9 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Virtual | Poverty, By America Discussion Group
Oct 9 @ 12:00 pm
online

Join us for a virtual bookclub-style discussion of Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond at noon on Monday, October 9th.

Registration is required for attendance. Please CLICK HERE to register. A link will be emailed to you on the morning of the event.

Copies of Poverty, by America will be 10% off at Malaprop’s through October 9th. If you order through our website, click on “coupon discount” and enter JUSTICEFORUM in the “coupon code” field. If you are purchasing in-store or by phone, mention the book discussion and request a book club discount.

The paperback is released on April 18th and can be pre-ordered now. The discount does not apply to pre-orders.

Desmond will be the keynote speaker at the Pisgah Legal Justice Forum on October 17th at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Tickets to the forum are free but registration is required. Click here to learn more about the forum and pre-event reception.

About Poverty, by America:

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.
Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.

Matthew Desmond is the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and the founding director of the Eviction Lab. His last book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, among others. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Desmond is also a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 10 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Pawpaw Seedling Sales
Oct 10 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Sand Hill Nursery at the Buncombe County Sports Park

Support Asheville GreenWorks’ Urban Forestry program by planting a native Paw Paw grown in our nursery to celebrate the release of The Hop’s Paw Paw ice cream.

You’ll need a mate to pollinate! – If you don’t have a Paw Paw already planted at your home, you may want to consider purchasing 2 from us. We will choose two different genetic strains, which is needed for cross-pollination to produce fruit. Paw Paws are self-infertile, so for good fruit set, each variety must be fertilized with pollen from a different variety of Paw Paw tree.

Paw Paws are also the host plant for Zebra Swallowtail butterflies. Learn more about Paw Paws.

Paw Paw’s can be picked up on either:

  • (Paw Paw Ice Cream release day!) Friday October 6th, 3-6pm at The Hop Merrimon – 640 Merrimon Ave #103, Asheville, NC 28804

  • Tuesday October 10th, 10am-1pm at the Sand Hill Nursery at the Buncombe County Sports Park 24 Apac Circle, Asheville, NC 28804 (first parking lot on the left past the dog park)

Please note, seedlings vary in size and will be in either 1 or 3 gallon pots.

Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Hops for Hunger: Wicked Weed Brewing
Oct 11 all-day
Wicked Weed Brewing

During the month of October, Wicked Weed Brewing gives you yet another excuse to visit one of their taprooms.

All pours of their Milk and Cookies Imperial Stout will contribute $1 to MANNA. A stout with with Golden Raisins, Cinnamon, and Vanilla? Sounds like the start of fall to us.

Keep Asheville BOO-tiful! — Fundraiser
Oct 11 all-day
Ware
WARE logo

Make a donation of $100 or more to GreenWorks by October 31st and receive a $10 gift card and a treat from Ware. In order to receive your gift, you must show your receipt to a Ware employee in-store. No purchase from Ware necessary. Gift must be collected by November 15th, 2023. Valid for donations of $100 or more made between September 27 – October 31, 2023.

Puppet Playtime
Oct 11 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am
East Asheville Library
Every Wednesday morning, we open up the children’s activity room to give kids time for free play with puppets. Children must be under the supervision or a parent or guardian.
Pack Library Book Club
Oct 11 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Pack Memorial Library
  The Pack Library Book Club is a book discussion group that meets the second Wednesday of each month at 10:30AM at the library.
Read to Puptart!
Oct 11 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Enka-Candler Library

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.