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.

Thursday, November 30, 2023
Angel Tree
Nov 30 all-day
online w/ YWCA

Spread Joy this Holiday Season: Support a YWCA Family Through Angel Tree.

Our Virtual Angel tree is up for this holiday season. This gift tree provides our broader YWCA community a path to join us as we aim to support our program participants and their families with a holiday season full of love and support. If you would like to support a family this holiday season please click here or email Holly Olsen, Director of Women’s Empowerment to get the details of how you can fulfill a family’s holiday wish.

Programs Served by the Angel Tree:

  • MotherLove
    YWCA’s MotherLove program supports pregnant and parenting teens throughout Buncombe County. Our goals are to help young parents to stay in school and graduate, access higher education and vocational training, develop the skills and knowledge needed to become strong parents and delay another teen pregnancy.

  • Getting Ahead In a Just Getting By World
    YWCA’s Getting Ahead program aims to provide financial empowerment for low-income women of all ages and backgrounds to make choices that positively impact themselves, their families, and their community.

  • Early Learning Program
    YWCA’s Early Learning Program provides 5-star childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Our experienced and compassionate teachers not only provide exceptional care for little ones, but also prepare young children to succeed cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We prioritize families using childcare vouchers or caring for children in the foster care system.

  • Empowerment Childcare
    The YWCA provides up to 12 hours of free childcare per week for parents who are in transition, continuing their education, accessing social services, or looking for employment. ECC works closely with the Family Justice Center, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, A-B Tech, Green Opportunities, and Mary Benson House.

Donate to Protect Land and Water Forever
Nov 30 all-day
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
State of NC Completes Land Acquisition for Future Pisgah View State Park

On Friday, Nov. 17 the state of NC completed the last stage in the planned purchase of over 1,500 acres for Pisgah View State Park, the first state park to be designated in Buncombe County!

“Five years ago three members of the Cogburn family sat down in SAHC’s office on Merrimon Avenue,” recalls Jay Leutze, SAHC’s Senior Advisor to the Board. “We walked out of that room with the bones of a deal. SAHC would work with the state of North Carolina to raise the funds to purchase Pisgah View Ranch from the Cogburns.  The state of NC bought the last few acres specified in the contract on Friday — a year earlier than our rosiest projections.  There are too many heroes on a big project like this to name them all here, but stay tuned. Step one was to buy the land, and this was a monumental task.  Now we can look forward to the creation of this breathtaking park and its facilities.  See you in a couple of years at the grand opening!”

Projects like this are made possible because of supporters like YOU.
We are very grateful for all the ways you help to preserve special places across the mountains of NC and TN.  Thank you!

click here to donate: 2018 Annual Giving Program (clickandpledge.com)
aerial image of forested mountaintop
THANK YOU to ALL the folks who continue to support the creation of new parks and the protection of mountains, forests, farmland, wildlife habitat, and clean water.

If you have not made a gift recently, please consider making a donation today!

Ingles Magical Toy Drive
Nov 30 all-day
Various Ingles
Sponsor a child for the holidays
Nov 30 all-day
Eliada Homes
Help Make a Child Smile this Holiday Season!
Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. You can help bring a smile to their face by fulfilling their holiday wishes!

 

Sponsor a Child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a Wish List that a young person created. Wish Lists include their favorite things, clothing sizes, and most needed and wanted items. The value of a Wish List is around $200. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

 

For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

To sign up to sponsor, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected].

Sponsor Multiple Children:

We also have Wish Lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada depending on what program they are in.

 

Cottage wish lists for youth living at Eliada, for example, include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases and kitchen utensils. Many children come to Eliada with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can provide them things that every home should have!

 

Other wish lists are for our Child Development programs, Foster Care program, Farm program, Summer Camp program, and Recreation programs. Our Equine Therapy program also has some needs this holiday season! We never know when we’ll get a call for a child in Foster Care who needs a home immediately. Let’s help Foster Parents provide these children everything they deserve!

 

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until mid-late November. Can you sign up to help one of these teens at the last minute?

If you don’t have time to shop, Eliada will use your donation to purchase gifts for children who may arrive at Eliada very close to Christmas or right after Christmas. It shouldn’t matter when you arrive at Eliada–your wishes should be fulfilled! You can make a donation here. In the comment field, write “holiday wishes.”

 

To sign up to sponsor multiple children or a teen at the last minute, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at rboline@eliada.org or by phone at (828) 254-5356, ext. 306.

United Way’s Holiday Book Drive
Nov 30 all-day
online

We need your help and the help of your network to make this holiday drive as successful as possible in putting new books into the hands of Buncombe County elementary and middle school students during the holiday break.

What better way to spread holiday cheer than by donating books? Imagine the joy on a child’s face when they receive a brand-new book. It’s like sprinkling a little bit of magic into their lives!

We’ve partnered with over a dozen local organizations serving K-12 students throughout the county. They’re eagerly waiting for book drop-offs like kids waiting for the first snowfall! ❄️

You can make a positive impact right now by donating directly using the button below, or why not turn giving back into an outing?

Holiday Book Drive 2023 (givebutter.com)

Visit the Barnes & Noble on Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall to shop in-store and donate them on the spot.

Friday, December 1, 2023
Angel Tree
Dec 1 all-day
online w/ YWCA

Spread Joy this Holiday Season: Support a YWCA Family Through Angel Tree.

Our Virtual Angel tree is up for this holiday season. This gift tree provides our broader YWCA community a path to join us as we aim to support our program participants and their families with a holiday season full of love and support. If you would like to support a family this holiday season please click here or email Holly Olsen, Director of Women’s Empowerment to get the details of how you can fulfill a family’s holiday wish.

Programs Served by the Angel Tree:

  • MotherLove
    YWCA’s MotherLove program supports pregnant and parenting teens throughout Buncombe County. Our goals are to help young parents to stay in school and graduate, access higher education and vocational training, develop the skills and knowledge needed to become strong parents and delay another teen pregnancy.

  • Getting Ahead In a Just Getting By World
    YWCA’s Getting Ahead program aims to provide financial empowerment for low-income women of all ages and backgrounds to make choices that positively impact themselves, their families, and their community.

  • Early Learning Program
    YWCA’s Early Learning Program provides 5-star childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Our experienced and compassionate teachers not only provide exceptional care for little ones, but also prepare young children to succeed cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We prioritize families using childcare vouchers or caring for children in the foster care system.

  • Empowerment Childcare
    The YWCA provides up to 12 hours of free childcare per week for parents who are in transition, continuing their education, accessing social services, or looking for employment. ECC works closely with the Family Justice Center, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, A-B Tech, Green Opportunities, and Mary Benson House.

Donate to Protect Land and Water Forever
Dec 1 all-day
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
State of NC Completes Land Acquisition for Future Pisgah View State Park

On Friday, Nov. 17 the state of NC completed the last stage in the planned purchase of over 1,500 acres for Pisgah View State Park, the first state park to be designated in Buncombe County!

“Five years ago three members of the Cogburn family sat down in SAHC’s office on Merrimon Avenue,” recalls Jay Leutze, SAHC’s Senior Advisor to the Board. “We walked out of that room with the bones of a deal. SAHC would work with the state of North Carolina to raise the funds to purchase Pisgah View Ranch from the Cogburns.  The state of NC bought the last few acres specified in the contract on Friday — a year earlier than our rosiest projections.  There are too many heroes on a big project like this to name them all here, but stay tuned. Step one was to buy the land, and this was a monumental task.  Now we can look forward to the creation of this breathtaking park and its facilities.  See you in a couple of years at the grand opening!”

Projects like this are made possible because of supporters like YOU.
We are very grateful for all the ways you help to preserve special places across the mountains of NC and TN.  Thank you!

click here to donate: 2018 Annual Giving Program (clickandpledge.com)
aerial image of forested mountaintop
THANK YOU to ALL the folks who continue to support the creation of new parks and the protection of mountains, forests, farmland, wildlife habitat, and clean water.

If you have not made a gift recently, please consider making a donation today!

Ingles Magical Toy Drive
Dec 1 all-day
Various Ingles
RiverLink GIVE LOCAL
Dec 1 all-day
online

A Helping of Graditude

River lovers are encouraged to support RiverLink and other community nonprofits through Give!Local, the annual philanthropy program organized by MountainXpress. The first 10 donors of $100 or more to RiverLink will be entered into a drawing for a kayak tour on the French Broad River with Renee Fortner, RiverLink’s expert water resources manager. First Bank is waiving transaction fees, so 100 percent of your donation goes to the nonprofits you select.

Participate in Give!Local
RiverLink deeply appreciates the contributions this community makes directly to the organization — whether as gifts of stock, required IRA distributions, donor-advised funds, donations made in memory of others, and all the ways you give. Please reach out to Susan Andrew at [email protected] for assistance with any of these giving modes. And anyone can use the handy Donate button at the bottom of our newsletters. Thank you!

Sincere gratitude to RiverLink’s recent business supporters — we are honored by your contributions:

  • Astral
  • Bottle Riot
  • Burial Beer Co.
  • Cedar Rock Adventures
  • Curtis Wright Outfitters
  • East Fork Pottery
  • Edgewater Resources
  • Ferguson Waterworks
  • Fresh Market
  • Hellbender Paddleboards
  • High Five Coffee
  • Preserving a Picturesque America
  • Whole Foods
  • Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins
Sponsor a child for the holidays
Dec 1 all-day
Eliada Homes
Help Make a Child Smile this Holiday Season!
Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. You can help bring a smile to their face by fulfilling their holiday wishes!

 

Sponsor a Child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a Wish List that a young person created. Wish Lists include their favorite things, clothing sizes, and most needed and wanted items. The value of a Wish List is around $200. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

 

For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

To sign up to sponsor, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected].

Sponsor Multiple Children:

We also have Wish Lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada depending on what program they are in.

 

Cottage wish lists for youth living at Eliada, for example, include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases and kitchen utensils. Many children come to Eliada with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can provide them things that every home should have!

 

Other wish lists are for our Child Development programs, Foster Care program, Farm program, Summer Camp program, and Recreation programs. Our Equine Therapy program also has some needs this holiday season! We never know when we’ll get a call for a child in Foster Care who needs a home immediately. Let’s help Foster Parents provide these children everything they deserve!

 

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until mid-late November. Can you sign up to help one of these teens at the last minute?

If you don’t have time to shop, Eliada will use your donation to purchase gifts for children who may arrive at Eliada very close to Christmas or right after Christmas. It shouldn’t matter when you arrive at Eliada–your wishes should be fulfilled! You can make a donation here. In the comment field, write “holiday wishes.”

 

To sign up to sponsor multiple children or a teen at the last minute, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at rboline@eliada.org or by phone at (828) 254-5356, ext. 306.

United Way’s Holiday Book Drive
Dec 1 all-day
online

We need your help and the help of your network to make this holiday drive as successful as possible in putting new books into the hands of Buncombe County elementary and middle school students during the holiday break.

What better way to spread holiday cheer than by donating books? Imagine the joy on a child’s face when they receive a brand-new book. It’s like sprinkling a little bit of magic into their lives!

We’ve partnered with over a dozen local organizations serving K-12 students throughout the county. They’re eagerly waiting for book drop-offs like kids waiting for the first snowfall! ❄️

You can make a positive impact right now by donating directly using the button below, or why not turn giving back into an outing?

Holiday Book Drive 2023 (givebutter.com)

Visit the Barnes & Noble on Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall to shop in-store and donate them on the spot.

Donations: Shoebox Gifts for Seniors
Dec 1 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Council on Aging

The Council on Aging for Henderson County (COAHC) wants to make sure all seniors receive a gift this holiday season, and they need your help. For the 25th year, the COAHC will be collecting shoebox gifts filled by community members, then deliver those gifts to Henderson County seniors. Last year they delivered more than 350 boxes to COAHC clients. This year all additional boxes will be donated to clients of Henderson County Department of Social Services Adult Services.
Participants fill a shoe box with small, useful items and gifts, such as hygiene items, gloves, large-print books and puzzles, notepads, calendars, flashlights, and any other small gifts a senior would appreciate. Then bring the wrapped shoebox to the Council on Aging office (105 King Creek Boulevard) during their business hours: Mon-Fri, between 9am and 4pm. Please mark if the box is for a male, female or either. Gift collection ends on Friday, December 8th.
This gift drive is in conjunction with a Meals on Wheels gift drive for requested items from their clients. Participants can choose a client, shop for their requested items, then bring the wrapped gift to the Council on Aging office, where volunteers will distribute the gifts to clients in late December.

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred
Dec 1 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sigal Music Museum
Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

LAZOOM Tours: BAND AND BEER TOUR
Dec 1 @ 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
LaZoom Room

Wanna hear the best local music ​and​ drink the best local beers? Hop aboard LaZoom’s Purple Bus and rock out with a local band while we take you on a journey to Asheville’s premiere local breweries.

  • Curated Live Music & Brewery Bus experience
  • 3 Hours long, includes three 30 Minute Local Brewery Stops
  • You Can Drink on the Funky Purple Bus! **Must be purchased at LaZoom or at brewery stop**
Live music with Sunlight Drive
Dec 1 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Point Lookout Vineyards

Kick off December with us and some jams from Sunlight Drive!

Jazz Jam
Dec 1 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
LEAF Global Arts

Join us for Jazz Jam Thursday every Thursday from 7-10. There is a suggested donation of $10 and local craft beer and wine for sale. Come as you are or bring an instrument! Open jam starts at 8 after a House Band set guaranteed to fill your soul with groove and joy.
Public parking is available at Marjorie Street, across from Packs Tavern.

Theory of a Deadman Skillet Feat. Saint Asonia
Dec 1 @ 7:00 pm
Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium

Theory of a Deadman Skillet Feat. Saint Asonia

Elf: The Musical
Dec 1 @ 7:30 pm
Asheville Community Theatre

Get ready to embrace the spirit of Christmas with Elf: The Musical, a heartwarming and hilarious adaptation of the beloved 2003 holiday film. This enchanting musical follows the journey of Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole who embarks on a journey to New York City to find his real father. Through catchy, uplifting songs and zany comedic antics, Elf: The Musical serves a healthy dose of holiday cheer, laughter, and life lessons about identity, family, and the true meaning of Christmas. It’s a magical, festive spectacle guaranteed to light up the holiday season for all ages!

A talkback with the cast & crew of Elf: The Musical will be held following the performances on December 3rd and 10th.

THE NUTCRACKER: ONCE UPON A TIME IN GREENVILLE
Dec 1 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

It is Christmas Eve and Clara and her brother, Fritz, are excited for the evening’s festivities to begin.  Family and friends arrive in Greenville by train and admire the sights and sounds of beautiful Main Street.  Clara’s magician Godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, arrives and brings gifts for everyone.  For Clara, he has a very special nutcracker.  The celebration continues as all enjoy an evening of laughter and dancing.  As one of the maids joins in on the dancing, she bonks Herr Drosselmeyer on the head in her excitement and he is knocked unconscious.

A magical star enters to guide Herr Drosselmeyer on a beautiful journey of Clara’s future.  After all the guests have left, a lonely maid tidies up the room.  She screams in fright as mice invade from every direction.  The nutcracker doll, now life-sized, comes to save the day with an army of soldiers.  A fierce battle between the mice and soldiers ensues.  The Mouse King has The Nutcracker cornered, but Clara strikes the rodent and saves her Nutcracker who is transformed into a handsome prince. Herr Drosselmeyer’s journey continues with visions of beautiful angels and the well known Mice on Main in downtown Greenville.  The city’s rich culture appears through Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, and Candy dancers as well.

Herr Dosselmeyer’s glimpse into Clara’s future happens upon her Debutante Ball complete with elegant waltzing dancers. The loving Godfather has watched his precious Clara’s coming of age and finds himself on her wedding day.  The grown-up Clara is a beautiful bride and marries her dashing Nutcracker Cavalier.  The magical wedding is one only dreams are made of.  Or is it just a dream?


Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky(1840-1893)

The libretto is adapted from E.T.A Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Choreography by Hernan Justo is based on the original Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Additional choreography by Anita Pacylowski Justo

Grayson Capps + Corky Hughes
Dec 1 @ 8:00 pm
The Grey Eagle
Doors Open: 7:00 PM
– ALL AGES
– SEATED SHOW
– PREMIUM SEATING AVAILABLE

Grayson Capps is relaxed. You can hear it in the tone of his voice when he speaks, in the thoughtful, laconic way he reflects on the sometimes-tumultuous course of his life and work. It’s not the sound of complacency or comfort, but rather of personal growth and understanding. Capps is not without worry or darkness in his life, but he’s reached a kind of peace with it, an unhurried acceptance that enables him to write with unflinching honesty and remarkable humanity. His long-awaited new solo album, ‘Scarlett Roses,’ is his first in six years, and it showcases the kind of understated brilliance that can blossom when creativity is detached from expectation, when songs are truly given the space and time to find their writer. Grayson Capps is relaxed, but it wasn’t always this way.

“Up until 2011, I was expecting myself to come up with a new record every year,” says Capps, “but then something just clicked. I told myself, ‘Man, you don’t need to worry about the timing. Just let these songs and your career catch up with you.’”

——–

Corky Hughes began his professional career playing throughout the South in the 70’s with R&B artist Theodore Arthur Jr. and then later with his own rock group, Excalibur.

In 1984, he became lead guitarist for legendary rockers, Black Oak Arkansas and toured throughout the U.S.  After moving to Atlanta Georgia the next year, he played and recorded with Tone Poets, Chris Edmonds, and Darryl Rhoades and the Mighty Men From Glad (with whom he appears on the Brendan O’Brien produced album No Glove, No Love).

Since returning in 1992 to his home in Mobile, Alabama, Corky has played guitar for a diverse group of artists including Kung Fu Mama, Carlos Washington’s Giant People, Star Cullars, Molly Thomas, Jimmy Hall and Wet Willie, and Bo Diddley.

Corky can also be heard on Beverly Jo Scott’s Coming Home CD, Lisa Mills’ I’m Changing, and violinist Tom Morley’s recent release, Raven’s Wing (A Curious Collection of Fiddle Tunes), as well as various projects with former Kung Fu Mama band mates, the Lost Cause Minstrels.

MERSIV
Dec 1 @ 8:00 pm
The Orange Peel
Ages 18+

The Mersiv Sound Project is the brainchild of Anderson Benoit Gallegos. Producer/DJ Anderson has been developing a unique pretty-dark-loud style of bass music since he started his musical journey in 2015. The intentions of this project are to bring people into the present moment through a Mersiv experience.

80’s Night at the Getaway River Bar!
Dec 1 @ 10:00 pm
The Getaway River Bar

DJ Nato and DJ TacoShel will be spinning/mixing *LIVE* on Friday 12/1 at the Getaway River Bar in N. Asheville. It’s 80’s night! No cover! DJ TacoShel will be mixing Alternative 80’s and DJ Nato will be spinning vinyl.

Plenty of indoor and outdoor space! Easy parking! Great music!

DJ Nato spinning vinyl 10-11 & 12-1am
DJ TacoShel mixing alternative 80’s 11-12 & 1-2am

Saturday, December 2, 2023
Angel Tree
Dec 2 all-day
online w/ YWCA

Spread Joy this Holiday Season: Support a YWCA Family Through Angel Tree.

Our Virtual Angel tree is up for this holiday season. This gift tree provides our broader YWCA community a path to join us as we aim to support our program participants and their families with a holiday season full of love and support. If you would like to support a family this holiday season please click here or email Holly Olsen, Director of Women’s Empowerment to get the details of how you can fulfill a family’s holiday wish.

Programs Served by the Angel Tree:

  • MotherLove
    YWCA’s MotherLove program supports pregnant and parenting teens throughout Buncombe County. Our goals are to help young parents to stay in school and graduate, access higher education and vocational training, develop the skills and knowledge needed to become strong parents and delay another teen pregnancy.

  • Getting Ahead In a Just Getting By World
    YWCA’s Getting Ahead program aims to provide financial empowerment for low-income women of all ages and backgrounds to make choices that positively impact themselves, their families, and their community.

  • Early Learning Program
    YWCA’s Early Learning Program provides 5-star childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Our experienced and compassionate teachers not only provide exceptional care for little ones, but also prepare young children to succeed cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We prioritize families using childcare vouchers or caring for children in the foster care system.

  • Empowerment Childcare
    The YWCA provides up to 12 hours of free childcare per week for parents who are in transition, continuing their education, accessing social services, or looking for employment. ECC works closely with the Family Justice Center, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, A-B Tech, Green Opportunities, and Mary Benson House.

Donate to Protect Land and Water Forever
Dec 2 all-day
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
State of NC Completes Land Acquisition for Future Pisgah View State Park

On Friday, Nov. 17 the state of NC completed the last stage in the planned purchase of over 1,500 acres for Pisgah View State Park, the first state park to be designated in Buncombe County!

“Five years ago three members of the Cogburn family sat down in SAHC’s office on Merrimon Avenue,” recalls Jay Leutze, SAHC’s Senior Advisor to the Board. “We walked out of that room with the bones of a deal. SAHC would work with the state of North Carolina to raise the funds to purchase Pisgah View Ranch from the Cogburns.  The state of NC bought the last few acres specified in the contract on Friday — a year earlier than our rosiest projections.  There are too many heroes on a big project like this to name them all here, but stay tuned. Step one was to buy the land, and this was a monumental task.  Now we can look forward to the creation of this breathtaking park and its facilities.  See you in a couple of years at the grand opening!”

Projects like this are made possible because of supporters like YOU.
We are very grateful for all the ways you help to preserve special places across the mountains of NC and TN.  Thank you!

click here to donate: 2018 Annual Giving Program (clickandpledge.com)
aerial image of forested mountaintop
THANK YOU to ALL the folks who continue to support the creation of new parks and the protection of mountains, forests, farmland, wildlife habitat, and clean water.

If you have not made a gift recently, please consider making a donation today!

Ingles Magical Toy Drive
Dec 2 all-day
Various Ingles
RiverLink GIVE LOCAL
Dec 2 all-day
online

A Helping of Graditude

River lovers are encouraged to support RiverLink and other community nonprofits through Give!Local, the annual philanthropy program organized by MountainXpress. The first 10 donors of $100 or more to RiverLink will be entered into a drawing for a kayak tour on the French Broad River with Renee Fortner, RiverLink’s expert water resources manager. First Bank is waiving transaction fees, so 100 percent of your donation goes to the nonprofits you select.

Participate in Give!Local
RiverLink deeply appreciates the contributions this community makes directly to the organization — whether as gifts of stock, required IRA distributions, donor-advised funds, donations made in memory of others, and all the ways you give. Please reach out to Susan Andrew at [email protected] for assistance with any of these giving modes. And anyone can use the handy Donate button at the bottom of our newsletters. Thank you!

Sincere gratitude to RiverLink’s recent business supporters — we are honored by your contributions:

  • Astral
  • Bottle Riot
  • Burial Beer Co.
  • Cedar Rock Adventures
  • Curtis Wright Outfitters
  • East Fork Pottery
  • Edgewater Resources
  • Ferguson Waterworks
  • Fresh Market
  • Hellbender Paddleboards
  • High Five Coffee
  • Preserving a Picturesque America
  • Whole Foods
  • Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins
Sponsor a child for the holidays
Dec 2 all-day
Eliada Homes
Help Make a Child Smile this Holiday Season!
Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. You can help bring a smile to their face by fulfilling their holiday wishes!

 

Sponsor a Child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a Wish List that a young person created. Wish Lists include their favorite things, clothing sizes, and most needed and wanted items. The value of a Wish List is around $200. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

 

For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

To sign up to sponsor, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected].

Sponsor Multiple Children:

We also have Wish Lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada depending on what program they are in.

 

Cottage wish lists for youth living at Eliada, for example, include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases and kitchen utensils. Many children come to Eliada with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can provide them things that every home should have!

 

Other wish lists are for our Child Development programs, Foster Care program, Farm program, Summer Camp program, and Recreation programs. Our Equine Therapy program also has some needs this holiday season! We never know when we’ll get a call for a child in Foster Care who needs a home immediately. Let’s help Foster Parents provide these children everything they deserve!

 

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until mid-late November. Can you sign up to help one of these teens at the last minute?

If you don’t have time to shop, Eliada will use your donation to purchase gifts for children who may arrive at Eliada very close to Christmas or right after Christmas. It shouldn’t matter when you arrive at Eliada–your wishes should be fulfilled! You can make a donation here. In the comment field, write “holiday wishes.”

 

To sign up to sponsor multiple children or a teen at the last minute, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at rboline@eliada.org or by phone at (828) 254-5356, ext. 306.

United Way’s Holiday Book Drive
Dec 2 all-day
online

We need your help and the help of your network to make this holiday drive as successful as possible in putting new books into the hands of Buncombe County elementary and middle school students during the holiday break.

What better way to spread holiday cheer than by donating books? Imagine the joy on a child’s face when they receive a brand-new book. It’s like sprinkling a little bit of magic into their lives!

We’ve partnered with over a dozen local organizations serving K-12 students throughout the county. They’re eagerly waiting for book drop-offs like kids waiting for the first snowfall! ❄️

You can make a positive impact right now by donating directly using the button below, or why not turn giving back into an outing?

Holiday Book Drive 2023 (givebutter.com)

Visit the Barnes & Noble on Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall to shop in-store and donate them on the spot.

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred
Dec 2 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sigal Music Museum
Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

Yala Cultural Tour + Drum Workshop
Dec 2 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
LEAF Global Arts
Visit LEAF Global Arts every Saturday for an in-house cultural exchange with Adama Dembele. Experience the Ivory Coast with our Culture Keeper from the House of Djembe.
Stay for an all-ages Drum Workshop, no experience necessary.