ASAP is conducting research on why people in our community choose the food they do. We want to know where you shop, what you value most when purchasing food, and what factors motivate or discourage you from purchasing locally grown food. Whether you buy locally grown food or not, you can help farmers understand and connect with consumers—which creates a stronger local food system!

The survey can be completed online or by calling ASAP at 828-236-1282. It should take 8–12 minutes to complete and will be open until Oct. 31, 2024. You must be over the age of 18 and a resident of Western North Carolina.

Please share with families, friends, and co-workers!

Located within the wildly-popular and botanically beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking trails that connect to many other area attractions such as Lake Powhatan, the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy their hiking experience at the Arboretum as trail options include easy, moderate, and difficult challenge levels. All trails are dog-friendly and visitors are asked to adhere to the proper waste disposing procedures for pets.

Part of a running group that would like to use the Arboretum as a starting point or parking location? Please review our Running Group Guidance and email [email protected] with any questions.

• Parking Fees
  • Personal/Standard Vehicle (up to 20′ long): $20
  • Large vehicles (21′-29′ long): $60
  • Busses and Oversize Vehicles (30′ long+): $125
  • Members: Free

  Apart from the parking fee, there is no other admission charge to enter the Arboretum or our facilities, except in the case of advertised ticketed events.

Eliada’s 2024 Fall Festival & Corn Maze will be open from Friday, September 20th through Sunday, October 27th on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Fridays: 3 pm – 7 pm | Saturdays: 10 am – 7 pm | Sundays: 10 am – 6 pm

Come out and bring the family, friends, and neighbors too. Come out to enjoy the following events and have a great time.

Corn Cannons
Spider Climber
Custom Corn Maze
Lawn Games
Hay Rides
Pumpkins for purchase of all shapes and sizes!
Food Trucks and so much MORE! See you there!

100% of the proceeds benefit the children at Eliada! Not only does your ticket purchase come with access to family-friendly fun, but it directly aids in the growth and success of Eliada’s kids!

Hugely popular in the 2023/2024 season, Lightwire Theater is back with another glow-in-the-dark adventure using a cutting-edge blend of puppetry, technology and dance.

Recommended for grades 2–6. The Student Series is open to school groups, homeschoolers, community groups and families.

Reservations for individuals (10 people or less): $12 each. Reservations for groups (11 people or more): $11 each

These early literacy programs for kids and their caregivers are designed to develop a joy for learning through books, songs, and activities.

Story time takes place in our library community room. This is not a ticketed event.

Hugely popular in the 2023/2024 season, Lightwire Theater is back with another glow-in-the-dark adventure using a cutting-edge blend of puppetry, technology and dance.

Recommended for grades 2–6. The Student Series is open to school groups, homeschoolers, community groups and families.Reservations for individuals (10 people or less): $12 each. Reservations for groups (11 people or more): $11 each.

Buncombe County will continue to offer ASAP’s Double SNAP for Fruits and Vegetables and Farm Fresh Produce Prescription.

Plan to collaborate with other musicians at Sideways Farm & Brewery in Etowah. Bring your instruments and voices and enjoy making music and networking with other artists, while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Food truck is on site and beverages available for purchase from Sideways (small
batch craft beers, hard jun, ciders, wine, and non alcoholic drinks). Family, fans, friends, and leashed dogs are all welcome!
During winter months enjoy playing under the covered, sheltered, heated porch! And during the summer months enjoy
collaborating in the fields, on the stage, or under the patio

rockin’ on the rock

eic at the picturesque Jump Off Rock, which overlooks the French Broad River valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond. Musical offerings ranging from jazz to country, rockabilly, pop, rock and blues. Organized by the Friends of Laurel Park.

Today, the Herbal Witch may not always live close to the forest, but you likely will find them there, working with the elements and gathering plants and remedies. Herbal Witches have long had a deep love for the plants, roots, seeds, stars and stones and know the medicinal, spiritual and healing properties of all that surrounds them. The wise Herbal Witch enlists nature to heal ailments of the body, mind and of the spirit. They have a remedy for everything under the sun and have likely prepared it by the light of the moon.

Join us in remembering the Herbal Witch within. This weekend course was designed to walk each participant through what it is to practice as an Herbal Witch. Beginning with the History of worldwide Green Witch Traditions, working with the directions & elements to create powerful spells, prayers, magic, rituals, ceremony and song. Deepening our relationships to Mother Nature and the magical and medicinal herbs She provides.

Hosted by Green Witch Lupo Passero & Friends

Are you looking for a fun way to engage your child’s creative side while you enjoy a night off? Send the kid to the pottery studio! In this workshop, students will learn how to handbuild mugs, wall hangings, or many other unique objects that will be cherished and reminisced over the years.

Each class will be made up of 3 to 6 children. Meg keeps up-to-date First Aid and CPR certifications. Our studio is located in a heated warehouse with skylights and garage doors for ventilation. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!

Salvage Station hosts 2 Nights of  Leftover Salmon’s Brew Ridge Jam!

This event will take place LIVE on the Outdoor Stage at Salvage Station on Friday, October 11th & Saturday, October 12th!

Doors open at 5:00PM and the music starts at 6:00PM.

This is a General Admission, ALL AGES event. Kids 7 and under are free. Minors must be accompanied by guardian at all times.

ABOUT LEFTOVER SALMON:

Few bands stick around for thirty years. Even fewer bands leave a legacy during that time that marks them as a truly special, once-in-lifetime type band. And no band has done all that and had as much fun as Leftover Salmon. Since their earliest days as a forward thinking, progressive bluegrass band who had the guts to add drums to the mix and who was unafraid to stir in any number of highly combustible styles into their ever evolving sound, to their role as a pioneer of the modern jamband scene, to their current status as elder-statesmen of the scene who cast a huge influential shadow over every festival they play, Leftover Salmon has been a crucial link in keeping alive the traditional music of the past while at the same time pushing that sound forward with their own weirdly, unique style.

As Leftover Salmon nears their 30th year, their inspiring story is set to be told in a brand new book, Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival! that will be released February 2019 by Rowman & Littlefield. In this book, critically acclaimed author of Bluegrass in Baltimore: The Hard Drivin’ Sound & It’s Legacy, Tim Newby presents an intimate portrait of Leftover Salmon through the personal recollections of its band members, family, friends, former band-mates, managers, and the countless musicians they have influenced. Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival! is a thorough guide covering a thirty-year journey of a truly remarkable band. It is a tale of friendships and losses, musical discoveries and Wild West adventures, and the brethren they surround themselves with who fortify Salmon’s unique voice. Their story is one of tragedy and rebirth, of unimaginable highs and crushing lows, of friendships, of music, but most importantly it is the story of a special band and those that have lived through it all to create, inspire, and have everlasting fun.

Heading into their fourth decade Leftover Salmon is showing no signs of slowing down as they are coming off the release of their most recent album, Something Higher (released in 2018) which has been universally hailed as one of the band’s finest releases. Something Higher shows how even upon preparing to enter their fourth decade Leftover Salmon is proving it possible to recreate themselves without changing who they are. The band now features a line-up that has been together longer than any other in Salmon history and is one of the strongest the legendary band has ever assembled. Built around the core of founding members Drew Emmitt and Vince Herman, the band is now powered by banjo-wiz Andy Thorn, and driven by the steady rhythm section of bassist Greg Garrison, drummer Alwyn Robinson, and keyboardist Erik Deutsch. The new line-up is continuing the long, storied history of Salmon which found them first emerging from the progressive bluegrass world and coming of age as one the original jam bands, before rising to become architects of what has become known as Jamgrass and helping to create a landscape where bands schooled in the traditional rules of bluegrass can break free of those bonds through nontraditional instrumentation and an innate ability to push songs in new psychedelic directions live. Salmon is a band who over their thirty-year career has never stood still; they are constantly changing, evolving, and inspiring. If someone wanted to understand what Americana music is they could do no better than to go to a Leftover Salmon show, where they effortlessly glide from a bluegrass number born on the front porch, to the down-and-dirty Cajun swamps with a stop on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, to the hallowed halls of the Ryman in Nashville, before firing one up in the mountains of Colorado.

ABOUT MOE.:

moe. is a one-of-a-kind band that has never been easily categorized. Its sonic adventurousness and tongue-in-cheek humor are distinctly and undeniably its own. Praised by American Songwriter for its “mind-bending musicality,” moe. is treasured for its mesmerizing musical synergy, unfettered showmanship, and smart, resonant songcraft.

The founders of moe. are Al Schnier (guitars, vocals), Chuck Garvey (guitars, vocals), and bassist-singer-songwriter Rob Derhak. The ranks are bolstered by longtime drummer Vinnie Amico, since 1996, and Jim Loughlin on percussion and vibes who, apart from a four-year hiatus, has been a part of moe. since 1992. The band recently welcomed Nate Wilson, formerly of Percy Hill and Assembly of Dust, as a full-time member on keyboards. Initially stepping in during guitarist Garvey’s recovery from a stroke, Wilson has seamlessly integrated into the band’s dynamic, now contributing to the rich tapestry of moe.’s live performances as they return to touring following Garvey’s remarkable recovery.

The band’s vibrant blend of inventive musicality and genre-blurring is on full display on a series of now-classic LPs. These include 1998’s Tin Cans & Car Tires; 2004’s Wormwood; 2007’s The Conch (which reached #1 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” chart); and 2012’s critically-acclaimed What Happened To The La Las. In 2020, the band released its 12th studio album, This Is Not, We Are, and the Not Normal EP. In 2020, moe. officially celebrated its 30th anniversary — it was a bittersweet accomplishment as the band marked the milestone stuck at home during the pandemic.

ABOUT THE BROTHERS COMAT

Whether traveling to gigs on horseback or by tour bus, Americana mavens The Brothers Comatose forge their own path with raucous West Coast renderings of traditional bluegrass, country and rock ‘n’ roll music. The five-piece string band is anything but a traditional acoustic outfit with their fierce musicianship and rowdy, rock concert-like shows.

The Brothers Comatose is comprised of brothers Ben Morrison (guitar, vocals) and Alex Morrison (banjo, vocals), Steve Height (bass, vocals), Philip Brezina (violin), and Greg Fleischut (mandolin). When they’re not headlining The Fillmore for a sold-out show or appearing at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, the band is out on the road performing across America, Canada, Australia, and hosting their very own music festival, Comatopia, in the Sierra foothills.

ABOUT PIXIE & THE PARTYGRASS BOYS:

Hailed as “the hottest band in the Wasatch” by the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association, Pixie and The Partygrass Boys is composed of lifelong professional musicians drawn together by a common love of bluegrass and skiing in the Wasatch. Featuring soulful, often harmonic vocals and solid strings and rhythm, this tight-knit crew was born out of the belly of a warm cabin after a long day on the slopes- drinking whiskey and singing into the night. With a high energy sound and a love for silly outfits, they travel the land spreading the gospel of whiskey, chickens, and fun for everyone.

On February 11, comedian Henry Cho was inducted as the 229th member of The Grand Ole Opry. This prestigious honor has not been extended to a comedian since 1973. Henry’s TV credits include appearances on NBC’s The Tonight Show, CBS’s The Late, Late, Show, and NBC’s Young Comedians Special. He served two years as host of NBC’s Friday Night Videos and had many guest roles on various network sitcoms. Henry was co-creator, co- producer and co-writer of “The Henry Cho Show” on GAC. Henry’s one hour Comedy Central Special, “What’s That Clickin Noise?” Was also on Netflix. Henry can also be heard daily on Sirrus, XM, Blue Collar Radio and Pandora. Some of Henry’s film credits include Universal’s McHale’s Navy with Tom Arnold and David Allen Greer; Say It Isn’t So with Heather Graham and Sally Field; and Material Girls with Hilary Duff and Angelica Houston produced by Madonna. Henry was the keynote entertainer for The 59th Annual Radio & Television Correspondents’ Dinner and has worked extensively with Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Willie Nelson, Carrie Underwood, Reba and many, others. Henry’s clean comedy is so versatile that he can headline Vegas and then tour with Michael W. Smith. Henry filmed the Faith-based Indy film “Saving Faith” in which he co-starred and also co-producer was released by Lions Gate. Henry has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film by the International Christian Film Festival. Henry recently completed filming a Hallmark movie “The Farmer and the Belle- Saving Santaland”.

In this visually stunning adventure fit for all ages, a friendly dinosaur discovers a wonderful world full of glowing creatures that help him find the true meaning of love. Praised for its cutting-edge blend of puppetry, technology and dance, Lightwire Theater evokes childlike wonder and whimsy through tender-hearted stories that light up the darkness in every sense.

“absolutely incredible” — Rolling Stone

The Montford Moppets Youth Shakespeare Company invites audiences to experience William Shakespeare’s Hamlet like never before this October at Attic Salt Theater. Set in the intimate confines of a family living room, this adaptation transforms the sprawling classic tragedy into a deeply personal exploration of kinship, loyalty, betrayal, and fate.

Traditionally set in the royal courts of Denmark, this reimagining of Hamlet tells the story of a family grappling with grief and betrayal within the walls of their own home.

The Montford Park Players is pleased to announce auditions for its 52nd  Season: 

Muse of Fire: Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses

Jason Williams, Artistic Director

5/10/2024 5/24/2024   Edward III, directed by Mandy Bean
5/31/2024 6/23/2024   Richard II, directed by Jason Williams
6/28/2024 7/21/2024   Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, directed by Dr. George Brown, Callista Brown and Elizabeth DeVault
7/26/2024 8/25/2024   Henry V, directed by David Doersch
8/30/2024 9/22/2024  Henry VI Parts 1, 2 & 3, directed by Glenna Grant, Ariel Robinson and Adam Kampouris
9/27/2024 10/27/2024 Richard III, directed by Kristi DeVille

Conveniently located in the heart of the Historic Montford District of Asheville, North Carolina, the Outdoor Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre is easy to get to and accessible from I-240 and I-26. And, it’s just a short drive down Montford Avenue from downtown.

Late one night after closing the restaurant where they both work, Lina and Roberto unexpectedly find themselves in conversation. This exquisite play with music renders the near hits and misses that are the reality of life for this waitress and immigrant dishwasher as we watch three alternate realities unfold over the course of the night. 

A love song in three movements. Performances of The Last Wide Open will be held on the days and times listed below. The lobby and concessions area will open one hour prior to showtime. Concessions may be taken into the theatre during the performance.

October 10 – November 3, 2024

Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:30

Sundays at 2pm

Friday 10/11 and 10/18 at 7:30pm

Friday 10/25 and 11/1 at 2pm