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.
The art is as diverse as the artists with the tour featuring the work of glassblowers, jewelers, printmakers, potters, fiber artists, ironworkers, painters, sculptors, and woodworkers.
Mark your calendars for the 2023 Toe River Arts Spring Studio Tour, happening June 2 – June 4, 2023.
This driving tour through Mitchell and Yancey Counties will take visitors along the meandering Toe River, across its many bridges, around barns, acres of fields, and miles of forests all while visiting the talented studio artists and galleries participating.
Please have a look at the tour website to begin planning your visit.
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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The art is as diverse as the artists with the tour featuring the work of glassblowers, jewelers, printmakers, potters, fiber artists, ironworkers, painters, sculptors, and woodworkers.
Mark your calendars for the 2023 Toe River Arts Spring Studio Tour, happening June 2 – June 4, 2023.
This driving tour through Mitchell and Yancey Counties will take visitors along the meandering Toe River, across its many bridges, around barns, acres of fields, and miles of forests all while visiting the talented studio artists and galleries participating.
Please have a look at the tour website to begin planning your visit.
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
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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.
On the day of the tour bring confirmation of purchase to the parking lot at Montford North Star Academy School, 90 Montford Avenue, to pick up the tour guide that will also serve as your ticket to enter the gardens. Just north of the school, take Courtland Street to the school parking lot where someone will direct you to the ticket table. Check-in at the school will begin at 9:30 a.m.
All ages
The Stiles garden is one of 8 gardens featured on the tour. It will include Pollinator Trivia to earn a free native plant, pollinator viewing areas and educators, and native plant/pollinator experts. The Historic Montford Garden Tour makes a great day’s outing for residents plus their friends and families. Proceeds from this year’s event will go toward improvements to Montford Garden, located at the corner of Montford Avenue and East Wanetta Street.Local musicians will be playing at varying times throughout the day on the porches, decks, and patios of our gardens on the tour. A special highlight this year is an authentic Greek lunch offered as a fund-raiser by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on Cumberland Avenue.
Learn Asheville’s history, discover hidden gems, and laugh at LaZoom’s quirky sense of adventure.
- Guided comedy tour bus of historical Asheville
- 90-Minutes – tours run daily
- 15-minute break at Green Man Brewing
- $39 per person (ages 13+ only)
Coming around again after a two-year breather: the 2023 Historic Montford Garden Tour, a favorite community fundraiser. The date is Saturday, June 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No rain date is scheduled, and organizers trust that the garden gods will produce fair weather.
Featuring eight wonderful gardens here and there around Montford, the Historic Montford Garden Tour makes a great day’s outing for residents plus their friends and families. Proceeds from this year’s event will go toward improvements to Montford Garden, located at the corner of Montford Avenue and East Wanetta Street.
Tickets may also be purchased at the Asheville Shop, Asheville Visitors Center, 36 Montford Avenue, Asheville, from May 21, 2023, through June 3, 2023, with cash or check only. Children under 12 are admitted free when accompanied by a ticketed adult.
On the day of the tour (Saturday, June 3, 2023), bring confirmation of purchase to the Asheville Visitors Center, 36 Montford Avenue, to pick up the tour guide that will also serve as your ticket to enter the gardens. Check-in at the Visitors Center will begin at 9:30 a.m.
Pets are not allowed in the gardens.
Kids’ Comedy Tour: Wildly funny, this educational and entertaining tour features the perfect blend of Asheville’s history and kid-centric comedy. Geared specifically toward the 5–12 year old crowd, you’ll explore the town with our famously outlandish tour guides leading the way.
- Perfect for birthday parties
- Makes for memorable school field trips
- Tickets are $27 per person
- Beverages available for purchase at the LaZoom Room
- Departs from 76 Biltmore Avenue
Sandburg Home Tours – Thursday to Sunday at 11am, 1pm, 2pm.
*As of April 2022, tours are free until further notice. See rates below if they change before your visit. Online reservations are available at recreation.gov.
The Sandburg Home is a great place to start your visit! The ground floor of the home contains visitor information, exhibits, tour ticket sales, the park store, and you can watch the park video. The main and top level of the home are furnished with the Sandburg family belongings. Visitors may only access the furnished ares of the home on a guided tour.
- Tour Reservations: Reserving in advance lets you pick your preferred house tour time. Tours fill up quickly. Last-minute, in-person tickets may not be available on the day you visit. Plan ahead and reserve house tour tickets at recreation.gov.
- Passes: The park does not currently sell the America the Beautiful– National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes.
*These passes do not waive the house tour fee, but do provide a discount.
*You can purchase a pass online at America the Beautiful – National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass | USGS Store. - 30-minute house tours are offered year-round, schedule varies by season. Visit recreation.gov for the current schedule.
- Visitors may only tour the Sandburg Home on a guided tour.
- Tours are limited to 6 persons.
- Strollers are not permitted on the house tour, but there is a place to leave them for storage. Infants and small children should be carried through the house while on tour.
Sandburg Home Guided Tour Fee
*Tours are free until further notice, this chart is the rate when fees resume.
(credit card only)
$10.00 for Adults 16 and older
$6.00 for Adults age 62 and older and all interagency pass holders
Free for Children age 15 and under
Included with admission
Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:
- An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
- A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
- Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels
Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.
Just Brew It is a homebrew competition and tasting in Asheville benefiting the work of Just Economics. The festival features 75+ different beers and 30+ amazing homebrewers. The competing homebrewers are some of the finest specialty homebrewers in the region with classic brews from traditional IPAs, lagers, sours, and stouts to unique beers brewed with specialty items like coffee, chocolate, spices, and fruit.
To attend, you must be a current member of Just Economics. This event is not ticketed, so you must purchase a membership prior to the event. Then, all Just Economics members can sample the homebrews and vote for their favorites!
Purchase your membership here: https://www.justeconomicswnc.org/donate/
Memberships are $30, which grants you entry to the event.
Memberships with a VIP package are $50, which grant you entry to the event an hour early (1:00pm) plus a souvenir glass, gourmet pretzel, and more.
This is a local festival you won’t want to miss and your membership supports the work of Just Economics to advance living wages, affordable housing and better transit! Hope to see you there!
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.
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.

GHOST COMEDY BUS TOUR
Grab a local beer, crucifix and a rubber chicken* —You might survive this hour long hilarious haunted ghost tour of Asheville.
- Guided comedy bus tour of Haunted Asheville
- 60 minutes; tours run nightly after dark
- $33 per person (Ages 17+ only)
- Departs from 76 Biltmore Avenue
*Legal Note: Crucifix not required to board the bus; we do not condone exorcisms, chickens, rubber, or any combination of the three.
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.