This year's line up includes some incredible talent that will grace the various stages of Bele Chere throughout its three-day run. To get the ball rolling on Friday, July 23, Sara Evans, the country music headline act, will perform at the Celebration stage from 9:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. Sara Evans is now approaching Double Platinum status from the success of her album, Born to Fly. Her new album, Restless, is a collection of songs that will take Sara Evans up yet another notch. Sara Evans was the most nominated artist at the 2001 Country Music Association Awards, and took home her first such trophy when "Born to Fly" won Video of the Year.

De La Soul , the Friday rock headliner, will be rocking out at the Nextel Mountain Stage on Friday night at 9:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. In a time when rap artists reflect a hard edge, De La Soul is unique with their hip hop sound yet low-key vocals. On the scene since 1989, the trio of boys from Long Island is back with two albums in 2004. Downtown Asheville will really be rocking Friday night when De La Soul gets cranked up.

Mofro will warm up the Nextel Mountain Stage audience prior to De La Soul on Friday night from 7:15 p.mp. until 8:30 p.m. JJ Grey and Daryl Hance form the duo, Mofro. Their music is a combination of soul, blues and funk. Since their debut album was released in 2001, Mofro has continued to climb in the independent music industry. Mofro performed at the Bonnaroo Festival in July of 2002. Mofro continues to appeal to a broad age audience; opening shows for their successful Peers Ben Harper, Galactic, North Mississippi Allstars and Robert Randolph as also for older icons such at Taj Mahal, Wide Spread Panic, Jeff Beck and BB King.

Saturday features a tremendous musical line up starting at the Celebration stage at 2:00 p.m. with Stockholm Syndrome. Comprised of five of the country�s best kept secrets, this must-see-energizing group will be the festival�s best show. Begun as a decade-plus relationship between bassist Dave Schools of �Widespread Panic� and Jerry Joseph, a highly acclaimed writer-artist of �The Jackmormons,� Stockholm Syndrome features musicians such as Eric McFadden, a versatile San Francisco-based guitarist who specializes in black magic guitar and mandolin mayhem; Wally Ingram, an L.A.-based drummer who has worked with Sheryl Crow and Tracy Chapman; and classically trained German keyboardist Danny Dziuk. Having caused quite the buzz with their first album, Holy Happy Hour, the band will kick off an initial tour this month beginning in Europe before returning home for a few shows on the east coast. Stockholm Syndrome will play until 3:30 p.m.

Starring Saturday night at the Bele Chere Celebration stage at 9:00 p.m. will be Big Head Todd and the Monsters. With such hits as �Broken Hearted Savior,� �Bittersweet,� and the incredible cover of John Lee Hooker�s �Boom Boom,� in the early 90�s, this is the band that most people know the songs but don�t really know who the artists are. With their eighth record, Crimes of Passion, just released, this trio from Colorado (Todd Park Mohr, Rob Squires on bass, and Brian Nevin on drums) is back on the scene and planning to headline the festival on Saturday evening.

John Anderson, a legendary country music star, will be closing out the Nextel Mountain Stage on Saturday night from 9:45 to 11:00 p.m. Months before Nobody's Got It All arrives at record stores, the album is already the talk of Nashville's Music Row. To begin with, it's John Anderson's first new album in three years, sufficient reason alone for the widespread rejoicing. Then there is the fact that it was produced by Blake Chancey and Paul Worley, the same production team behind the griddle-hot Dixie Chicks. Anderson was honored with CMA's Horizon Award in 1983, and ten years later the Academy of Country Music acknowledged his enormous contributions by presenting him its rarely conferred Career Achievement Award. John Anderson will be performing in the land of the sky for Bele Chere.

Rounding out the Bele Chere 2002 headline acts on Saturday is legendary R&B star Calvin Richardson playing at the World Stage on Saturday from 9:15 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Get taken back to the sounds of legendary R&B pioneers such as Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye or Bobby Womack with Calvin Richardson�s performance at Bele Chere on Saturday evening. Born in Monroe, North Carolina, Richardson is quickly making a name for himself on the R&B charts with the completion of his latest Hollywood Record album, 2:35PM. Featuring some of R&B's hottest producers, including the Underdogs (Justin Timberlake, B2K), Raphael Saadiq (Ginuwine, TLC) and Mike City (Usher, Brandy), the album �truly bridges the gap between new and old school R&B.� As a talented singer, songwriter and producer, Richardson grew up on gospel music and classic R&B, having hooked up with two other young men (K-Ci and JoJo Hailey) who would go on to establish themselves as '90s hitmakers as members of Jodeci.

On Sunday, country music star Rober Earl Keen closes out the 2004 Bele Chere festival at the Celebration stage from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. Befriended by Lyle Lovett at Texas A&M University, Robert Earl Keen has surrounded himself with critically-acclaimed country music artists. Known for alternative country, his songs have featured a duet with the Cowboy Junkie's' Margo Timmins and has performed with Nanci Griffith and George Strait.

Larry Keel will be the closing act on the Nextel Mountain stage from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. Larry Keel is a young veteran musician who combines deep connection to his Bluegrass heritage along with astounding abilities as a composer, singer and instrumentalist. Larry Keel has shared the stage regularly with Acoustic Syndicate, Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams and Leftover Salmon.

The Bele Chere street festival is held throughout downtown Asheville. The City closes off a great number of the downtown streets to auto traffic and allows the streets to be used by food, beverage and craft vendors and nine music stages. Even after Bele Chere's musical acts close at 11:00 p.m. festival revelers can stay in the festival areas and continue to party at the numerous city nightclubs. There were large crowds of people located outside all of the downtown clubs until past 3:00 a.m. at last year's festival. Talk about a party!

The Bele Chere 2004 Children's Area presented by Food Lion and Mission Children's Hospital with over 50,000 square feet, will transform City-County Plaza into a playland for kids of all ages... From a gigantic slide and whirling merry-go-round to games, crafts, and entertainment, kids are sure to enjoy their Bele Chere experience. Themed "Building Healthier Children", the children's area will emphasize what it takes to be a healthy child in 2004. Kids can play Bingo with fruit and vegetable cards and play in "Club Bele Chere" with hula hoops, jump ropes, balls, and tricycles. The usual activities like bubbles, pottery, basketball, and sidewalk chalk will also be available for the kids.

If you are looking for first-time-ever activities, then Bele Chere has some great choices for you to consider at "The ZONE Activities": Friday 12-11 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday 12-6 p.m., BB&T Parking Lot, Lexington Avenue, the activities include, Jousting, Laser Tag, Mechanical Rodeo Bull, Adrenaline Rush Obstacle Course, Bungee Run, Box N Bounce, Titanic Slide, Airbrush Tattoos, Old Time Photos,

The park was designed and built by Team Pain, one of the foremost experts in skatepark construction in the U.S. Receiving the help of Asheville's skating community, Team Pain built a park for all levels of skaters, which has been visited by more than 3,000 skaters in its first nine months of operation.