Community Calendar

One of the country’s longest-running film festivals, Mountainfilm on Tour, returns for another season of the Lees-McRae High Country Adventure Film and Speaker Series, this year featuring a live music performance before the screening of the latest lineup of outdoor, documentary short films.

Mountainfilm’s mission is to use the power of the film medium to inspire audiences to create a better world. Each year they showcase the most inspiring, culturally rich, and adventurous documentary short films that highlight some of the best parts about the outdoors.

If you lost timber during Hurricane Helene, you may qualify for relief. This FREE workshop will cover who qualifies for the program, how to apply, and what resources are available to mitigate wildfire risk and non-native invasive species. Join EcoForesters, the NC Forest Service, NC Extension, and other natural resource professionals to learn more about opportunities to recover from Helene and prepare for the future.

If you own at least 10 acres of contiguous forest and experienced moderate to severe timber loss, you may qualify for funds that will offset timber losses due to Helene.

For further questions, contact us at (828) 484-6872 or info@ecoforesters.org.

Have you ever wanted to identify a tree once it has dropped its leaves? Join us to learn how using key characteristics: twigs, buds, and bark.
During this program, we will walk around the Gardens and look closely at common trees so you can develop the skills to identify them even in winter when leaves are gone. (Please dress for the weather and walking on uneven ground.)

Instructor: Julia Showalter, a lecturer on dendrology in the Department of Biology at Appalachian State University and Gardens Board Member

No registration required!
Suggested donation: $5 per person
Payable online at www.danielboonenativegardens.org/donate or in person at the workshop
All proceeds will benefit the Gardens, a 501(c)(3) organization

(In the case of inclement weather, this event will be rescheduled to March 7. Please check Facebook or Instagram, or send an email to info@danielboonenativegardens.org for updates if the weather is bad.)

Bike Love returns to Eulogy for Asheville on Bikes’ annual gala—a night where cycling passion meets high-energy revelry. Whether you’re a rider or just love a great party, expect live music from Cloud Circuit, a dance party with DJ MP Pride, silent auction, and raffle. Proceeds directly support our programs for this year including after-school youth cycling programs, investments in complete streets and greenways as part of Helene recovery, and infrastructure projects such as AVL Unpaved.

When purchasing tickets, add on a sign up to kick the night off with “Get Linked” - a fast-paced, low-pressure social game where you’ll meet people each round with interesting prompts that spark conversation, connections, and maybe something more!

Dwight Yoakam is a legendary artist whose influence has reshaped the landscape of country music and beyond. With over 25 million albums sold worldwide, he is a 21-time GRAMMY® nominee and multiple GRAMMY® Award winner. His catalog includes 12 gold albums and 9 platinum or multi-platinum releases, with five topping Billboard Country Albums chart and 14 landing in the Top 10. Nearly 40 of his singles have charted on Billboard, including 14 Top 10 hits.

Three writers celebrate literary mentorship and engage with history as a liberating way forward.

Asheville authors Susanne Paola Antonetta and Bruce Beasley will read from their new books along with their former student Julie Marie Wade. Together they'll explore themes of neurodiversity, queer identity and homophobia, climate denial and catastrophe, political oppression and war, eugenics and the current failing state of an American psychiatric industry deeply embrangled with corporate pharmaceutical interests.

Susanne Paola Antonetta is the author of multiple acclaimed books of nonfiction and co-author of the widely taught textbook Tell It Slant: Creating, Refining, and Publishing Creative Nonfiction. Her work deals with madness, neurodiversity, the history of psychiatry, the toxic effects of environmental pollution. Her new book published in September, The Devil's Castle: Nazi Eugenics, Euthanasia, and How Psychiatry's Troubled History Reverberates Today, is a history of the Nazi program T4 aimed at exterminating the neurodiverse and a critique of contemporary psychiatry that has its roots in Nazi eugenics. The book received a starred review in Publishers Weekly.

Bruce Beasley is the author of nine collections of poems and the recipient of four Pushcart prizes and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Artist Trust. His work engages atrocities against the Palestinians of Gaza, mass shootings and gun violence, wildfires and climate change catastrophe and denial. His most recently published books are Prayershreds (Orison Books), All Soul Parts Returned (BOA Editions), and Theophobia (BOA Editions). Bruce's work appears in New American Writing, Kenyon Review, Southern Review, Yale Review, and many other journals.

Julie Marie Wade studied in Susanne and Bruce's graduate creative writing program at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and has gone on to be a prolific and award-winning author. She is is the author of twenty two volumes of poetry, prose, and hybrid forms, including the new memoir Other People's Mothers (University Press of Florida). A finalist for the National Poetry Series and a winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir, Julie is Professor of English & Creative Writing at Florida International University in Miami.

All aboard, sisters! The hysterical sequel to the smash-hit Menopause The Musical® is finally here! Five years after their chance encounter in a department store, we set sail with our beloved ladies for more high jinks on the high seas. Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through 'The Change'® is a hilarious and heartfelt look at the joys of menopause and friendship - plus hot flashes, mood swings, and memory lapses! Join us on a trip of self discovery, backed by a new soundtrack of toe-tapping parodied hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s. For these four ladies, menopause was not the end, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship where love conquers all, and friendships never fail.

Wax Tailor
Napoleon da Legend
Wednesday, February 25
Show: 8pm | Doors: 7pm
The Orange Peel
Ages 18+

Celebrate Black Children’s Book Week with Read 2 Succeed Asheville/Buncombe!

Join us on Thursday, February 26, 2026, from 6:00–7:30 PM at the PVA Community Center (1 Granada St., Asheville) for a free, family-friendly celebration filled with stories, play, and community connection.

We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Khalyn J. Solomon, pediatric speech-language pathologist and author of My Superhero Aurie, for a special author storytime celebrating friendship, neurodiversity, and the strengths that make every child shine.

Families can enjoy interactive literacy games, reading activities with prizes, face painting, a live DJ, and “breakfast for dinner” with a cereal bar from Chill Cereal Bar. The first 50 families will receive a free signed copy of My Superhero Aurie along with family reading resources.

Come celebrate Black Children’s Book Week with joy, creativity, and a love of reading—everyone is welcome!

What: Celebrate Black Children’s Book Week in Asheville!
When: Thursday, February 26, 2026
Time: FREE | 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Location: PVA Community Center, 1 Granada St., Asheville, NC 28806

Chronology Music, an original jazz duo based in Asheville, NC; celebrates the release of its new album 'Stories We Tell', with a debut performance at Asheville's newest and most intimate jazz listening room. In the tradition of some of New York's premier jazz listening rooms, the music is *the* focus at Hotel Eve. 2 sets of original music, featuring all of the album material (plus more) will be performed, with the first set starting at 7pm. Seating is first-come, first served, and is highly limited.

About Chronology Music: As collaborators for almost 20 years, across multiple different groups and projects, Frank Southecorvo and Bryan White (formerly of Up Jumped Three) have developed a familiarity and language/approach to open/chord-free playing which feels natural and highly intuitive. Lyrical lines and commitment to space are sometimes difficult to resolve without chords, but this group of songs and the duo's approach shows how comfortable it can be. It's a discipline which takes time to refine, akin to 2 people having an in-depth conversation, with all of the tangents and subtexts which inevitably arise.

The Minds of All Kinds Annual Summit is a full-day event designed to support neurodivergent high school students as they prepare for the transition to college. The summit offers an engaging, informative look at campus life, the supports available at WWC, and the pathways that help students thrive academically and socially.

For Families and Prospective Students:
- Explore our campus through guided tours
- Attend panel discussions featuring students, faculty, and campus partners
- Learn about academic, social, and residential supports designed for neurodivergent learners
- Ask questions and connect with our community, gaining a genuine sense of what it feels like to be part of WWC

For Educators, Counselors, and Other Professionals:
Professionals will participate in skills-based, practice-enhancing professional-development breakout sessions focused on effectively supporting neurodivergent students during the high school–to–college transition. Participants will receive certificates for completed training hours, making the summit a meaningful way to build expertise and deepen impact.

Join us to celebrate the opening of Craft-itarianism: Community Action Through Craft, a new exhibition by 2026 Center for Craft Curatorial Fellow Alyssa Velazquez. Launched in 2017, the Curatorial Fellowship program supports emerging curators exploring new ideas about craft with mentorship, professional development, and an honorarium to realize an exhibition.

‍Craft-itarianism: Community Action Through Craft celebrates nonprofits and artists from around the country who believe in—and actively practice—the power of craft to support and empower individuals and communities.

If you lost timber during Hurricane Helene, you may qualify for relief. This FREE workshop will cover who qualifies for the program, how to apply, and what resources are available to mitigate wildfire risk and non-native invasive species. Join EcoForesters, the NC Forest Service, NC Extension, and other natural resource professionals to learn more about opportunities to recover from Helene and prepare for the future.

If you own at least 10 acres of contiguous forest and experienced moderate to severe timber loss, you may qualify for funds that will offset timber losses due to Helene.

For further questions, contact us at (828) 484-6872 or info@ecoforesters.org

After premiering Off-Broadway last season, 'A Taste of Ireland - The Irish Music & Dance Sensation' returns to stages across the USA in 2026, performing the show that has entertained thousands around the globe. Laugh, cry and jig into the night with a production that is Celtic, for this generation.

Performed by former World Irish dance champions, and featuring dancers from Lord of the Dance and Riverdance, "A Taste of Ireland" transports the audience through the story of Ireland's tumultuous history delivered with a pint of Irish wit. Watch world-class performers blend melodic folk mash-ups, live jaw-dropping acapella tap battles and heartwarming story telling.

DR. BACON is a 6 Piece touring Appalachian Funk, Grass and Rock & Roll band. Blending incredibly diverse instrumentation with broad, deep musical influences, allows the band to perform a plethora of widely accessible, danceable music.

The Dr. Bacon Live Experience is truly a spectacle to behold, bringing the audience on a musical journey that lulls and spikes in energy, caressing ears with lush beauty and whipping crowds into a tribal romp, shaking booties and shedding inhibitions. This manic versatility ensures that no matter what genre of music you identify with most, you will hear something that resonates. Dr. Bacon started playing together in 2012 on King Street in Boone as a 3 piece busking with acoustic bluegrass, folk, and 90s pop/rock/hip-hop influenced music. Several lineup changes over the years and a move to Asheville have refined and redirected the bands sound, incorporating funk, rock, soul, psychedelic and world music to Appalachian influences. The blending of several elements of these genres (often within the same song) along with unique instrumentation is the real Bacon flavor.

Ready to relive the golden age of alternative rock (and more)? Brightside brings you the best singalongs from the 90's, along with killer tracks from the 80's and Today! Think Green Day, Weezer, The Cure, and the Foo Fighters; but that's just the tip of the iceberg! We'll get you moving with iconic hits from Matchbox 20, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty, The Killers, and a whole lot more. So dust off your flannels, grab your friends, and get ready for a night of pure musical nostalgia (with a modern twist)! We're all about bringing the good vibes and creating unforgettable live experiences. Come party with Brightside!

In a powerful collaboration with the Hickory Choral Society, CVCC Chorus, and LRU A Cappella Choir, the Western Piedmont Symphony—professional orchestra of the western foothills of North Carolina—presents Grant Us Peace, a stirring program reflecting humanity’s enduring hope for peace. Featuring acclaimed baritone Michael Adams and soprano Janinah Burnett, the concert includes Adams’s Christian Zeal and Activity, Debussy’s The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, and Vaughan Williams’s transcendent Dona nobis pacem. Blending orchestral and choral masterpieces, this moving performance offers a profound call for healing and harmony in a turbulent world.