Happy Thursday, Buncombe County!
💡 Buncombe Fact: Despite the English spelling, locals pronounce Leicester "LES-ter." Correcting a newcomer on it is something of a rite of passage out that way.
In today’s edition:
A country road lined with open studios
300 quilts and a Ruby Jubilee
Bears, popsicles, and a cold beer
Pickleball with a purpose on the South Slope
Peach bourbon ice cream is back
Local makers fill the Grey Eagle
Vinyl lovers rejoice
Let’s get to it.
— Sean Kolina
🖥️ One Buncombe County business is getting a new website. Free.
Little Lotus Press is a design studio in Asheville. We build websites for small brands. A lawn crew in Florida, a wine cellar in Portugal, a coaching practice, a newsletter or two.
Here's what we keep running into. There are businesses around this county doing genuinely good work behind a website that doesn't say so, or with no website at all. A bakery worth driving to. A shop that's been on the same corner for thirty years.
So we're going to build one. Free, start to finish.
What the winner gets A designed and built homepage, made specifically for the business, delivered inside a week. Yours to keep and use however you like. No catch, no invoice, no obligation to work with us afterwards.
How to enter Reply to this email with the name of a Buncombe County business that deserves it. Your own, or someone else's. Add their website if they have one. If they don't have one at all, say so. That's often the whole reason to nominate them.
We'll pick one, build it, and share how it turned out. Entries close Sunday, August 23rd.
🎨 21st Annual Come to Leicester Artists Studio Tour
Take the scenic route through Leicester this weekend as 24 local and visiting artists open their doors for the 21st annual Come to Leicester Artists Studio Tour. This free, self-guided adventure winds through the mountain countryside, giving visitors a rare peek inside working home studios—many of which open to the public only this one weekend each year.
Expect pottery, paintings, stained glass, ironwork, wood, jewelry, fiber, brooms, and mixed media, with three HUB locations at the Leicester Community Center, Sandy Mush Community Center, and Addison Farms Vineyard making it easy to see several artists in one stop. Addison Farms will host five artists alongside wine tastings, live music, and special food events, while Sunday's tour adds the perfect excuse to pack a picnic and enjoy the mountain views.
Grab a printed map, follow the bold road signs, and make as many—or as few—stops as you'd like. It's an easygoing way to explore Leicester while putting your dollars directly into the hands of the artists who call this corner of Buncombe County home.
📍 Where: Artist studios and HUB locations throughout Leicester (self-guided)
📅 When: Saturday, August 15 – Sunday, August 16 | 10 AM–5 PM daily
💲 Price: Free
🧵 40th Annual Asheville Quilt Show
The Asheville Quilt Guild marks its Ruby Jubilee with a 40th show, and it's a big one: more than 300 quilts on display, $13,000 in prize money, and over 25 vendors filling the Davis Event Center. Expect demonstrations from expert quilters, special exhibits, a silent auction, quilts for sale, the annual Opportunity Quilt raffle, and a sewing station for kids. Even if you've never threaded a machine, three hundred quilts hanging in one room is a genuinely striking thing to walk through.
📍 Where: WNC Agricultural Center, Davis Event Center, Fletcher
📅 When: Thursday, August 13th – Saturday, August 15th
💲 Price: $10 general | $5 students 13–18 | Free for kids 12 and under | Free parking
🐻 Brews & Bears at the WNC Nature Center
The Nature Center stays open late for Brews & Bears, an after-hours fundraiser pairing craft beer, cider, and wine with food trucks, live music, and up-close animal programs. The highlight is watching resident black bears Uno and Ursa work through frozen fish, fruit, and ice popsicle enrichment, with BearWise staff on hand to explain how to keep wild bears wild. Now in its tenth year, it remains one of the more fun ways to spend a Friday evening in East Asheville.
📍 Where: WNC Nature Center, 75 Gashes Creek Rd., Asheville
📅 When: Friday, August 14th | 5:30pm – 8pm
💲 Price: $15 members | $20 non-members | $10 kids | VIP $50–$55 | Free under 2
🥒 Picklepalooza
The South Slope gets a little sillier Friday night as WNC Food Coalition hosts Picklepalooza, a pickleball fundraising tournament at Asheville Sports Club. Team registration is $100, which covers two players, two cheer-squad friends, drink tickets, and tournament T-shirts. Every dollar supports the Coalition's free community food pantries stocked with local produce, meat, dairy, and eggs. Come to play or just to cheer with a drink in hand; the club's two courts, bars, and patio make it a good spectator sport.
📍 Where: Asheville Sports Club, 137 Coxe Ave., Asheville
📅 When: Friday, August 14th | Festivities 5:30pm • Tournament 6pm
💲 Price: Free to watch | $100 team registration (fundraiser)
🍑 Peach Bourbon Ice Cream Returns to The Hop
The Hop's Southern Comfort, their late-summer peach bourbon flavor, is back for its annual release Friday in both dairy and vegan versions. The beloved local scoop shop has been hand-making ice cream in Asheville since 1978, and this one only comes around when the peaches do. Pints tend to move fast; pre-orders are open on their site if you'd rather not gamble.
📍 Where: The Hop, 640 Merrimon Ave., Asheville
📅 When: Friday, August 14th | Release day
💲 Price: Free to visit, scoops and pints for sale
🌼 Summer Market at The Grey Eagle
The Grey Eagle closes out its first-ever Summer Market Series Saturday morning, filling the River Arts District music hall with locally made arts and crafts. It's the last of three markets this summer, it's free, and it pairs nicely with a coffee walk through the RAD. Browse handmade work in the morning and you're two blocks from lunch when you're done.
📍 Where: The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., Asheville
📅 When: Saturday, August 15th | 10am – 2pm
💲 Price: Free
🎶 7th Annual 103.3 Asheville FM Record Fair
Vinyl lovers, prepare to dig. The 7th Annual 103.3 Asheville FM Record Fair brings more than 30 vendors together for a massive day of crate digging, with thousands of LPs, 45s, CDs, cassettes, 78s, music memorabilia, and other treasures spanning genres and decades. Live DJs, local performances, food, and raffles round out the day, with ticket sales supporting Asheville's independent, volunteer-powered community radio station.
📍 Where: Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville, 87 Haywood St., Asheville
📅 When: Sunday, August 16 | Early Bird 10–11 AM • General Admission 11 AM–4 PM
💲 Price: Early Bird $25 • General Admission $7
Other fun notes…
😋 Weekly Appalachian inspired recipe: Southern Tomato Pie — peak-season tomatoes, basil, and a cheesy top, and the single best argument for overbuying at the tailgate market.
🎵 Who we are listening to: Paula Fuga & Jack Johnson - If Ever — “Jack and Paula's voices just compliment each other...love whenever they collab”
💛 Local Nonprofits. FIRSTwnc — offers comprehensive services for people with disabilities, special healthcare needs, and those who love and support them.
🙏 Positive News Around the Globe: Leo DiCaprio launches $200M project to bring 100 most threatened species back from the brink. Read Article
✨ The best things in the county aren't on the main road.
As always, we read every reply and truly appreciate hearing from you. If there’s something you’d like to see more of locally, let us know. Thanks for being part of the Buncombe County Digest community.
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