Happy Thursday, Buncombe County!
💡 Buncombe Fact: The Grove Park Inn opened on July 12, 1913, after about 400 workers spent less than a year hauling granite boulders, some weighing up to 10,000 pounds, up Sunset Mountain by mule and wagon.
In today’s edition:
RADFest fills the River Arts District with art, music and pottery demos
Winter Lights opens at the North Carolina Arboretum on Friday
A spruce tip red IPA release at Lookout Brewing in Black Mountain
A one-man play makes its North Carolina premiere in Black Mountain
A free pet ornament workshop in the River Arts District
Gourmand finally opens on Broadway
Holiday dates to circle, from Deck the Trees to Christmas in Appalachia
Let’s get to it.
— Sean Kolina
🎨 RADFest Fills the River Arts District
RADFest is the River Arts District’s biggest weekend of the year, and it runs Saturday and Sunday with tented artist markets, food trucks, live music and demonstrations around the district. Saturday’s music lineup is at the Wedge Studios lot on Payne’s Way, and both days bring pet adoptions and free pet portraits.
The studios have their own plans too. Mark Bettis Gallery has artists demonstrating both days, Odyssey ClayWorks holds a pottery seconds sale, and Wedge Studios opens its green-themed exhibition Gathered in Green with a reception Saturday from 4pm to 6pm.
📍 Where: River Arts District, Asheville
📅 When: Saturday, November 14th – Sunday, November 15th
✨ Winter Lights Opens at the Arboretum
Winter Lights opens Friday night at the North Carolina Arboretum and runs through January 3rd. It is a walk-through show of more than a million lights in the gardens, with a one-mile trail, local live music, and cocoa and s’mores along the way. New displays this year include Forest Floor, Beneath the Riverbed and Between Water and Woods.
Tickets are priced per vehicle, so everyone in your car gets in on one ticket, with lower prices on value dates and higher ones on peak nights. Gate tickets cost $10 to $15 more and are sold only if space allows, so booking ahead is the safer move. Plan on at least an hour, and leave the pets at home, since only service dogs are allowed.
📍 Where: North Carolina Arboretum, 20 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville
📅 When: Friday, November 13th – Sunday, January 3rd | Gates open 6pm, last entry 9pm
💲 Price: Per vehicle, with value, standard and peak dates | $10 to $15 more at the gate
🍻 A Spruce Tip Red IPA Kicks Off the Holidays
Lookout Brewing in Black Mountain is welcoming the holiday season on Friday with a Spruce Tip Imperial Red IPA release. The Sawtooth Troubadours play live starting at 7pm, so you can settle in for the evening.
If you would rather start tonight, Lookout runs Music Bingo every Thursday evening with DJ Spence, with prizes across eight rounds and Mac's Burgers open for dinner.
📍 Where: Lookout Brewing Company, Black Mountain
📅 When: Friday, November 13th | 4pm – 9pm, live music from 7pm
📅 Also: Music Bingo, Thursday, November 12th | 6:30pm – 8:30pm
🎬 A One-Man Play Makes Its North Carolina Premiere
No Matter What You Tell Me is a solo play written and performed by Brooklyn-based actor Benjamin Boucvalt, and the Black Mountain Center for the Arts is hosting its North Carolina premiere this weekend. It follows a son’s years-long effort to dig up long-buried family secrets, and the center describes it as hilarious, heartbreaking and hopeful in turn.
The run is just two performances, one Saturday evening and one Sunday afternoon, in the center’s historic building, the former Black Mountain City Hall.
📍 Where: Black Mountain Center for the Arts, Black Mountain
📅 When: Saturday, November 14th | 7:30pm and Sunday, November 15th | 2pm
💲 Price: $25
🖼 Paint Your Pet on a Wooden Ornament
Trackside Studios is hosting a free Pet Cartoon Ornament Workshop on Sunday afternoon as part of RADFest. Bring a photo of your pet, or a friend's pet if you want a gift, and artist Taryn will help you turn it into a cartoon version in acrylic paint on a wooden ornament you take home the same day.
All ages are welcome and all supplies are provided. Trackside is a gallery and working art space with work from about 60 local artists, open daily from 11am to 5pm, so you can browse before or after you paint.
📍 Where: Trackside Studios, 375 Depot St., Asheville
📅 When: Sunday, November 15th | 12pm – 3pm
💲 Price: Free
Around the County
Buncombe is a lot bigger than downtown, so this is where the rest of it lives.
🌳 The Evan Blackerby Trio plays Black Mountain on November 20th. The alt-bluesy Americana band takes the stage at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts at 7:30pm, with tickets at $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Details
🌳 Storytelling returns to the Grey Eagle on November 19th. The Moth Presents: Asheville StorySlam takes the theme “Home for the Holidays,” with doors at 6:30pm, the show at 7:30pm and tickets at $22.21. Details
🌳 Black Mountain’s holiday parade is December 5th. Lookout Brewing is hosting a watch party along the route, with the parade starting at 4pm and hot mulled wine and hot chocolate on sale. Details
Coming Up
Dates worth circling before the holidays.
DEC 3 – JAN 1 | 🌳 Deck the Trees. Dozens of decorated trees at Swannanoa Valley businesses, with votes cast by donating to the SVCM Fuel Fund. Details
DEC 12 | 🛍 Mingle and Jingle. The Grey Eagle's holiday craft market starts at 10am. Details
DEC 18-20 | ✨ Christmas in Appalachia. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for youth at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. Details
One to Know
A quick one every Thursday. Our full small business features run on Tuesdays, so think of this as the short version, and it is never paid and never sponsored.
🍷 Gourmand Finally Opens on Broadway
Gourmand is a French rotisserie and wine restaurant that opened its doors on November 6th at 425 Broadway, on the Reed Creek Greenway near Five Points. Owners Katie Grabach and Peyton Barrell were just weeks from opening in the River Arts District two years ago when floodwaters from Helene destroyed the site, so this one has been a long time coming.
The menu leans on meat-and-three rotisserie chicken plates with sides like duck fat fries, chicken fat rice, carrot remoulade and braised white beans. There is seating for about 80, including an outdoor deck over the greenway, and the day runs from breakfast through dinner with a full coffee and tea program.
📍 Where: 425 Broadway, Asheville
📅 Opened: November 6th
Want more local spots like Gourmand? Browse local restaurants on The Local List.
Other fun notes…
😋 Weekly Appalachian inspired recipe: Savory Merkel Pie — Asheville chef John Fleer's take on a traditional Appalachian pie, built like a shepherd's pie with a morel mushroom filling. It makes 4 to 6 servings.
🎵 Who we are listening to: Mama’s Broke: Tiny Desk Concert — and they play the Grey Eagle on Sunday.
💛 Local Nonprofits. Black Mountain Center for the Arts — bringing exhibits, classes, concerts and theatre to the Swannanoa Valley since 2000, from the building that was once Black Mountain City Hall.
🙏 Positive News Around the Globe: A British adventurer finally hugged his mother after walking around the world for 28 years. Read Article
✨ “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Arthur Ashe
🗳️ One quick question, and it genuinely shapes what goes in here:
Where will you do most of your holiday shopping this year?
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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