Happy Thursday, Buncombe County!

💡 Buncombe Fact: In 1898, Dr. Carl A. Schenck, a German forester working on George Vanderbilt’s forests, started the Biltmore Forest School, the first school of forestry in the United States. Its final class graduated in 1913, and its alumni numbered more than 300.

In today’s edition:

Let’s get to it.

— Sean Kolina

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands fills the Harrah’s Cherokee Center for four days, and the organizers list more than 100 juried artists working in twelve media. Live demonstrations and music run alongside the booths, so you can watch a maker at work and then buy the piece straight from them.

Tickets are sold at the door, and children under 12 get in free. Hours are the same every day, 10am to 5pm, so you can go any of the four days.

📍 Where: Harrah’s Cherokee Center, 87 Haywood St., Asheville
📅 When: Thursday, October 15th – Sunday, October 18th | 10am – 5pm daily
💲 Price: $12 adults | Under 12 free

Fair Details

The Eliada Fall Festival and Corn Maze runs through Sunday, November 1st at Eliada, on Compton Drive in Asheville. Admission is $15 per person.

Eliada also lists Music at the Maze on select Fridays from 5 to 7pm, so check its page to see whether this Friday is one of them, and to confirm the hours before you head over.

📍 Where: Eliada, 49 Compton Dr., Asheville
📅 When: Through Sunday, November 1st | Hours vary by day, see Eliada’s page
💲 Price: $15 per person

Maze Details

The Swannanoa Valley Museum offers its Haunted History Walking Tour on Friday evening, starting at the museum on West State Street in Black Mountain. The walk lasts about an hour.

The tour is for ages 13 and up. Tickets are $30, or $25 for museum members, and the museum notes that some fees may apply.

📍 Where: Swannanoa Valley Museum, 223 West State St., Black Mountain
📅 When: Friday, October 16th | 7pm
💲 Price: $30 | $25 for members

Tour Details

The Infamous Stringdusters play Pisgah Brewing’s outdoor stage on Saturday night, with Broken Compass Bluegrass opening. The band is marking 20 years with its album 20/20, which has twenty new songs.

Doors open at 6pm and the show starts at 7:30pm. The stage is outdoors, so check the forecast and dress for the evening.

📍 Where: Pisgah Brewing Outdoor Stage, 2948 US Highway 70, Black Mountain
📅 When: Saturday, October 17th | Doors 6pm, show 7:30pm
💲 Price: From $36.30

Tickets

Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview runs hayrides on Sunday from 11am to 4pm. Rides are donation based, and the proceeds go to Project HNG. The last ride leaves 30 minutes before close.

The farm’s daily activities, including the Sound Silo, Trike Track, Culvert Slides and Play in the Creek, run Wednesday through Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Hot dogs and sausages are $5 from 11am to 5pm, and the farm sells apples from Lyda Farm in Edneyville by the peck or bushel.

📍 Where: Hickory Nut Gap Farm, 57 Sugar Hollow Rd., Fairview
📅 When: Sunday, October 18th | Hayrides 11am – 4pm
💲 Price: Hayrides by donation | Hot dogs $5

Fall Festivities

Buncombe is a lot bigger than downtown, so this is where the rest of it lives.

🌳 Free music at UNC Asheville Friday. The Bulldog Block Party fills Reed Plaza on Friday, October 16th, with free music from 5pm until 8pm. Read more

🌳 Growers, your survey closes Friday. NC Cooperative Extension in Buncombe County is asking local growers to take a short urban agriculture survey by Friday, October 16th. It takes 5 to 7 minutes and is available in English, Spanish and Russian. Take the survey

🌳 Buncombe marching bands bring home awards. At the Land of the Sky Marching Band Festival at Enka High School on September 26th, North Buncombe finished first overall across the 1-A and 2-A divisions and won the colorguard, percussion and music awards. Charles D. Owen won four category awards, and A.C. Reynolds and T.C. Roberson each finished second overall in their divisions. Read more

🌳 Check the Blue Ridge Parkway before you drive. As of Tuesday morning, the National Park Service listed the Parkway as closed from milepost 344.2 to 355.3, between NC Highway 80 and Mount Mitchell State Park, because of Helene damage. The Mount Mitchell State Park entrance, the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center and the stretch from Bull Gap to the Folk Art Center were listed as open. Conditions change, so check the status page before you go. Parkway road status

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.

Leveller Brewing sits at 25 N. Main St. in Weaverville, next to a free public parking lot and across from Well Bred Bakery. Founders Andrew Zinn and Sally Anne Morgan, husband and wife, keep a small flock of sheep at their farm in nearby Alexander, and the sheep are partly fed with spent grain from the brewhouse. The brewery sells their yarn and other wool products out of the taproom.

Good dogs on a leash are welcome, and so are kids. This weekend it is open Friday and Saturday from 1 to 9 and Sunday from 1 to 8, and it is closed Tuesdays.

Visit Leveller

📣 Know a business that belongs here? Hit reply with a name and we'll check them out!

😋 Weekly Appalachian inspired recipe: Apple Stack Cake — a layered cake built on four cups of apple butter, and by tradition each guest brought a layer. It serves 12.

🎵 Who we are listening to: Allison Russell - Nightflyer — and Allison Russell plays the Orange Peel tonight.

💛 Local Nonprofits. Local Cloth — a volunteer-led nonprofit network of more than 500 fiber artists, farmers, processors and educators growing the fiber economy in Western North Carolina. Its studio is at 408 Depot St. in Asheville, and its calendar lists workshops and interest groups this week.

🙏 Positive News Around the Globe: A survey on Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles estimates almost 183,000 adult and sub-adult giant tortoises, with counts from 2018 to 2022 showing a relatively stable population. Read Article

🎃 Halloween is coming, so get your Halloween books ordered now. Here is one we recommend: Halloween book pick

✨ Handmade work in the morning, a haunted walk after dark, and bluegrass on Saturday night. Here's to a weekend with a little of everything.

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