French Broad Food Coop Holiday Bazaar

Dec 5, 12,19, 10AM-4PM, French Broad Food Co-op, 90 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville NC. The Holiday Bazaar at French Broad Food Coop brings local food and gifts to the heart of downtown Asheville. The event, now in its seventh year, allows shoppers to support local farmers and artisans as they celebrate the holidays. Website: http://www.asapconnections.org/

Folk Art Center Guild Artists' Holiday Sale

Dec 5 and Dec 12,  10AM-4PM, Folk Art Center, Milepost 382 Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville NC. Members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild are on hand to sell their discontinued styles, seconds and overstocks, 10-50% off retail prices-all just in time for holiday shopping.

Wesite: http://southernhighlandguild.org/

"Major Bear's Holiday Party" at Grove Park Inn

Dec 6, 2PM-4PM, Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa, 290 Macon Ave., Asheville NC. Share some holiday cheer with friends and family as Major Bear hosts a party! Create an ornament for your tree, get your face painted, and do the hokey-pokey with the bear himself. And don't forget about the food! Holiday stations will provide themed food sure to satisfy both kids and adults. Read more...

Wine Tasting Tomorrow

Nov 28, 3PM-5PM, Hops and Vines, Asheville NC. An adventure to South America to explore three different styles of wine from Argentina. South American wines are some of the best value wines on the market today. Vida Organica Sparkling Chardonnay - Golden-yellow colours with green hues, with delicate and persistent bubbles. Trapiche "Broquel" Malbec - Boysenberry, blackberry, plum and pumpkin bread aromas are effusive. Colonia Las Liebres, Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina, 2008. A massive wine from Argentina, the Bonarda grape is nearly exclusive to South America, where it excels at the high elevations of Mendoza Valley.

Holiday Bash at Asheville City Market

Now 28, 10AM-2PM, Pack Square Park, Pack Square, Asheville NC. This week featuring live music from Woody Pines & the Delta Blues Trio - enjoy the downtown festivities as the Asheville City Market continues into the holiday season. Find local Christmas trees, wreaths and arrangements, baked goods, farmstead and artisan goat cheeses, handmade jewelry, candles, quilts, knitware and woodworking, local produce, trout, meat and eggs, gift soaps, preserves, handmade pasta, local honey and spicy mustards.

Website: http://www.asapconnections.org/citymarket.html

Gobblin' Good Thanksgiving Tour of Asheville

NOV 24-28 ASHVEILLE NC   LaZoom Thanksgiving Tour of Asheville Stuff your family on the LaZoom Bus for our Gobblin' Good Thanksgiving Tour! A sweet and savory two hour family adventure, with all the fixin's! Come along on a hysterical tour of Asheville complete with a costumed tour guide, LIVE local music and surprise characters. Get all the facts with all the fun! All ages welcome. $22 per ticket. $15 for kids 5-12 and children 4 and under ride for free. Beer and wine allowed on board for passengers 21 years and up. Group seating sells out fast! Reserve your tickets online

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt Showing in Asheville

Nov 28,10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (continuous showings) , Pack Place Community Gallery, Asheville NC.  The Asheville Art Museum will screen Rob Epstein's Oscar-winning documentary which profiles six people who subsequently died of AIDS. Using the AIDS Memorial Quilt as his starting point, this film humanizes the disease and illustrates its carnage, showing how it devastates families and communities.Narrated by Dustin Hoffman. The film will screen continuously throughout the day and is free to Museum Members and the public. Western North Carolina AIDS Project will be displaying portions of the AIDS Memorial Quilt  in Pack Place through Dec 2. Website: http://www.ashevilleart.org

Holiday Bash at the Asheville City Market

Nov 28, 10:00 AM-02:00 PM, Pack Square Park, Pack Square, Asheville NC. This week featuring live music from Woody Pines & the Delta Blues Trio.  Find local Christmas trees, wreaths and arrangements, baked goods, farmstead and artisan goat cheeses, handmade jewelry, candles, quilts, knitware and woodworking, local produce, trout, meat and eggs, gift soaps, preserves, handmade pasta, local honey and spicy mustards. Website: http://www.asapconnections.org/citymarket.html

It's a Wonderful Life in Asheville

Nov 27- Dec 20, 7:30 PM, North Carolina Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane, Asheville NC. A team of intrepid radio actors brings you the perfect holiday antidote to rampant cynicism and commercialism. Rediscover this classic story of friendship, love and sacrifice in times of financial struggle. Since 2006, North Carolina Stage Company and Immediate Theatre Project have produced a delightful radio play version of It's a Wonderful Life. The show has been a hit in Asheville every year, earning raves from critics and audiences. Website: http://www.livewireasheville.com/calendar/details.php?event=6

Stories of Gingerbread Tour

Nov 23 - Jan 3, 10:00 AM-04:00 PM, Monday-Thursday, The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, 290 Macon Avenue, Asheville  NC.  "Stories of Gingerbread" Guided Tours begin. Go behind the scenes and to the front of the lines with our newest addition to the world of gingerbread!  Guides will share stories about the artists and their houses, details about the construction of unusual entries, and a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the judging, competition and display itself.  These specialty tours are available Monday-Saturday throughout the display period.  $10 Adults; $5 Children (12 & under).  For more information or to reserve a tour space, please call 800-438-0050, ext. #4094.  Website: http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure/

Holiday Shopping at the Nature Center

Wild about animals but not so wild about shopping? Try alternative holiday gifts at the WNC Nature Center. Here are a few ideas:
*Give a Gift Membership
*Adopt a Favorite Animal
*Buy A Permanent Brick for Family, Friends, Corporate Partners
*Join Our Food Chain in Honor or In Memory of Friends or Family

Learn more and purchase your Holiday gifts...

Wines to pair with your Thanksgiving Meal

Nov 21, 3-6PM, Hops and Vines, 797 Haywood Rd. Ste 100, West Asheville NC. Free wine tasting includes:
Villa Wolf Gewurztraminer - Villa Wolf Gewürztraminer is clean, fruity and wonderfully light on its feet. It shows off the aromatic charm of the variety without becoming heavy or ponderous. A perfect accompaniment to turkey, cranberry sauce, and mixed nuts to name a few.
Domaine Antagnauc Pinot Noir 2008 Languedoc Roussillon, France Amazing value for an Estate Pinot Noir. Expressive nose of black cherry and spice.

"Les Perruches" - Domaine de la Cotelleraie is fully biodynamic and organic in all principals of viticulture.  This 100% Cabernet Franc wine shows the grape in it's fully glory, with earthy tobacco-scented dark berry fruit.  ITs a big mouthful of wine that deserves a big meal of turkey and stuffing with gravy, a perfect Thanksgiving match.  

Website: http://www.hopsandvines.net

This Weekend at the Grove Arcade

The Grove Arcade, One Page Avenue. Asheville NC. This weekend's schedule:
Friday: Raeph – Acoustic Guitar & Vocals; 11AM-1PM., James Rogers – Piano; 1AM-3PM
Saturday: Gardner Hathway – Guitar & Vocals; 11AM-PM, Jon Cooley – Cardboard Dulcimer 1AM- 3PM, James Rogers - Piano; AM- 4PM., Marcus Chatfield & Duke – Harmonica, Guitar & Vocals; 4PM- 6PM
Sunday: James Rogers - Piano; noon-2PM., Raeph – Acoustic Guitar & Vocals; 2PM-4PM

As a part of the National Gingerbread House Competition 35 of the whimsical entries will be displayed in a winter-wonderland style setting in Suite 115 on the O. Henry side of the building. The public is invited to view the houses Monday through Saturday from 10AM-6PM. and Sunday from noon - 5PM.

The restored Grove Arcade opened in late 2002 and includes shops, restaurants, offices and 42 luxury apartments. The Arcade remains Western North Carolina’s largest commercial building and has become a wonderful new downtown resource for residents and visitors.

Website: http://www.grovearcade.com/

Homebrew Tasting in Asheville

Nov 20, 5PM-7PM, Hops and Vines, 797 Haywood Rd. Ste 100, West Asheville NC. This week were going to keep it simple and have a homebrew tasting. Homebrewers, bring in your beer to share with others! I will be bringing a homebrew clone brew of my favorite IPA (Pliny the Elder. This is a casual tasting and usually a lot of fun. You do not have to bring homebrew to attend. Homebrew is not for sale, free samples only, we do encourage everyone to start homebrewing.Website: http://www.hopsandvines.net

Disney on Ice in Asheville

Nov 25-29, Asheville Civic Center,87 Haywood Street, Asheville  NC. Join the ocean-sized adventure of the curious clownfish Nemo, his overprotective father Marlin and their absent-minded yet lovable pal Dory as Disney On Ice immerses you in a vibrant aquatic world in Disney On Ice presents Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo. Website: http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/

Peggy Tabor Millin at Malaprops

Nov 22, 3PM-4:15PM, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, 55 Haywood St., Asheville  NC.  Asheville author, speaker, and teacher Peggy Tabor Millin will present her book, Women, Writing, and Soul-Making: Creativity and the Sacred Feminine. Millin’s book explores writing as a spiritual process and, though it focuses on the unique challenges to creativity that women face in the modern world, Women, Writing, and Soul-Making offers techniques and encouragement to anyone seeking to unlock their creative inner selves.Website: http://www.malaprops.com

The 5k Shopping Cart Race: An Idiotarod

Nov 22, 11AM-2PM, River Arts District (Riverside St., Roberts St., Lyman St.,Craven St & Clingman Ave), Asheville  NC. The Idiotarod is a lot like the legendary Alaskan Sled Dog Race called the IdiDarod, which is a dog sled competition that spans over 1150 miles of Alaska’s roughest, most beautiful terrain that Mother Nature has to offer. The Idiotarod is essentially the same thing except we’ll cover 5 kilometers and instead of dogs we use people (idiots) and instead of sleds we use shopping carts (super pods of wonder). Participants usually adopt a theme for their team and decorate themselves and their cart accordingly. Fun trickery also comes into play as participants compete for one of six awards including. Live music by Levi Douglas and Zach Blew at the Wedge After Bash! Website: http://www.ashevilleidiotarod.com/

Lucero "Ramblin' Roadshow & Memphis Revue" in Asheville

Nov 20, 8PM-11PM, The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville NC. Playing between 150-200 live shows a year, Lucero has come to be known as much for their hard-touring work ethic as for their critically acclaimed records. In addition to his work with the band, lead singer Ben Nichols also released a solo record in early 2009 and co-stars in MTV’s $5 Cover, a series about the Memphis music scene.Website: http://theorangepeel.net/

Christmas Concert in Asheville

Nov 20, 7:30PM-9:30PM, Diana Wortham Theatre, 2 S. Pack Square, Asheville  NC.  Music for the Holiday Season performed by stars of the Asheville Lyric Opera and some of western North Carolina's finest musicians. The Downtown Association and the City of Asheville are proud to present the first ever Christmas Concert by The Asheville Lyric Opera to kick off the holiday season. On the eve of the holiday parade, the Christmas Concert will start at 8pm at the Diana Wortham Theater. Featuring the most beloved Christmas solos and choral arrangements, the concert will be sure to lift your holiday spirits. Performers will include the Mars Hill College Jazz Band, Bervard College Chamber Choir, Celebration Children's Singers, Soundings High School Ensemble, and featured soloists from Asheville Lyric Opera. The concert benefits Hearts with Hands charity organization and their campaign for disadvantaged youth in our community.Website: http://www.ashevillelyric.org/

Art Break, Ruth Asawa: Drawing in Space

Nov 20, 12PM-1PM, Asheville Art Museum, 2 So. Pack Square, Asheville  NC. Join a member of the Asheville Art Museum's Curatorial Staff on a guided tour of the exciting exhibition Ruth Asawa: Drawing in Space. This exhibition celebrates the unique career of Ruth Asawa (1926 - ), an artist whose looped-wire sculptures and richly detailed drawings defied traditional conventions.Website: http://www.ashevilleart.org/

Main Course Dining in Asheville

Nov 19th at the Venue on Market Street, Asheville NC. AIR’s (Asheville Independent Restaurant Association) Main Course Dining is back with buy one get one free deals all over the city! Join us for the Taste of Asheville launch party. The Taste of Asheville will feature culinary delights from the restaurants in the 2010 Main Course Dining Program.The evening includes food from each of the 18 restaurants participating in the Main Course Dining program and complimentary beer and wine. A cash bar for liquor drinks will also be available. For more info or tickets: http://airasheville.org/

Drivin' N Cryin' at Grey Eagle

Nov 19, 8PM, Grey Eagle Music Hall, Asheville NC. Drivin N Cryin will put out their first record in twelve years. Great American Bubble Factory wil be released on September 29, 2009 on Vintage Earth Music with marketing and distribution provided by Thirty Tigers/RED. "This record is the perfect crescendo to a long twenty-plus year career of the band. I think we've found the true essence of what we started to build back in 1985," says Kevn Kinney. Website: http://greyeagle.musictoday.com

63rd Asheville Holiday Parade.

Nov 21, 11AM. This year's Parade theme is "Our Appalachian Holidays" with singer/songwriters/storytellers David Holt and Laura Boosinger as co-Grand Marshals. The Express Personnel Clydesdale horses will headlining the Parade this year as well. Co-sponsored by The City of Asheville and the Asheville Merchants Corporation.

Website: http://www.ashevilleparade.org/

(If you can't be at the parade, watch it Thanksgiving or Christmas morning on WLOS-Channel 13)

Gingerbread House Competition and Display in Asheville

Nov 18 - Jan 3, The Grove Park Inn, Asheville NC.   National Gingerbread House Competition and Display  Experience the enchantment of gingerbread. Contestants from across the country will bring their culinary masterpieces this holiday season for display. The Competition and judging will take place on Nov. 16, 2009 and the gingerbread houses will be on display afterward. Community Viewing is Monday-Thursday only.
Resort Guests may view the display at anytime. Stories of Gingerbread" Guided Tours go behind the scenes and to the front of the lines with our newest addition to the world of gingerbread! These specialty tours are available Monday-Saturday throughout the display period. $10 Adults; $5 Children (12 & under).

Christmas Victorian Style in Asheville

Now through Jan 3, Smith-McDowell House Museum, Asheville NC. Celebrate Christmas the old-fashioned way. The Smith-McDowell House Museum's time-line of authentically decorated period rooms showcase the evolution of Christmas celebrations and decorations.

Friday the 13th Beery, not Scarey

Nov 13, 5PM-7PM, Hops and Vines, Asheville NC. A tasting of some of our favorite beer from Belgium.  Brasserie d'Achouffe has been at it since 1982 staring out as a small artisian brewery.  Today, with high demand for this beer all over the world, it is now brewed by Duvel Moortgat Brewery. This week's tastings:
LA CHOUFFE is an unfiltered blonde beer, which is re-fermented in the bottle as well as in the keg.
HOUBLON CHOUFFE was brewed for the first time in 2006.  It is an ‘Indian Pale ale’ type of beer.
Mc CHOUFFE is an unfiltered dark beer, which is re-fermented in the bottle as well as in the keg.

Webstie: http://www.hopsandvines.net

Michelle Malone Live Concert

Nov 12, 9PM, The Garage at Biltmore, 101 Fairview Road, Suite B, Asheville NC. Michele Malone offers a high-spirited stripped down blend of rootsy acoustic slide, gritty electric blues and explosive vocals that harkens back to the lost recordings of Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams and The Rolling Stones.   The Garage at Biltmore is a 300 person capacity live music venue, art gallery, beer bar and in house coffee shop (Caffiend) with recording studio on site (Tribe Studios). Website: http://www.livewireasheville.com/

Visualizing Human Rights Anti-Conference

Nov 14, 9:00AM. - 5:00 PM,  UNC Asheville. The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to partner with UNC Asheville to present an anti-conference on human rights. The anti-conference will feature dance, theatre and musical performances scheduled throughout the day and evening on the UNCA campus. There will be a reception at the Highsmith Student Union in honor of Luzene Hill's installation art exhibition. Hill is a Cherokee artist and is the program outreach director of the Oconoluftee Institute for Cultural Arts. Website: http://www.ashevilleart.org

Zambra's Hosts Wine Dinner

Nov 12, 7PM-10PM, Zambra's, 85 W Walnut Street, Asheville NC. Enjoy a delicious Mediterranean wine dinner with five courses of Zambra's wonderful dishes accompanied by wines from the Weinhaus. Zambra offers a feat for the senses with contemporary twists on the food of Spain and North Africa paired with 100s of wines from the "Land of the Sun", the Liberias Peninsula. Website: http://www.zambratapas.com/

Booksigning for "The Knowing"

Nov 12, 7PM-8PM, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, 55 Haywood St.,Asheville NC. Novelist Jennifer Elizabeth Daigle conducts a reading of her debut book “The Knowing”. A brief Review: It's hard to find such a unique read as Daigle’s, “The Knowing,” with characters that you truly miss when you finish the book, a plot that is extremely intelligent without being exhausting, and writing that feels like actual literature. The sensual descriptions, from deep forest night to the landscape of a mafia-type underground, pull you in, and the heroine stands out with a vibrant, unique wit that evokes the author’s Southern roots. Website: http://www.malaprops.com

Howl at the moon in Asheville

Nov 10, 6:00PM - 8:00PM, WNC Nature Center, ASHEVILLE NC.  Wolf Howl -  Cry out to the moon with our Red and Grey Wolves at our Wolf Howl from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Trek with the staff to our on-site wolf habitats for a howling session with our experts. Hear the legends and lore of these top predators and then discover for yourself the real "truths" of these elusive creatures. $10 per person and are sold in advance only. Website: http://www.wildwnc.org/

Make 'em laugh

The latest edition to downtown Asheville's nightlife is a new comedy club, Funny Business Comedy Club. Loccated in the S&W building at 56 Patton Avenue the Club offers performances Friday & Saturday at 8:00PM and 10:30PM. The Grand Opening is tonight with Lachlan Patterson, from Comedy Central and Montreal's Just for Laughs. Tickets may be purchased online. Website: http://www.ashevillecomedy.com

Meet the Maker

Nov 12, 06:00 PM-08:00 PM, UNC Asheville, One University Heights, Asheville NC. The UNC-A Craft Campus welcomes Suzanne Ramljak, a writer, art historian, and curator, and current editor of Metalsmith magazine. Ramljak will speak about the UNC Center for Craft Creativity and Design exhibition Different Tempers: Jewelry & Blacksmithing, curated by Ramljak. Lecture will be held in the Owen Conference Center, 3rd floor of Owen Hall, UNC Asheville. Website: http://www.unca.edu/craftcampus/

Cold Mountain Verticle Tasting

Nov 6, 5PM-7PM, Hops and Vines, Asheville NC. The tasting includes three vintages of Highland's Cold Mountain Winter ale!  The 2009 Cold Mtn. arrived last Tuesday and is a big hit as usual. The new beer will be tasted alongside bottles that have been aged for a year or two, when the spices and flavors have married. Website: http://hopsandvines.net

5K Superhero Race in Asheville

Nov 7, 04:30 PM-07:30 PM, Asheville Brewing Company, 77 Coxe Ave., Asheville  NC. Superheroes from all corners of the universeconvene in an epic clash of titans. Can you outrun The Flash, or keep up with Wonder Woman? Show the world who the fastest superhero really is! This event benefits the local heroes of the Asheville/Buncombe Fire, police and rescue departments. Website: http://www.superhero5k.com/

WNC Fly Fishing Expo

Nov 7-8, WNC Agricultural Center, 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd., Fletcher  NC. The WNC Fly Fishing Expo is the region's first event devoted to fly fishing in the Southeast. In addition to instruction and presentations by the sport's top experts, the event will feature an exhibitors' hall with all major fly fishing vendors, area fly shops and guide services, and much more.Website: http://www.wncflyfishingexpo.com/

Hansel and Gretel in the mountains

Nov 6, North Buncombe High School, 890 Clarks Chapel Rd, Weaverville  NC. Asheville Lyric Opera presents the children’s story come to life in an educational performance of Humperdinck’s timeless “Hansel and Gretel.” Website: http://www.ashevillelyric.org/

Art Break at the Asheville Art Museum

Nov 6, 12-1PM, Asheville Art Museum, 2 So. Pack Square, Asheville  NC. The Museum presents lunchtime Art Breaks, a series of gallery talks and presentations designed to inform and engage you in dialogue with members of our curatorial and education departments, docents and special guests. Join an informative member of the Asheville Art Museum's Docents on a guided tour of the exciting exhibitions Looking Forward and Looking Back.Website: http://www.ashevilleart.org/

MOMIX: ReMIX in Asheville

Nov 17-18, 8PM, Dianne Wortham Theatre, Asheville NC. Audiences the world over, including Asheville several times in the past decade, take absolute delight in this highly unusual, incredibly talented, and gleefully entertaining dance company. Presenting works of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty, MOMIX's dancer-illusionists conjure up a world of surrealistic images using  Read more...

Meet the Maker at Grovewood

Nov 7-8, 11AM-3PM, The Grovewood Gallery, Asheville NC. Meet the Maker: Doll Maker Charlie Patricolo.  Long time doll maker, Charlie Patricolo, will be demonstrating her techniques on dolls in various stages of completion. Have a chance to meet Charlie, ask questions about her work, and be inspired by her wonderful creations.Website: http://www.grovewood.com/

Save the French Broad River Raffle

This is your chance to save the planet and win some great outdoor gear and other prizes valued at over $4000. Buy a $10 raffle ticket and be entered to WIN ONE OF EIGHT prize packages. The winners will be selected monthly starting in May and ending in December. Step up, do your part. 

Proceeds benefit RiverLink, a regional non-profit spearheading the economic and environmental revitalization of the French Broad River and its tributaries as a place to work, live and play.

"Undaunted Heart" at Malaprop's

Nov 6, 7PM-8:15PM, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, 55 Haywood St., Asheville  NC. Author Suzy Barile will present her book, Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle and a Yankee General. Barile’s work chronicles the true and controversial affair between Ella Swain, daughter of then UNC-Chapel Hill President David Swain, and Union General Smith Atkins. Barile’s impeccable research separates fact from myth and balances her narrative with Ella’s personal and revealing letters to her parents. Website: http://www.malaprops.com

LINT (Ladies in New Textiles) Exhibit

Nov 3 - Dec 31, Groovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Road, Asheville  NC. The downstairs Spotlight Gallery at the Groovewood will feature fiber-art wall hangings by LINT (Ladies in New Textiles)through the end of the year. An artists’ reception will be held in the gallery on Saturday, November 7 from 11am - 3pm. Light refreshment will be served. The exhibition and reception are free of charge and open to the public. Website: http://www.grovewood.com

First Wednesday Free afternoons at the Art Museum

The Asheville Art Museum has announced its "Free First Wednesdays" offer. The first Wednesday of each month form 3PM-5PM the Museum will be free to the public. 2 So. Pack Square, Asheville NC. Website: http://www.ashevilleart.org/