In photos: Open Streets Asheville Festival

The inaugural Open Streets Asheville brought residents and visitors into the streets to enjoy downtown in a new way. With Battery Park Avenue, Wall Street and portions of Haywood Street, Patton Avenue and Church Street closed to automotive traffic, folks did art projects, movement-based activities, listened to buskers and relaxed with yoga and massage.

ICYMI: Xpress feature reads of the week

Ahh, Spring is in the air! The tourists are buzzing around downtown and the lovely smell of Bradford pear trees is wafting on the breeze….which means we’re probably in for a heavy frost or one more freak snow shower in the coming weeks. Anyway, here’s some feature stories from the past week, if you’re looking […]

The fire within: Asheville Writers in the Schools hosts slam poetry competitio­n

“I was initially intimidated by slam,” says Kimbi Mullins, also known as Kimbi the Goddess. With a stage name like that — not to mention her magnetic stage presence — it’s hard to picture the Greenville, S.C., poet as anything but confident. “What it did,” she continues, “was bring out a fire in me and my writing through the true spirit of a poetry slam. This is the same advice I give to others who may fear it or be against it for whatever reasons: It allows you to tap into that fire within.”

Venus in Fur gets dressed

A small group of writers, hipsters and creative minds were invited back for the dress rehearsal of N.C. Stage’s new production, Venus In Fur, on Tuesday, March 18. The same group had observed a scene rehearsal two weeks prior, sparking a smattering of blogs, tweets and word-of-mouth buzz over the scintillating production.

Creative Sector Summit aims to help bridge tourism industry and artists

Tourists spend about $1.5 billion in Buncombe County every year and the fourth annual Creative Sector Summit will explore opportunities for local artists to raise that number and better benefit from it. The series of panel discussions, workshops and other events will unfold Thursday-Sunday, March 20-23, at venues throughout downtown Asheville.