This weekend on a shoestring

Thursday, March 22

• Spellbound Children’s Bookshop, 21 Battery Park Ave., hosts a premiere party for the highly-anticipated theatrical release of The Hunger Games, featuring free refreshments, a costume contest, nerf archery and a reading from the first chapter of the book by local author Megan Shepherd. At 11 p.m., the party will caravan to the Biltmore Grand theater for a midnight screening of the film. Purchasing tickets in advance is highly recommended. Pre-party is free, ticket prices apply for movie screening. 9 p.m. 

• The two-day, F-Word Film Festival, “a celebration of images by and about women,” continues Thursday with a screening of Miss Representation, a film which “exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader.” A panel discussion, featuring Mayor Terry Bellamy, Darcel Grimes, Jess McCuan and more, will immediately follow the film. Hosted in UNCA’s Humanities Lecture Hall. 7 p.m. Free.

• Every musician’s greatest fear is having their gear stolen. In February, local multi-instrumentalist Dup Crosson of Saint Solitude awoke to a living nightmare when he discovered that more than $5,000 of musical equipment was taken from his practice space during the night. This weekend, The LAB, 39 N. Lexington Ave., hosts Dup Fest, a benefit to help Crosson purchase new gear, featuring performances by Knives and Daggars, WordLine, Albert Adams and, of course, Saint Solitude. Read more about the theft here. 8:30 p.m. $5.

• Former Ahleuchatistas bassist Derek M. Poteat is is back with an avant-garde solo bass project that’s as dark and experimental as one would expect from the man who once toured with Asheville’s most mind-boggling prog rockers. From his bio, “Explorations on the electric bass – prodding, pulling and conjuring to elicit sounds that soothe and disturb. Tracks are all electric bass and upright electric bass through effects, multi-tracked and tweaked to focus on the spectrum of sounds bass can produce. Most of the tracks developed improvisationally, letting the sound grow and develop, and then following. A trusting in the sounds that come to life in the creative process, letting all expectations and boundaries go. A belief in music to help and to heal through sounds, especially the musician himself. A light through dark times that illuminates a brighter path. A call to all humans to connect and to share through music – feel my joy, feel my pain.” Poteat plays BoBo Gallery, 22 N. Lexington Ave., with Human Energy Field accompanied by video from Jason Scott Furr. 9 p.m. $5. 

Friday, March 23

• “Please join us at City Lights Bookstore for a double book launch,” begins a page on the business’ website. “FutureCycle Press will unveil its annual anthology of poetry and flash fiction, as well as a new poetry collection from Scott Owens titled For One Who Knows How to Own Land. Owens and a few of the contributors to the anthology will read some of their work. Featured writers will be Glenda Councill Beal, Robert S. King, Scott Owens, Mary Ricketson and Carole Richard Thompson.” 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva. 7 p.m. Free.

• “The Asheville Art Museum is delighted to announce the grand opening and inauguration of Art works PRIMED, the Museum’s interim expansion project,” begins a release on its website. “Since late last year, the museum has undergone a major transformation, temporarily expanding to adjacent facilities to better accommodate the museum’s growing schedule of exhibitions and educational programming enjoyed by audiences of all ages. …The community is invited to a PRIMED: Members + Friends Launch Party … the evening’s festivities include live music, art demonstrations and dancing, and guests will enjoy appetizers, signature cocktails and a cash bar. A 10% discount to join the museum will also be offered during the Launch Party. Friday, March 23, also marks the opening of several new exhibitions at the Museum.” 2 S. Pack Square. 7:30-11 p.m. Free for members/$5 non-members.

• “In a small dilapidated village in 1980s Hungary, life has come to a virtual standstill,” begins a synopsis of Satantago (1994 Hungary) by Bela Tarr. “The villagers expect to receive a large cash payment that evening, and then plan to leave. Some want to abscond earlier with more than their fair share of the money. However, they hear that the smooth talking Irimias, whom they thought had died, is coming back. They are apprehensive that he will take all their money in one of his grandiose schemes to keep the community going.” Screen the first half of the nearly eight-hour epic at the Classic World Cinema Foreign Film Series, hosted weekly in the upstairs Railroad Library of the Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District. 8 p.m. Free.

Saturday, March 24

• Get out and enjoy the warming weather and blooming flowers on a moderate 3.5-mile “Spring Fling” hike along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Trip departs from the Folk Art Center, MP 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 10 a.m. Info: 298-5330.

• It’s time to start thinking about spring planting, and the Leicester Garden Club is here to help. Join the group for a discussion about “square foot gardening” at the Leicester Library, 1561 Alexander Road. 1 p.m. Free. Info: lgcmember@yahoo.com or 683-7159.

• The Fairview Community Center, 1357 Charlotte Highway, hosts an evening of theatrical physicality with Full Momentum Wrestling (and we’re not talking Greco-Roman, if you hadn’t figured that out already). Performers include Jason Jett, Luscious LeAnn, The Alliance, David Austin, Cyanide and more. 7:30 p.m. $6/children 10 and under free.