Press release from the North Carolina Arboretum:
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (February 18, 2019) – The Western North Carolina Orchid Society (WNCOS) and The North Carolina Arboretum will once again jointly host one of Western North Carolina’s greatest annual plant festivals, the 21st annual Asheville Orchid Festival. As one of the premier orchid events in the Southeast, this exposition is a sanctioned judging event recognized by the American Orchid Society.
The 2019 Asheville Orchid Festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at The North Carolina Arboretum’s Education Center. World-class orchid growers and breeders along with regional orchid societies will exhibit hundreds of orchids in carefully crafted displays during the two-day event. Attendees will discover rare orchid species, cutting-edge hybrids and something for all orchid lovers. In addition to the Orchid Expo, visitors can purchase their own orchid plants and supplies from vendors from across the United States and Ecuador.
Throughout the weekend, WNCOS will host various orchid programs and educational lectures, including a bilingual Spanish/English presentation from Dayaneth Loja Portilla of Ecuagenera Orchidsof Ecuador and a native orchid program from local naturalist and Arboretum educator Scott Dean. Members of WNCOS will also be on-site to answer questions for both novice and expert orchid lovers.
“The Asheville Orchid Festival is the product of 21 years of synergy, passion and experience from some of the best growers and well respected orchid experts in the country,” said Mike Mims, festival chair and president of WNCOS. “We are very excited to have 10 incredible orchid vendors from across the U.S., as well as from Ecuador, coupled with many of our sister orchid societies from across the Carolinas exhibiting this year.”
Admission into the Asheville Orchid Festival is $5 per person, and children 12 and under are free. Standard parking fees apply for non-members of The North Carolina Arboretum. All admission proceeds will benefit WNCOS, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and will help expand the orchid society’s mission of “sharing the excitement and joy of cultivating orchids and promoting orchid conservation.”
“We are thankful for our continued partnership with the Arboretum to be able to host this popular event,” continued Mims. “If you are in Asheville in April, this is a festival not to be missed.”
For more information about the Asheville Orchid Festival, please visit ncarboretum.org or wncos.org.
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