Grindfest AVL returns for three days in the River Arts District. Plus, Dirty Logic celebrates five years; Indigenous Writers’ Workshop; and more.

Grindfest AVL returns for three days in the River Arts District. Plus, Dirty Logic celebrates five years; Indigenous Writers’ Workshop; and more.
More than 30 bands on three stages plus classes covering everything from aquaponics to regenerative agriculture practices are on the schedule for the three-day festival.
“We believe that building healthy communities requires education, but that to sustain and uplift those healthy communities you need to ensure education is fun, authentic and organic,” says Morgan Markowitz, Xpand Fest’s operations director.
The streets of downtown Asheville were free of cars on Sept. 17 — but that doesn’t mean they were quiet. Open Streets Asheville returned for its second year, filling the roadways with people and activities, including art, dance, sports and music.
Yoga doesn’t end when you get off the mat, say several local yoga instructors, who broaden their practice to include working for social justice.
The two-day event celebrates artisan bread by bringing together local bread enthusiasts and professional bakers to hone their baking techniques, explore ideas and network.
LEAF festival, held last weekend at Lake Eden in Black Mountain, started chilly but quickly heated up with music, dance, performance and visual art. On Friday, hip-hop artist Chali 2na took the Lakeside stage with jazz-fusion band Naughty Professor and performed two songs with students from Eliada Homes. Electronic/world music collective Beats Antique headlined to […]
In advance of the fall iteration of LEAF, held at Lake Eden in Black Mountain, Xpress is talking with a number of LEAF performers about their work and what they have in store for the weekend-long music and art festival.
Andrew Scotchie is a steady force in the local music scene. Frontman of Andrew Scotchie & The River Rats, Scotchie is one of the most active touring musicians in town and the founder and coordinator of Asheville Barnaroo Music Festival, a three-day event held at Franny’s Farm in Leicester. “First and foremost, it’s a big […]
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.
Local wellness, food and art vendors converged on Pack Square Park on Sunday to celebrate all things organic and sustainable.
Festival organizer Kris Kraft talks about the numerous changes to this year’s festival and why there is no longer a WNC Chef’s Challenge. Photo gallery from Sweet and the Grand Tasting by Adam McMillan
Celebrating the second LEAF Downtown festival with musical performances, festival vendors and attendees.
LEAF Downtown, which returns on Saturday and Sunday, July 30-31, has a decidedly local focus.
This year’s lineup, scheduled by Jeff Whitworth of Worthwhile Sounds includes a danceable mic of funk, soul, rock, bluegrass and more — and many of the acts are locally based.
Gospel-rapper Chance the Artist, an Asheville native currently based in Atlanta, headlines the Goombay on Sunday, Sept. 13. After turning his life around an devoting himself to positive rhymes, Chance finds himself on the cusp of some potentially major turning points, including the forthcoming debut of an official website, a DJ to enhance his live shows and a team to assist him on the business side.
Photos from August include ZZ Top, Counting Crows, Perpetual Groove, Hard Working Americans, HELLYEAH, Bruce Hornsby, Four Tops, Marcus King Band, The Mantras and more.
This year, Independence Day falls on a Saturday, which leaves you with more freedom to explore what this historic day has to offer.
Grammy-nominated kid-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo has been regularly making the trip back to LEAF from his new home base in California. Here, he talks about the festival, plans for his own musical trajectory, and his special equation for LEAF maximization.
The 2015 lineup for LEAF, which prides itself on its globally conscious reach, is unsurprisingly excellent. Topping the bills each night are acts that range from soul revival firebrand Charles Bradley & his Extraordinaires to Australian world-roots act Xavier Rudd & the United Nations, demonstrating the festival’s knack for mixing quality bedrock American music with an eclectic range of styles that span the Earth.
The inaugural Asheville Amadeus Festival — which runs March 17-22 — sees the Asheville Symphony Orchestra team up not only with Highland Brewing Co., but also with local groups ranging from N.C. Stage Company and the Asheville Art Museum to the Blue Ridge Orchestra and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville.