Calendar of Events

Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM

The Big Crafty — a hand-to-heart celebration of creative exuberance — returns on Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, noon-6 p.m. daily at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena in downtown Asheville. $10 entry on Saturday, free to enter on Sunday.

Now, perhaps more than ever, The Big Crafty believes in supporting creative venturers. As Western North Carolina’s creative community recovers from Hurricane Helene, The Big Crafty offers a space for makers to sell their work and for fans of unique art and craft to support those makers … while also snapping up memorable and meaningful holiday gifts.

Shop for ceramics, prints, jewelry, woodwork and more, while also celebrating the vibrant and resurgent creative community of WNC.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Come celebrate our 10th anniversary with us and support local artists & antique vendors that have been impacted by Hurricane Helene.

The market will be held at the beautiful Haywood Park Hotel Event Space, 46 Haywood Street, from 10 am – 4 pm both days.

Admission is FREE! Park on the street or in the Harrah’s Cherokee Center or Wall Street Parking Decks.

Adoptable puppies with Mountain Pet Rescue. This is an INDOOR market and service dogs only are allowed.

Food & coffee onsite

The Big Crafty — a hand-to-heart celebration of creative exuberance — returns on Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, noon-6 p.m. daily at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena in downtown Asheville. $10 entry on Saturday, free to enter on Sunday.

Now, perhaps more than ever, The Big Crafty believes in supporting creative venturers. As Western North Carolina’s creative community recovers from Hurricane Helene, The Big Crafty offers a space for makers to sell their work and for fans of unique art and craft to support those makers … while also snapping up memorable and meaningful holiday gifts.

Shop for ceramics, prints, jewelry, woodwork and more, while also celebrating the vibrant and resurgent creative community of WNC.

Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM

Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM

Every Friday we’ll be having a cozy movie night in the gallery featuring some amazing foreign films curated by our very own film-buff Carlos Steward!

The movie starts at 7PM sharp; B.Y.O. snacks/drinks!

Every Monday, Ivy Rozen, Senior Editor of The Black Mountain Press, will host a poetry-specific open mic from 6:30pm-9pm. Each poet will be able to share 2-3 poems, and occasionally we will have local celebrity poets close out our night with a featured reading (email Ivy at [email protected] if you’d like to be a featured poet)!

NC Writers Network & The Brandy Bar + Cocktails feature author Tony Robles as the next poet in their series “In the Company of Writers.” The program offers a series of personal and conversational dialogues featuring guest writers/poets followed by an open mic forum. These inspirational gatherings will elucidate and entertain those attending. The guest author speaks from 7-8 PM with an open mic from 8 -9 PM. The Chicago blues music of “Hollywood Johnny Cosgrove” (accompanied by Charlie Wilkinson) welcomes you, continues during intermission, and closes the evening. Sign-ups for the open mic are available at the entrance.

Born in San Francisco, Tony Robles now makes his home in Hendersonville. His latest poetry collection, Where the Warehouse Things was published in late 2024 by Redhawk Publications in Hickory, NC. This book focuses on masculinity, set against the backdrop of mechanical parts, tools, and the rough language of men. This, his fourth poetry collection, follows the 2023 collection Thrift Store Metamorphosis (Redhawk Publications). Among his honors, Tony was short-listed for Poet Laureate of San Francisco in 2017, named Carl Sandburg Writer in Residence by the Carl Sandburg Historic Home in 2020 and twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is working on his first novel.

French Broad River Academy (FBRA) invites you to a screening of the No Man’s Land Film Festival (NMLFF), a curated selection of adventure-based short films that celebrate the power, strength, and determination of women in the great outdoors. The films highlight inspiring stories of female adventurers from around the world, and are tailored for student and family viewing. The event is open to the public.

The evening starts at 5:30 pm with a panel discussion by Asheville-area community outdoor adventure enthusiasts, followed by screening of the short films at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Tickets are $15 per person, available for purchase in advance at https://www.fbra-avl.org/no-mans-land/ or at the door. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit FBRA and the school’s outdoor programming for students.

ABOUT NMLFF: Founded in 2015 in response to the lack of women-representation in the broader outdoor media, the No Man’s Land Film Festival (NMLFF) has grown to become the premier adventure film festival for women and gender non-conforming athletes, storytellers, and filmmakers. Learn more: https://nomanslandfilmfestival.org/

ABOUT FBRA: French Broad River Academy (FBRA) is an independent middle school (grades 6-8) in Asheville, NC, with dual riverfront programs for boys and girls. We integrate rigorous academics with outdoor adventure, service learning, and international travel to help our students become confident, compassionate leaders, ready to take on the world. Learn more about FBRA: fbra-avl.org

Join the Junior League of Asheville and Habitat of Humanity to build homes and change lives! During this build volunteers will frame floors and walls, set trusses, raise roof ladders, install doors and windows, paint, stucco and landscape. No experience is necessary, just come prepared to work hard and have fun!

Partners, family and friends are welcome. This event is open to JLA members and those interested in becoming a member. Bring a bag lunch. Water is provided as well as all tools and safety equipment.
Wear work and weather appropriate clothes, we suggest you bring a hat and gloves.

The 22nd annual Business of Farming Conference, presented by ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project), will be held Feb. 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The conference will take place at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, Henderson County, NC—which is a location change from A-B Tech, as originally announced. The A-B Tech Conference Center is undergoing repairs after serving as a disaster relief location during Hurricane Helene.

The conference focuses on the business side of farming, offering beginning and established farmers financial, legal, operational, and marketing tools to improve farm businesses and make professional connections. This year’s conference will also have a strong emphasis on resilience planning and resources for post-Helene recovery. More than a dozen workshops will be led by innovative farmers and specialists, including You Can’t Do It All: Hiring and Keeping a Productive Team and Planning for Farm Resiliency. A full list of workshops is at asapconnections.org.

Registration is now open at asapconnections.org. The cost is $75 by Feb. 1 and $95 after, with a discount for farm partners registering together. Scholarships are available for limited-resource and BIPOC farmers. The registration price includes a locally sourced breakfast and lunch. Lunch is sponsored by Farm Burger.

Support for the conference is provided in part by Dogwood Health Trust, NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Join us in a volunteer shift with Appalachian Community Relief. We will assist people in shopping for goods in their free store that opened in response to Hurricane Helene. This volunteer event is family friendly, so feel free to bring spouses, children, etc.