2020 Connect Beyond Festival: Artists, Lineups, Tickets and Details
POSTPONED - Connect Beyond Festival (Asheville, NC): Postponed
The 2020 Connect Beyond Festival has been postponed.
To read a statement from festival organizers, and for more information, please visit the Connect Beyond Festival web site.
Original Post:
After a record-setting second year, the Connect Beyond Festival has announced the first wave of artists who will make up an all-star lineup at the three-day event in 2020.
At the Connect Beyond Festival in April 2020, you’ll see inspirational live music performances, hear from nationally renowned creative leaders and be among the first to screen new film projects. Think of the festival as TED Talks meets your favorite podcast meets NPR Music's Tiny Desk concert series meets Sundance Film Festival!
The 2020 lineup features Megan Twohey, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigative reporter for the The New York Times and co-author of the bestselling book SHE SAID: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement. Also among the headliners is critically acclaimed Americana/folk duo Mandolin Orange, who will take the stage Friday night for an intimate performance. That Friday evening performance also will feature an exclusive interview with Bob Boilen, host of NPR's All Songs Considered and creator of Tiny Desk Concerts.
The festival events are spread across several venues in Asheville including The Orange Peel, Wortham Center for the Performing Arts and the Fine Arts Theatre. For a full list of festival events and to purchase tickets, please visit the Connect Beyond Festival web site.
Asheville is a natural place for a festival celebrating creative people. Creatives have flocked here to the Blue Ridge Mountains for more than a century. And, Rolling Stone Magazine recently named Asheville the new "Must-Visit Music City." Given the city's rich literary and music foundation, festival founder Jessica Tomasin has discovered a wealth of local collaborators with national connections.
"I created this festival as an opportunity for people to connect through shared experiences and storytelling," Tomasin said. "My hope is that people walk away from the weekend with new connections, new perspectives, and new resources to help them create the world they want to live in. I think of this as so much more than a festival; it's really a tool that uses storytelling as a platform to build a community that supports one another."
How to Experience the Connect Beyond Festival in Asheville
At the Connect Beyond Festival, you are in control to create your experience.
Tailor your personal itinerary by choosing from impactful panels, presentations and music-forward showcases and performances at The Orange Peel and Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. You can also choose from a rotating collection of ground-breaking, culture-shifting films curated by festival partner Social Construct Films at the Fine Arts Theatre.
Festival passes are now on sale. There are a limited quantity of advance $99 three-day passes that include access to the headlining Friday night performance. Or, you can purchase an advance $199 three-day VIP pass which includes accelerated entry, VIP seating, daily access to VIP happy hour parties, a special Sunday morning brunch and networking opportunities with panelists and performers.
New ticket specials this year include:
- Community passes
- Student-priced passes
- Travel packages
For guests who want to support the festival but who can not attend, consider purchasing a $45 three-day community pass. For every pass sold, Connect Beyond will donate two tickets to a youth education program for Asheville community youth to attend the festival.
The new student-priced passes offer a 20 percent discount to students with a valid .edu email.
And, the travel packages are in conjunction with Cambria Hotel Downtown Asheville. The packages begin at $548 and $784 respectively and include a two night atay, two general admission or VIP passes, complimentary breakfast at Hemingway's Cuba Restaurant and Bar, and more to be announced.
For a full list of festival events and to purchase tickets, please visit the Connect: Beyond the Page web site.
This experience is made possible, in part, by funding from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority through its Tourism Product Development Fund supported by visitor spending.
Photo credits: Top photo and panel discussion photo by Jason Tarr. Panel discussion at Echo Mountain Recording Studio photo by David Simchock, Connect Beyond Festival.
