Things to Do in Asheville This Weekend -- October 22-24, 2021

Ready to make your weekend plans? Experience some of the best events happening all around the Blue Ridge Mountains. As you plan your getaway to Asheville, check out our easy-to-use accommodations search tool to find room availability and rates.

Here are ideas for what to do this weekend:

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair

Friday - Sunday, October 22-24, begins daily at 9 a.m.
WNC Ag Center - Fletcher

Head out to an expo celebrating all things animal fiber. Watch live demonstrations of spinning, weaving, felting, and knitting, or get hands on by joining a workshop class to improve your skills. Multiple vendors will be on site selling unique apparel and wearables.

Black Mountain Old Depot Art by the Tracks

Saturday, October 23, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The Old Depot Gallery - Black Mountain

A renowned art and craft show returns to Black Mountain this weekend. See the inspired work of artists from around the region at this juried event. From the 1930's to the mid 1950's, Black Mountain was home for Black Mountain College, which still claims alumni of worldwide renown in the arts. More and more, the town is becoming a center for arts and crafts, antiques and furniture.

Eliada Homes Fall Festival

Friday - Sunday, October 22-24, various times
Eliada Homes
This family-focused event includes a small corn maze, a corn cannon, bouncy pillow, hayrides, a straw maze, and a number of other activities for kids to enjoy. The cost is $10 per ticket and proceeds help fund Eliada's mission to help children succeed.

North Carolina Ceramic Arts Festival

Saturday, October 23, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Pack Square Park - Downtown Asheville

Head downtown this weekend for an outdoor ceramic arts festival showcasing the works of over 40 national ceramic artists. This genre-spanning festival includes tilework, sculpture, jewelry and pottery. In addition to the art, there will be food trucks and live raku demonstrations.

Vernados Circus

Friday - Sunday, October 22-24, various times
Asheville Outlets

Be transported back in time to the center ring of a centuries-old tradition under the big top tent. Enjoy an amazing assortment of aerialists, acrobats, juggling, balancing, comedy, daredevilry, magic, and musical production. This event is very much like the original circus traditions, but without the animals.

Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont

Friday - Saturday, October 22-23, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Silvermont Park - Brevard

A signature feature of this annual, family friendly-event is a walking trail filled with a carved pumpkin light displays. There's a fine gravel trail for strollers and wheelchairs. There is also live music, food trucks, storytelling, face-painting, and a white squirrel scavenger hunt.

25th Annual Surreal Sirkus Arts Festival

Saturday, October 23, 2 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Pack Square Park

Things are going to get surreal in downtown Asheville this weekend. The Surreal Sirkus Arts Festival celebrates the freaky weirdness that Asheville was, and is, and shall be again! This free festival will feature art installations throughout the park and live music from Snake Oil Medicine Show, Mordaga and Kri (a pioneer of Asheville's psytrance community).

Haunted History Tours of Black Mountain

Friday - Saturday, October 22-23, various times
Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center

Take a spirited walking tour through Black Mountain’s downtown historic district. You'll learn about the humorous, haunting and harrowing history of the Swannanoa Valley while being visited by some of its most famous spirits. This event will highlight the town’s many tragedies and triumphs - and the many ghosts, friendly and frustrated, born from these events.

Live Music, Comedy, Dance and Theatre

Asheville's booming and diverse music scene takes center stage this weekend with bands set to perform musical styles from bluegrass to jazz to rock & roll. And, get ready to laugh! The live performance schedule also includes comedy shows.

Friday (October 22):

• The Red Clay Ball with Red Clay Revival, Brushfire Stankgrass, & Pauly Juhl (Bluegrass/Rock) at Salvage Station, 6:30 p.m.
• Reasonably Priced Babies (Improv Comedy) at Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.
• Ghosted Comedy Bus Tour at LaZoom Tours, 7 p.m.
• Bloodbath: Victoria's Secret (Theatre) at The Magnetic Theater, 7:30 p.m.
• Free Theater! Living Dead in Denmark at Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 7:30 p.m.
• Autumn at the Opry (Bluegrass/Country/HonkyTonk) at Flat Rock Playhouse, 8 p.m.
• Brad Sativa (Stand-up Comedy) at The Getaway River Bar, 8 p.m.
• Kim Ritchey (Singer/Songwriter) at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 8:30 p.m.
• Lera Lynn (Singer/Songwriter) at The Grey Eagle Music Hall and Pub, 9 p.m. 

Saturday (October 23):

• Dark City Rockfest (Multiple Rock Bands) at Silverados, 1 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
• Autumn at the Opry (Bluegrass/Country/HonkyTonk) at Flat Rock Playhouse, 2 p.m.
• Drive By Truckers at Rabbit Rabbit, 7 p.m.
• Spafford (Jam) at The Orange Peel, 7 p.m.
• Stories from the Asheville Storytelling Circle at Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.
• Gojira with Knocked Loose & Alien Weaponry (Heavy Metal) at Harrah's Cherokee Center - Asheville, 7 p.m.
• Ghosted Comedy Bus Tour at LaZoom Tours, 7 p.m.
• Bloodbath: Victoria's Secret (Theatre) at The Magnetic Theater, 7:30 p.m.
• Free Theater! Living Dead in Denmark at Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 7:30 p.m.
• We're Locals - LIVE multimedia show at Sly Grog Lounge, 8 p.m.
• Autumn at the Opry (Bluegrass/Country/HonkyTonk) at Flat Rock Playhouse, 8 p.m.
• Zoe & Cloyd Album Release Show (Americans/Bluegrass/Old-Time/Folk) at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 8:30 p.m.
• Black Midi (Rock) at The Grey Eagle Music Hall and Pub, 9 p.m.

Sunday (October 24):

• Autumn at the Opry (Bluegrass/Country/HonkyTonk) at Flat Rock Playhouse, 2 p.m.
• Bloodbath: Victoria's Secret (Theatre) at The Magnetic Theater, 4 p.m.
• Grayson Jenkins (Country/Folk) at The Grey Eagle Music Hall and Pub, 5 p.m.
• Theo Von (Stand-up Comedy) at The Orange Peel, 7 p.m.
• Ghosted Comedy Bus Tour at LaZoom Tours, 7 p.m.
• Free Theater! Living Dead in Denmark at Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 7:30 p.m.
• Something You've Got with Reggie Headen & Peggy Ratusz (Genre-spanning duets) at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 7:30 p.m.
• Tonstartsbandht (Rock) at The Grey Eagle Music Hall and Pub, 8 p.m.

Tailgate Markets

Shop fresh and local at the Asheville area's numerous farmers markets and tailgate markets. Here's a look at some of the markets you can enjoy:

• WNC Farmers Market: Open 7 days a week, year-round, at 570 Brevard Road
• East Asheville Tailgate Market: Fridays, 3-6 p.m. at Groce United Methodist Church (954 Tunnel Rd.).
• ASAP Farmers Market: Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at AB Tech Campus Bailey Student Center (340 Victoria Road).
• North Asheville Tailgate Market: Saturdays, 8 a.m. to Noon at UNC Asheville Campus (1 University Heights).
• Black Mountain Tailgate Market: Saturdays, 9 a.m. to Noon at First Baptist Church Parking Lot (130 Montreat Road)

Visit an art studio or art exhibition

Asheville is home to hundreds of artists, galleries and studios making creative expression a way of life here in the mountains. Here is a look at some of the current art exhibitions in the city:

• Walter B. Stephen Pottery at Asheville Art Museum through October 27, 2021
• The Glass Pumpkin Patch at North Carolina Glass Center through October 31, 2021
• In Kinship with the Land at Asheville Gallery of Art through October 31, 2021
• Harpies, Hybrids, and Hidden Worlds at The Bender Gallery through October 31, 2021
• Rural Avant-Garde: The Mountain Lake Experience at Asheville Art Museum, through November 1, 2021
• Haec Culti at Continuum Art NC, through November 9, 2021
• Suite Américaine at Center for Craft, through November 26, 2021
• Mel Chin's Wake at 44 Collier Avenue, through December 1, 2021
• Unearthing Our Forgotten Past: Fort San Juan Exhibit at Smith-McDowell House Museum, through December 18, 2021
• TL Lange: "Twenty Years Gone" Retrospective Exhibition at Phil Mechanics Studio, through January 1, 2022
• Black in Black on Black: Making the Invisible Visible in Western North Carolina at Center for Craft, through January 7, 2022
• A Dance of Images and Words: The Nancy Graves/Pedro Cuperman Tango Portfolio at Asheville Art Museum through January 10, 2022
• Gestures: Mid Century Abstraction from the Collection at Asheville Art Museum through January 24, 2022
• Modernist Design at Black Mountain College through January 24, 2021

Dreamscapes by Beyond Prison Artist Alliance Exhibition

Friday, October 22, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Pink Dog Creative

The artists of Beyond Prison Artist Alliance approach the theme Dreamscapes from a wide angle: somewhere between dream and reality, escape and landscape. The work in this exhibition expresses the unique perspectives and styles of the ten contributing artists. The incarcerated participants in this program are active and highly skilled artists, many of whom hold long sentences. More than anything, the artists at AMCI would like you to know that they have talent, heart, and soul and do not want to be forgotten. Beyond Prison aims to be a human and empowering force, one that challenges all of its participants, incarcerated and free, to imagine art as an essential tool for building a more just future.

Go for a hike

Experience incredible layered mountain vistas, thundering waterfalls and lush green forests on a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Begin browsing hikes with our Asheville Hiking Guide. And, find the hike just right for you by checking out our Asheville Hike Finder tool. The tool gives you the opportunity to filter hikes by length, difficult, popularity and distance from Asheville.

Leave No Trace

As you're out exploring the trails and waterfalls that make the Blue Ridge Mountains so special, it's important to leave everything as you found it. Follow these seven principles of Leave No Trace to ensure you and future generations can enjoy these mountains for years to come.