Heading up to the mountains for a change of scenery, pace, and summer temps? Dropping off or picking up for camp maybe? Take a few days for yourself when you make the drive to make a real trip out of it.
While there are waterfalls and hikes galore, plus everyone’s favorite ~ tubing ~ along with the outdoor activities, there are also some fun festivals and festivities this summer to plan a day around. Our picks:
Chow Chow Culinary Festival, Asheville
June 23 – 26, August 4 – 7 & September 8 – 11, 2022
Coming back for the third season, Chow Chow is Asheville’s premier food festival and culinary event series. Held across three weekends during the summer, Chow Chow offers fun, delicious, immersive, meaningful and educational events that celebrate and enrich the unique foodways of Southern Appalachia, while fostering dialogue about issues that impact our community including racial justice, climate change and food justice. Experience flights & bites tasting events, five course dinners, hands-on workshops and more.
Monet and Friends at Biltmore, Asheville
Now through July 10th
No need to visit London’s Tate Gallery or The Met in New York City to see an original Monet, although we wouldn’t fault anyone for doing so. Through July 10, 2022, experience Monet and Friends at Biltmore. In addition to Monet, the exhibit features work by other leading Impressionists, including Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, and Edgar Degas. Ticket prices start at $91 and include the audio-guided tour of Biltmore House.
PBR Tryon Chute Out Bull Riding, Mill Spring
June 24 5:00-10:00 pm
Enjoy 2 nights of nonstop excitement as cowboys battle to the eight second buzzer on some of the nation’s best bulls. TICKETS HERE.
Brevard Summer Music Festival, Brevard
June 24 through August 20
Every summer, the Brevard Music Center presents well-known music performed by many of the Center’s students alongside their instructors. Performances include world-class symphony, opera, folk, bluegrass, country, and jazz. Once again, the Brevard Summer Music Festival promises to be one of Asheville’s top events in 2022.
Tickets to Brevard Music Center’s Summer Festival on sale HERE available by event. You can also choose reserved covered seating —prices vary depending on the concert. Lawn seating is free for children under 17 (with a paying adult) and students 18 and older with a valid ID.
Mountaintop Art and Craft Shows, Highlands
June 25 – 26 and August 27 – 28
Two free summer shows display regional talent, with fine art, rustic furniture, pottery, folk art, woodworking, crafts, clothing, books and more.
Each year, the Highlands Mountaintop Rotary brings together artisans from the region for two summer festivals. The 2022 festivals will take place June 25 – 26 and August 27 – 28. About 80 artisans display and offer their work at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park on Pine St., with some hosting live demonstrations. Live music, food and the cool mountain air all make for a wonderful family event.
While the shows are free, Mountaintop Rotary of Highlands collects and appreciates donations to support their work in the Highlands community. Shows take place, rain or shine, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 828-318-9430 or visit mountaintopshow.com.
Fontana Trestle Train + BBQ and Brews, Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, Bryson City
7/2/2022, 8/20/2022 Departing at 7 pm
Featuring slow-cooked BBQ pork and chicken, prepared fresh and beer tastings showcasing local area breweries, departing from Bryson City at 7 pm, these trains will travel to the Fontana Trestle and beyond remaining parallel to the Fontana Lake stopping at the perfect viewing spot just around sunset for a spectacular view. A delicious BBQ meal will be served during the trip. Returning back to the Bryson City Depot at 9 pm.
Each person ticketed gets their own basket of Southern-style barbeque goodness with 2 hand-pulled pork sliders with Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, and 2 chicken drumsticks drizzled with a white BBQ sauce. Served with Coleslaw and Loaded Baked Potato Salad. Top off the evening with warm seasonal cobbler.
Ticket prices include your meal and a souvenir GSMR glass for 3 different samples of finely crafted Western North Carolina beer. Additional beer will be available for purchase.
Already in the mountains for J4? Lucky You. Here’s a great list of fireworks displays and Fourth of July events in Asheville and Western NC from RomanticAsheville.com
Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, near Banner Elk
July 7-10
Visit one of the state’s most spectacular peaks for the Grandfather Mountain Scottish Highland Games, July 7-10, 2022. There’s fun for every age at the games, including Highland dance competitions, the chance to learn a few words of Gaelic, or how to create a piece of Celtic handiwork. All activities are set soundtracked with the haunting sound of bagpipes. The Scottish Highland Games feature athletic competitions you’ll see nowhere else, including the Hammer Throw, Sheaf Toss, and the premier event—the Caber Toss.
The 2022 games begin on July 7 at 4 pm. Closing ceremonies take place July 10 at 4 pm. Admission (for 2021): $15 -$30 (ages 13 and older) Children (ages 5-12) $5.
Advance ticket sales are now closed
- Shuttle tickets will be available at the shuttle lots(cash only)
- Tickets will be available at the ticket tent and all entrances to the field from July 7 – July 10
- Tickets may be purchased at the office from June 28-July 5
Where to Eat & Shop Near Linville, Sugar Mountain and Grandfather
We asked local interior designer and ABODE boutique owner Mary Tobias Miller for her rec’s on where to go for dinner when in the area of her Linville Abode Boutique. Here are her favorites in the vicinity of Linville Golf Club, Grandfather Mountain Resort, Linville Ridge Resort, Elk River and Diamond Creek, Beech and Sugar Mountain Resorts, and Hound Ears Resort.
ARTISINAL: 1200 Dobbins Rd, Banner Elk, NC 28604
Fine dining – reservations in advance — Fine American Fare in an Aspen-like rustic converted barn setting, part of Diamond Creek Club designed by Wayne Hizanga
REID’S CAFE & CATERING CO: 4004 NC-105 UNIT 8, Sugar Mountain, NC 28604
FARM TO TABLE Fine Dining in a casual environment Menu changes throughout the season (not the same thing as Reids CLT but same owner as the Beacon Butcher Bar in BOONE and the Bettys Biscuits Food Truck)
INN AT LITTLE POND FARM: 208 Valle Cay Drive , Valle Crucis – Vilas, NC 28692
Open to both the public and guests of this higher end B&B, the kitchen chef’s table at Little Pond Farm is a one-of-a-kind culinary experience from start to finish.Dinner includes four courses and wine for $130 per person
Pilot Cove, Brevard
Saturdays July 9 and August 3
Modern Cabins & Affordable Luxury Bordering the Pisgah National Forest with live music every 2nd Saturday in an outdoor concert series running through October ~ live music under the stars and forest canopy at Pilot Cove’s beautiful 300-seat outdoor amphitheater.
BLOWING ROCK TOUR OF HOMES
July 22 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
$30
he 2022 Tour of Homes will be on Friday, July 22. Tickets available from St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church.
The tour will include entrance to several beautiful Blowing Rock homes. Transportation will be provided. Walking to the homes will be an option for guests. The tour begins at 9:00, the last tickets will be sold at 3:00, and the houses close at 5:00. MORE INFO HERE. and a video of the 2021 homes on tour here.
Summer Colors Fine Art Show, Highlands
Presented By: Art League of Highlands July 23, 2022 – July 24, 2022 from 10-5 each day. 100 Cherokee Trail, Sapphire Valley, NC 28774
75th Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, Asheville
July 21 – 24, 2022
In its 75th year, the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands returns to downtown Asheville’s Harrah’s Cherokee Center. Over 200 juried artisans of the Southern Highland Craft Guild will fill both the concourse and arena levels of the venue. Visitors are invited to explore a variety of fine American craft ranging from contemporary to traditional works of clay, wood, metal, glass, fiber, natural materials, paper, leather, mixed media, and jewelry. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to engage with the region’s finest makers. Admission is $10. Children under 12 can enter for free.
Fine Arts and Master Crafts Festival, Sugar Mountain
July 15-17
Sugar Mountain’s Fine Arts and Master Crafts Festival in July will be the first of two juried events, with the second taking place in August. Vendors will bring their hand-produced photography, jewelry, paintings, and glass art, among other crafts.
Folkmoot 2022 Summerfest, Waynesville,
Thursday July 28 to Sunday July 31
Folkmoot invites performance groups from diverse international countries along with local Cherokee and Appalachian performers each year. Audiences can expect approximately 200 dancers and musicians to share culture through music and dance at events throughout western North Carolina in venues between the Cherokee Qualla Boundary and Hickory, North Carolina. Weekend events are scheduled in Haywood County, usually – but not always – including the towns of Waynesville, Canton, Maggie Valley, Clyde and Lake Junaluska. Other events includes a Gala for Friends of Folkmoot, Camp Folkmoot for youth, A Parade of Nations and an International Festival and several special seated events including the Candlelight Closing at Lake Junaluska.
Love Shine Play YOGA Festival, Asheville
July 28-31
Since 2016, The Love♡Shine♡Play Festival (previously Asheville Yoga Festival) has been working to bring the gift of yoga to Asheville through a weekend filled with world-class instructors, dynamic musicians, motivating speakers and a diversity of vendors. This event features 40 presenters and 90+ offerings in downtown Asheville. Co-Owners, Amanda Hale and Sara LaStella have made it their mission to grow the festival into the pre-eminent yoga, health & wellness event in the Southeast.
Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, Asheville
August 4 – 6, 2022
Hailed as the nation’s longest running folk festival, this is the preeminent event for old-time and bluegrass music. Ballad singers, banjo players and cloggers converge to tell stories of a by-gone era through their music and dance, and by doing so they continue to preserve our classic Southern Appalachian culture.
Sourwood Festival, Black Mountain
August 13, 2022
Black Mountain’s annual Sourwood Festival celebrates the region’s prized Sourwood honey every August. With a line-up of local musicians, honey tastings, and a decadent food fest, this family-friendly festival is a favorite of locals and visitors alike.
LEAF Downtown / Down by the River, Asheville
August 20
A summer spin-off of the super popular October LEAF Festival, this year’s LEAF will apparently take place down by the river. Kicks off with an Art Dash 5k and the organizers plan to feature a dynamic range of local, regional & national talent spanning a diversity of genres and artistic lineages that uplift, empower, and inspire. Stay up to date on their webpage here as details firm up.
Night in the Country Carolinas Music Festival, Tryon International Equestrian Center, Mill Spring
AUGUST 25 – 27
Info and passes HERE
Penland’s Annual Benefit Auction, Penland, NC (btw Asheville and Blowing Rock)
August 27
A joyous and festive celebration of craft, community, and all things Penland, attended by collectors, curators, artists, supporters, and friends from far and wide. While activities take place over the entire weekend, the auction is the main event, Saturday, August 27, noon. Fairly high-end art and bidding by a well-heeled crowd and artists.
