Asheville Spring Festival Season Kicks Off With Packed Events Calendar
Biltmore's spring blooms have arrived, with 75,000+ tulips and the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival already underway this week across unexpected venues citywide.
Luminere opened at Biltmore on March 26, and more than 75,000 tulips are already in bloom across the estate's grounds and inside Biltmore House, kicking off what organizers describe as two months of elaborate floral displays. The season's calendar stretches well past Easter, stacking concerts, outdoor festivals, theatre runs, and food events through Memorial Day weekend across Asheville and the broader Western North Carolina region.
The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival ran March 15 through 22, filling unexpected venues with what Explore Asheville called "genre-blurring performances" and work that only happens "when Asheville's artists get permission to get weird." The week overlapped with a dense run of shows at The Orange Peel, including Cat Power on March 13, The Hives with The Chats on March 14, Mike Gordon on March 17, and Robert Earl Keen on March 19. The Harlem Globetrotters brought their 100 Year Tour to ExploreAsheville.com Arena on March 21, the same morning runners took to the streets for the Asheville Marathon and Half.
The 25th Asheville Orchid Festival, hosted by the Western NC Orchid Society at the North Carolina Arboretum, runs March 27 through 29, with world-class growers, breeders, and regional orchid societies exhibiting hundreds of displays.
April fills in with Maker Faire Asheville on April 18, described by Explore Asheville as "part science fair, part art show, part 'how did they build that?'" Asheville Community Theatre opens Hello, Dolly! on April 10, running through May 3. Thomas Wolfe Auditorium hosts Kevin James on April 11, Whose Live Anyway? on April 12, and Waxahatchee with MJ Lenderman and special guest Brennan Wedl on April 14. Alabama Shakes return to ExploreAsheville.com Arena on April 17, the same evening Greensky Bluegrass plays Asheville Yards. The Moth StorySLAM returns to Grey Eagle Music Hall on April 16 for a session titled SUS.
Get in Gear Fest lands at the Adventure Center of Asheville on April 25, the same day the Greening Up The Mountains Festival takes place in Sylva. Henderson County's Cider, Wine, and Dine Weekend stretches from April 30 through May 3.
May closes the spring season with a cluster of events over Memorial Day weekend. The Hendersonville Garden Jubilee on May 23 and 24 draws more than 200 plant and craft vendors along Main Street and is considered one of the largest gardening shows in Western North Carolina. The Downtown Asheville Memorial Day Weekend Festival of the Arts runs the same two days. SpringSkunk Music Fest runs May 6 through 9, and the Deep Roots LEAF Global Arts event closes the spring calendar on May 30.
The Taste of Asheville fundraiser, which features appetizers, main courses, and desserts from 50 local restaurants, farms, and craft beverage makers, rounds out the food-focused programming, though its specific date has not yet been confirmed publicly.
One notable gap: the Asheville Bread Festival will not return until 2027.
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