Adults 50+ register by late March for 2026 Asheville‑Buncombe Senior Games, SilverArts

Asheville‑Buncombe Senior Games and the SilverArts Showcase will run across Buncombe County in April and May 2026, and participants age 50 and older must complete a $10 registration by March 31 to compete or display work. Online registration opened February 3 through the statewide North Carolina Senior Games registration portal, and the festival’s local hosts advise using the official registration site or the Asheville Parks & Recreation event page for the full schedule and signups.

The competition schedule spans April 7–May 23 for athletics and April 1–May 24 for SilverArts displays, with events staged at multiple venues throughout Buncombe County and art pieces shown at Tempie Avery Montford Community Center. Local listings describe a large slate of contests – AVL GO promotes “over 120 sports and arts contests” and explicitly references “127 events” in the Senior Games clinics description; the definitive event list and venue-by-venue calendar are available on the NCSG registration portal and Asheville Parks & Recreation pages.

Asheville Parks & Recreation is the primary local host, working with Black Mountain Parks & Recreation, Buncombe County Parks & Recreation and Henderson County Parks & Recreation; the games are one of 53 local competitions sanctioned by North Carolina Senior Games, the statewide organization described in City copy as “the largest senior Olympic program in the nation.” City of Asheville promotional text frames the festival this way: “Sandwiched between the Winter Olympics in Italy and the FIFA World Cup in North America, a group of elite athletes, artists, and performers take center stage closer to home at Asheville‑Buncombe Senior Games and SilverArts competitions.”

Sports examples listed in local materials include tennis, pickleball, archery, track and field, swimming and dance, while SilverArts categories published by the City include cheerleading; heritage crafts such as basket weaving, crochet, fiber arts, jewelry, knitting, needlework, pottery, quilting (hand stitched and machine stitched), stained glass, tole/decorative painting, weaving, woodcarving, woodworking, and woodturning; literary work in essay, life experience, poetry and short story; performing categories of comedy/drama, dance, line dance, instrumental and vocal; and visual categories in acrylics, drawing, digital art, mixed media two dimensional and three dimensional, oil, pastels, photography film and digital, sculpture and watercolor.

Asheville Parks & Recreation advertises free preparation opportunities: Senior Games clinics include a track and field session on February 10 and a pickleball clinic on March 10, and City copy urges participants that “It’s never too late to get active or creative!” The City also notes “All events welcome spectators.”

Local coordinator Colt Miller manages Asheville‑Buncombe signups and questions for Asheville Parks & Recreation; his office is at 72 Gashes Creek Rd, Asheville, NC 28805, phone 828‑707‑2376, email cmiller@ashevillenc.gov. Organizers recommend confirming the final event roster, divisional rules and any additional fees through the North Carolina Senior Games registration portal or Asheville Parks & Recreation before making travel or submission plans; registration deadline for participants is March 31, 2026, ahead of the April competitions.