Vote for Asheville as the Capital for Love & Romance

Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, and Asheville needs your vote for the “Most Romantic City in America” contest by Korbel California Champagne. The window to cast your vote is short—the contest ends on Thursday, so vote now!

Need a Reason to Call Asheville Romantic?
Need proof that Asheville is THE place for romance this year? How’s this: the Grove Arcade will chose one lucky couple and help the guy create a surprise proposal complete with flowers, music and champagne. The proposal will occur on February 13 at 4 p.m. at the Grove Arcade, and everyone is invited to cheer on the happy couple. Think you’re the guy who has the chops to propose in public? Fill out an online application.

Sample Local Asheville Artisan Chocolates

Discover why all chocolates are not created equal at the Asheville French Broad Co-op on February 12. David Mason, owner of Black Mountain Chocolate, reveals the mysterious process of making chocolate from the cacao bean.

La Red Cooperative chocolate will be the featured chocolate. La Red is made from cacao beans bought from the Dominican Republic’s La Red Cooperative. The cooperative works with over 300 small-scale farmers in remote mountain villages.

Wondering what makes Black Mountain Chocolates so special? Black Mountain Chocolate is one of only a dozen companies in the United States that crafts chocolate from the bean. The company imports and roasts the bean, then makes the chocolate in small batches, adding only a small quantity of organic sugar and cacao butter. As a result, you can taste the essence of each country’s cacao, and also enjoy higher quantities of antioxidants.

Indulge Your Inner Artist at Asheville Fringe Arts Festival

Get your freak on Asheville-style by checking out the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival on January 21-24. Now in its eighth year, this performance extravaganza features multiple venue performances from artists in a variety of genres. Enjoy theatre, movement, music, spoken word, puppetry, spectacle and whatever else strikes your fancy at this innovative festival. You’ll see art that pushes boundaries and encourages innovative thought in an adventurous manner.

Highlights Include:
• Fringe in a Blackbox, a focus on movement and theatre, on January 22, 23 and 24 at BeBe Theatre
• Fringe on Wheels, a fun mystery tour with the gang from the LaZoom Bus, on January 22 and 23
• Fringe Audio, a sonic experimentation at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, on January 22 and 23

Fringe Freak Passes, valid for all the shows, are now available and only $25.

Horse Lovers—Plan an Equestrian Vacation in Asheville

If you’re looking to combine your passion for riding and traveling this year, then you’ll fall in love with the Biltmore Equestrian Escape in Asheville, NC. Whatever your skill level, you’ll feel at home galloping over 80 miles of trails on 4,000 pristine acres.

This package includes all the trail rides your heart could desire (plus a delicious lunch on the trail) and the pleasures of the estate. Tour George Vanderbilt’s 250-room mansion, stroll through the formal gardens, sample vintages at the award-winning Winery and spend the night at the Four-Star Inn on Biltmore Estate. And as an added bonus, you’ll be only minutes away from the heart of downtown Asheville and its restaurants, art galleries, shopping and nightlife.

Sample Regional Beer at Winter Warmer Beer Festival

Calling all beer lovers! Asheville lives up to its Beer City USA title yet again with the Winter Warmer Beer Festival on January 23. Hosted by Asheville Brews Cruise, ThreeSheets:Design, French Broad Brewing Company and the Haywood Park Hotel, the fun kicks off in the Haywood Park Hotel’s Grand Ballroom at 3 p.m. and lasts until 7 p.m.

Live Music & Great Food
The festival includes samples from 20 regional breweries and live music from Brushfire Stankgrass and Woody Wood. The event will also host Tres Hundertmark of The Lobster Trap as he attempts to break the Guinnness World Record for the most oysters shucked in a minute!

Be sure to bring your appetite—The Lobster Trap is serving a delicious buffet featuring Low Country boil, Cajun favorites, succotash, mussels and chowder.

Purchase Tickets Now
Admission to the event is $37 and includes a souvenir mug, beer samples and food. Only 250 tickets are still available, so purchase tickets now! (Don’t forget! You contribute to the community when you purchase tickets; 10% of the proceeds benefit River Link.)

Celebrate Asheville's Food Scene with the Culinary AffAIR

Missing the holiday parties and thrill of socializing with friends? Good news; there’s still one last party to be had in Asheville! The Asheville Chamber of Commerce and Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR) hosts the Culinary AffAIR on January 28, a fabulous black-tie event held at the Doubletree Biltmore Hotel’s Burghley Ballroom from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Food from Asheville's Finest Restaurants

A special cocktail hour featuring hors d’oeuvre stations and signature cocktails kicks off the evening followed by a seated six-course dinner with wine. The cocktail hour features bites from The Colorful Palate, The Lobster Trap, Frankie Bones Restaurant & Lounge and Luella’s Bar-B-Que.

Dinner includes courses from Fiore’s Ristorante Toscana, The Corner Kitchen, City Bakery, Savoy, Bouchon French Bistro, The Blue Ridge Dining Room at The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa and French Broad Chocolate Lounge.

A Night with a Community Cause
In addition to indulging in some of the city’s finest cuisine, the evening offers the chance to give back to the community with a silent auction that benefits the AIR Foundation’s Chefs of Tomorrow Scholarship fund. The scholarship is earmarked for Buncombe County students enrolled in the A-B Tech Culinary program.

Reserve Your Room & Purchase Tickets
Tickets are $125 per person and must be purchased by January 15. Call 828-232-2247 to purchase tickets. A special room rate of $99 is available at Doubletree Biltmore Hotel for the evening, request the Culinary AffAIR rate when making reservations.

Learn How to Cook Healthy Comfort Food

Discover the secret to making cooking a family affair with Terra Summer’s Comfort Food cooking lesson on January 16 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Join the fun for just a few bucks; cost is $35 per parent-child couple and $5 for each additional child.

During the afternoon, you’ll learn how to create delicious comfort food using unprocessed ingredients. Two of Asheville’s finest foodie personalities, Mark Rosenstein and Barbara Swell, teach the class and share tips for creating wholesome and delicious meals.

Mark Rosenstein, former owner and chef of The Market Place, was an early advocate for Asheville’s local and seasonal food philosophy. Barbara Swell is an expert in Southern Appalachian cooking and has taught at the Swannanoa School of Culinary Arts and Pioneer Living Program at the WNC Nature Center.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot early by calling Sybil Fix at 828-782-7842 or registering online.

Save with the Asheville Encore Ticket

Make the most of your winter visit to Asheville, and enjoy more value by taking advantage of the Asheville Encore Ticket program now through March 26. To participate, simply catch a performance at one of Asheville’s participating fine art venues and bring the ticket or playbill to Biltmore’s Welcome Center. With your ticket or playbill, receive a free Biltmore House audio tour or a buy-one-get-one-free guided specialty tour with the purchase of an adult admission ticket.

Participating venues for the Asheville Encore Ticket program include:
• Diana Wortham Theatre
• North Carolina Stage Company
• Asheville Bravo Concerts
• The Asheville Lyric Opera
• The Asheville Community Theater
• The Asheville Civic Center