This Weekend's Fall Festivals and Events

Fall is a happening time in the Asheville area, and there's a lot to do for almost any taste and interest. Here are a few highlights of fall festivals and events this weekend:

• RiverSculpture Festival - Admission is free. A showcase for the area's best Southern sculptors, the openness of the setting will allow the public to interact with the work in a way that is simply not possible in galleries and most museums. A series of special events planned for the weekends of the festival integrate, music, dance and theater with the sculpture as well as a special kids' art day.
• Biltmore Harvest Celebration - Biltmore will celebrate its Appalachian heritage during Harvest Celebration. Guests can experience the annual traditions of families who once lived and worked on the property, with customary mountain and agricultural legacy activities and events. Festive fall activities will include musicians playing traditional tunes, Appalachian-style dancers, culinary demonstrations, wine tastings, free gardening and decorating seminars, local artisans, folk tales and storytelling, cakewalks and farm life demonstrations.
• BookOpolis - In it's third year, BookOpolis is a weekend book arts blow-out! This year we are including letterpress broad sides and posters and prints as well as hand-made books by artists working in book arts. It is an open call and artists my see the web-site for more information on submitting work. The exhibit and activities are Open to the Public.
• October Leaf Peeping Train - Fall leaf-viewing trains. Western North Carolina Mountains are ablaze with brilliant fall foliage.
• History Alive Festival 2007 - Two-day festival celebrating regional history and culture and presenting crafters, demonstrators, reeanactors, food, music & a children's area. The Children's area consists of American Girl Plays emceed by Janet Shaw, Author of the Kirsten and Kaya book series from American Girl, as well as a boy scout component, historic games, and hands-on activities such as churning butter, washing clothes and shucking corn for children to experience.
• Annual Carolina Bonsai Expo - The Southeast's premier bonsai show! Enjoy exquisite examples of bonsai from several states plus the NC Arboretums acclaimed collection. Vendors provide hard-to-find bonsai and tools.

Find out what else is happening in the Asheville area. Search our event calendar or see a list of all events.

You can also  subscribe to our events feed.

Fall Colors are "Bright and Brilliant" at Higher Elevations

There are some breathtaking displays of color appearing in the Asheville area now, and it is especially bold and colorful in the higher elevations.

Concerns about the impact of a dry summer have proven to be unfounded, as leaf peepers in the area are reporting intense colors where the foliage is turning.

“The proof is in the pudding, and I’ve seen some vibrant colors,” said Bruce O’Connell, manager of the Pisgah Inn located along the Blue Ridge Parkway on Mount Pisgah. On the leaves I’ve seen turning, the colors are bright and brilliant. It looks like it’s going to be a winner.”

Fall Color Report (2,500 Elevation and Below)

The fall color continues to emerge at the lower elevations, with pretty dashes of color in and around the downtown Asheville area. There is still a lot of green showing, but many trees are tinged in gold or burgundy.

The middle and lower elevations are still 2 or 3 weeks away from a color peak, if present weather continues, according to Chimney Rock Park Naturalist Ron Lance. “Predictions of cooler weather will mean some acceleration of the color, however,” he said. “We are in much better shape for color than the drier regions around us.”

At Biltmore, fall is still slowly building with small trees, shrubs and now vines providing the best color. Dogwoods and sourwoods continue to color up nicely.

This week, Virginia creeper vine and poison ivy began to show up in the woods. Poison ivy is not usually loved but in the fall, but it provides spectacular oranges and reds as it grows up trees on the forest edge and along the sides of streams. While people don't think much of the plant, birds rely on its fruit throughout the winter. Virginia creeper vine is great as ground cover or for growing on a trellis. It turns a bright burgundy in the fall.

Fall Color Report (Above 2,500 Feet)

The fall colors have quickly burst to live at the higher elevations, with intense color displays expected this weekend at elevations of 5,000 and above and the following weekend at elevations between 3,000 and 4,000.

Barbara Merrell, volunteer coordinator at Cradle of Forestry, said the color is really beginning to show in that area at around 3,300 feet. "We are beginning to see color, and I understand Graveyard Fields is very beautiful," she said.

The sourwood, beech and dogwood trees in particular are changing colors now.
Fall color shot on Oct. 5 at the Graveyard Fields overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Asheville.

The trees in the Grandfather Mountain area are becoming more colorful each day as illustrated by this photograph taken Wednesday of an old fashioned mule train traveling through MacRae Meadows. The color should be at its best in the Grandfather Mountain area over the next two weekends.

Look for color this week along the Blue Ridge Parkway between Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain (or on US 221 between Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain), especially near the Linn Cove Viaduct. Another colorful area is NC 105 at Linville Gap near at the intersection with NC 184.

Higher elevations of the Blue Ridge Parkway are going to be the best sites to tour through Oct. 20, according to Lance. “There has been some rain lately, the nights have been cool, and the days sunny,” he said. “So, the reds and oranges are appearing in the maples this week, along with bronzing ash trees. With no autumn storms to strip the leaves off this year, the high elevations are shaping up to a very good year for sightseeing leaf color.”

Photo: A mule train passes through McRae Meadows Wednesday, Oct. 10 at Grandfather Mountain, by Helen Hopper of Grandfather Mountain.

Fall Color Hunter Video - Hiking at Grandfather Mountain

The Fall Color Hunter will go on a new adventure each week in search of the best fall foliage and cool extreme autumn adventures in the Asheville area. This week, the Color Hunter visits one of the area's earlier spots to be blessed with brilliant fall colors, Grandfather Mountain, to experience mile-high views of the mountains, valleys and the various fall foliage colors.



Embed this video on your Web site, blog or MySpace page:

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The video intro was created by Robert Klein of Klein Digital, and the video footage was just shot a few days ago (on October 5) by the Media Arts Project of Western North Carolina.

You too can be a color hunter! Get out and shoot a fall video and you can submit your video to win! There is no limit to the number of videos you can upload, so long as the videos show off the great Asheville area and are approved for publication. Each video is a new entry into the contest.

Videos submitted through our new video sharing service between now and Monday, October 15 will be eligible to win this handcrafted Appalachian pottery leaf mug made by Asheville artist Sonrise Pottery:

Fall Color Pictures Taken Today at Grandfather Mountain

Fall color is truly taking off at Grandfather Mountain, which submitted these fall pictures that were just shot today. Enjoy!

Pictured: Warmer than normal weather in October has caused the fall foliage to turn slightly later than usual this year in the North Carolina High Country, but patches of color are now appearing on many hillsides and roadways. This photo taken along the Grandfather Trail at Grandfather Mountain illustrates how hiking is a different, adventurous way to see the fall color. (Photo by Helen Hopper/Grandfather Mountain)

Pictured: This photograph was taken at Julian Price Lake. The color should be at its best in the Grandfather Mountain area over the next two weeks. (Photo by Helen Hopper/Grandfather Mountain)

Make plans to visit and see the fall color. You can search for accommodations or get insider tips on finding a room during the busy fall foliage season.

Fall Color at Graveyard Fields

The fall color has really taken off at Graveyard Fields, just south of Asheville along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here is a picture taken Friday at the Graveyard Fields overlook by Fall Color Hunter Cheryl.



You can be a Color Hunter, too. Get out in the Asheville area, hunt for fall colors, shoot, and upload.

Fall Leaf Color Pictures

We've had even more fall pictures submitted to our fall gallery in the past couple of days. Here are some great pictures that show off the pretty colors of the Asheville area leaves. The color isn't full blast here yet, and these are pictures were taken last fall. But it does give a sense of the vividness of the fall colors here.







Thanks to Lisa of Arden for submitting these fabulous fall leaf pictures. If you have some great fall images, be an Asheville Fall Color Hunter and submit your fall pictures!

Bursts of Fall Color Appearing

The fall foliage season is gaining momentum quickly, with bursts of fall color striking first at the highest elevations. Even at the lower elevations, pockets of yellow and red are blazing bright.

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, there are many changes occuring with the first cool evenings, according to the parkway hotline. There are tremendous displays of wildflowers like sunflowers, ironweed and bee balm. Row crops of pumpkins, cabbage and corn are reminders of the agricultural heritage of this part of the country.

This is a wonderful time to experience the Asheville area's commitment to agriculture and locally-grown produce with some autumn harvest adventures.

Fall Color Report (2,500 Elevation and Below)

The fall color is beginning to spark at the lower elevations, with pretty dashes of color in and around the downtown Asheville area.

At Biltmore, the dogwoods are developing a nice burgundy color and serviceberries have turned a lovely shade of yellow. The first bright colors are showing on a few branches of sweet and black gum trees, and some leaves are burgundy, some dark red and others reddish orange.

Deciduous native azaleas are joining the viburnums, witch hazels and other shrubs in their earliest color. As a special fall treat, the cream-colored leaves of the katsura tree are giving off a fragrance of spicy vanilla that will fill the garden on warm sunny days through the end of October.

The North Carolina Arboretum is experiencing a mix of fall foliage and fall blooms. "The dwarf dogwoods along our entrance turned yellow about a week ago and are still shining bright and beautiful," said Gavin Young from the Arboretum. "My favorite maple tree up near the Arboretum's water features is turning red in a polka-dot pattern. And then, we're starting to see changes in the sourwoods, blackgums, and beech trees. Some of our fall wildflowers like aster and goldenrod are amazing right now too.

At Black Mountain, Erica Bell is expecting colors to continue to emerge between now and the popular Lake Eden Arts Festival later this month. "I can see hints of yellow on the tops of the trees on many ridgelines in the distance."

Fall Color Report (Above 2,500 Feet)

The higher elevations are seeing bolder displays of color, with some of the highest elevations like Waterrock Knob, Mount Pisgah and Graveyard Fields nearing peak color.

The Orchard at Altapass is seeing some emerging color. At this point, color is spotty. It's beginning to show a few oranges and yellows in the Little Switzerland area.

The changing of the leaves has only just begun in the area around Grandfather Mountain, according to Catherine Morton. "Cooler temperatures are expected next week and should make the Grandfather Mountain area its most colorful in the middle two weeks of October," she said.

The best places around Grandfather Mountain to look for color this week are in Linville Gap at the intersection of NC 105 and NC 184 near Sugar Mountain and on the peaks of Grandfather Mountain as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway between Blowing Rock and Linville.

At Mt. Mitchell State Park, the leaves are starting to turn, but they are still predominately green. They are starting to see dots of red and orange.

Photos by Helen Hopper of leaf color changes at Grandfather Mountain.

Fall Wildflower Pictures

The Asheville area is not only a wonderful place to see the traditional fall colors from the leaves changing, but the mountains and valleys are painted with the lovely colors of fall wildflowers. Here are some pictures taken a few days ago on Mt. Pisgah just south of Asheville.






Do you have a great shot of the fall colors in the Asheville area? Submit your fall pictures!