Asheville Mardi Gras Parade and Ball

This year's theme-"Homegrown, Fancy, and Free"
Sunday, March 6 · 3:00pm - 10:00pm
Downtown Asheville, and Pack's Tavern's Century Room

Everyone is invited to participate in, or simply spectate this family friendly spectacle. Asheville's Mardi Gras celebration is rapidly growing as more and more sparkles, feathers, and beads show up each year to march in our annual parade. The parade, led by this year's King and Queen, will be full of dancers, roller skaters, drummers and krewe's of colorful characters. The parade will line up in Pack's Square, NOT Walnut Street at 2:00 pm and will step off at 3:00 pm sharp, RAIN OR SHINE. We will then dance and march our way towards Walnut St, then to Lexington Ave, making a left on to Lexington, and then a right on to College St. Next, the parade will loop around Pritchard Park and up Patton Avenue to Pack Square. This is where the parade ends and the Mardi Gras Ball begins.

Interested in being a part of the parade? Gather your krewe of friends, family, classmates or co-workers or just yourself and come be a part of this great event. Feel free to get creative! Art cars and homemade floats are always welcome. Please register them on the Asheville Mardi Gras Facebook groups page. Remember that Asheville's Mardi Gras is a family friendly event and is “Homegrown, Fancy and Free”. Another great way to enjoy this event is to gather your friends and family, pull up a chair, sit back and watch the show! Bring a camera and be ready to catch beads.

After the parade is over around 4:00 pm, continue the fun and revelry at the Mardi Gras Ball in Pack's Tavern's elegant Century Room. Costumes are not required to enter the ball. This is a free event for the entire community to enjoy. There will be festive libations and extraordinary live music performed by Sirius B to keep us dancing all night long. For more information on the Parade or Ball, and for Mardi Gras events leading up to the parade day, check in with the groups page on Facebook under Asheville Mardi Gras.

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Grand Krewe at the Parade
Sunday at 12:00pm
Pack Square, Vance Monument/fountain area

Pack Square Park, Downtown Asheville

If you've not been in downtown Asheville the past year or so, you are in for a surprise. Pleasant or not, depending on your point of view.

They had to bulldoze over some lovely trees to put in lots of concrete but they did leave lots of grass and sculpture in their wake. I was so against the tearing down on one specific tree. But there is more room for live outdoor concerts, plays, picnics, and more.

And I haven't mentioned the best part yet. Smack dab in front of the old City-County Plaza is dancing water fountains. From afar it looks like a large, flat brick courtyard. But keep watching and water will begin spraying up the many spouts. Day or night will find young children and adults playing in the dancing water, which has been nicknamed, "Splashville". At night, you'll notice that the water shooting up is different colors.

The Vance Monument is still there. Behind it where the large pool of water once stood is now a beautiful 20' wide water fountain.

Pack Square Park provides a wonderful venue for events, both old and new. George Pack, who left the land to the city in 1901 specified that it only be used as a park for the people.

So, who's been? Do you like the changes downtown? Or does it suck royally? Go see for yourself in person and in the mean time, take a look at this link here and this one here.

Tersicorps - Theatre of Dance

Hurricane & Other Forces Of Nature



August 7-9, 8pm

Diana Wortham Theatre
2 South Pack Square
Asheville, NC 28801
828-257-4530

$30/$25 students & seniors

Our lovely ladies return to join the men for Hurricane & other forces of nature, featuring the Asheville premiere of Maloy’s award winning, "Hurricane." The piece, created for the 21st Century Choreographic Competition in April, will be restaged for the Terpsicorps dancers. The idea for "Hurricane" grew out of the climate crisis that is becoming increasingly apparent in today’s world. The choreography embodies the strength, patterns and progression of a hurricane from its beginnings at sea to its aftermath on land. The dancers portray the hurricane itself, as well as individuals impacted by the escalating fear of climate change. Maloy will be collaborating once again with projection artist G. Craig Hobbs.

Footage of actual hurricanes will swirl around the dancers adding to the atmosphere of a storm, with recorded music by Godspeed You Black Emperor! and costumes by Asheville’s premiere fashion designer R. Brooke Priddy.

Terpsicorps also has a myspace page.
http://www.myspace.com/terpsic orps

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Street Fiddler Ian Moore Dancing in Pack Square

(x-posted from A Year in Asheville)

OrganicFest

OrganicFest 2005 on September 10, is a celebration of everything organic! A FUNtastic day of live music, dancing, drawings for baskets of fabulous organic goodies and gift certificates, free organic samples and giveaways, an Organicfest Market on the Square featuring the finest organic: food and refreshments, clothing, herbs, flowers and natural arts and crafts. Informative conversation and help with organic living, organic gardening, and more. Fun activities for kids including the Organicfest Garden Parade at 1pm. Join the celebration on Saturday, September 10th from 10am to 6pm in Pack Square, downtown Asheville!

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Ceremony for Pack Square Park

Everyone is invited to the festive groundbreaking ceremony for Pack Square Park on Thursday, August 18 from 4 to 6 p.m. We’ll be set up in Park Square and City-County Plaza in the heart of downtown Asheville.

The groundbreaking will be a wonderful day to celebrate the beginning of construction on a park that will become a beautiful gathering space for generations to come. Join us for live music, refreshments, games, door prizes, actors in historic costume and a special bulldozer ballet. The park site will be decorated with hot-air balloons, weather permitting, and volunteers will be on hand to discuss park plans and special features such as original art, fountains, the park pavilion and the main stage.

It's such a magical spot now, I hope the 4.5 million renovation is able to keep some of the character is currently maintains.

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