July 6, 13, 20, 27, and August 10, 17, 24, 2024
This free mountain bluegrass music and dance festival is a summer favorite, held in its longtime home in the center of downtown Asheville on the Roger McGuire Green at Pack Square Park in front of City Hall. Locals and visitors gather “along about sundown” or at seven o’clock for those who wear a watch. Musicians and dancers across Western North Carolina gather to share the region's stirring Southern Appalachian mountain culture and traditions. Join them to celebrate their 57th year in 2023!
Don't miss one of our favorite authentic music events of the year. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and stake out a spot on the "green." But don't sit in your chair the entire time.
Performers go on stage for just two numbers each, so the real jewel is the clusters of musicians that get together for informal jam sessions under the trees and on the sidewalk. Anyone can join in! Learn some new moves at one of the street dances.
Bring picnic food or buy food there. Concessions are provided by Okie Dokies Smokehouse and The Hop Ice Cream Cafe. Dogs, alcohol, and smoking are all prohibited in Pack Square Park.
Parking is available in marked and metered spaces throughout downtown Asheville (free after 6 PM). Across College Street from Pack Square Park is Buncombe County's Charlotte Street Parking Deck. Street address: 121 College St, Asheville.
They also have the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival indoor concert in early August. Read more.
For another authentic Asheville event, see the Drum Circle on Friday nights.
