Live: Charlie Ellis & Company – Fridays & Saturdays

Green Park Inn 9239 Valley Blvd, Blowing Rock, NC

Free concerts every Friday and Saturday night with local jazz musician Charlie Ellis! Enjoy the music in the lobby and sitting rooms of the beautifully restored Green Park Inn.

FREE
Event Series Attractions

Chef’s Night Thursdays at Storie St Grille

Storie Street Grille 1167 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, United States

Support local non-profits and enjoy special menus at Chef's Night! Each Thursday at Storie Street Grille, sales from the Chef's Night menu will support a selected monthly non-profit. April's menu is "Tacos, Tacos, Tacos" and a portion of sales will go to W.A.M.Y Community Action to help send kids to summer camp! W.A.M.Y. (an acronym for mountain counties: Watauga, Avery, Mitchell, and Yancy) seeks to break the cycle of poverty by partnering with families and communities to provide the disadvantaged the support and tools they need to become self-sufficient. See the current Chef's Night menu on Storie Street Grille's website!

Tunes at the Trout- Thursdays

The Speckled Trout Restaurant and Bottle Shop 922 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC

Come enjoy live music in from 6 – 8 pm, no cover!

No Cover

Scholars & Scones: Saving the Wild South

Blowing Rock Art & History Museum 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, United States

With her latest work, Saving the Wild South, veteran writer and storyteller Georgann Eubanks takes a leap into the world of botany to bring readers a deeper understanding of both the threats and most promising developments in the protection and restoration of our region's extraordinary biodiversity. Astute readers will find a connection in this new book to Eubank's last project, The Month of Their Ripening: North Carolina Heritage Foods Through the Year (2018). This event is presented by Judith Pheonix and the High Country Food Hub. Scholars & Scones is a monthly educational program which invites patrons to spend a morning sipping coffee, eating locally-baked goodies, and learning about the latest research, writing, and creativity taking place in our region. There are complimentary breakfast goods and fresh coffee will be served.

$8

Jim McDowell Living History Performance: “Dave: I Am a Slave”

Join us for a special living history performance by potter, Jim McDowell, artist in residence at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum. This performance will be a 2-act one-man show where Jim portrays enslaved potter David Drake (c.1800-1870s). Then Jim will share his personal life story growing up in D.C. during the civil rights era, his time in the Army, and life experiences, including how he became a potter. During the performance, Jim will create a face jug onstage, while at the same time instructing a volunteer from the audience who makes one with him. This performance is presented by SouthArts and is free to the public. Limited seating is available so pre-registration is highly encouraged: www.blowingrockmuseum.org/calendar/dave-the-potter  

free

Pinecones & Pages: the Boone Literary Festival

Pinecones & Pages is a literary festival where the books come to life as the characters appear and interact with each author and audience. Books come to life as actors become characters directly from the page and musicians will accompany authors reading. The festival culminates with a literary/musical show in the Daniel Boone Amphitheater starring Nashville hit makers and world class musicians. More info coming soon!

Shriner Parade

Main Street 1094 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, United States

Tiny cars, clowns, music, and more! Come see the Oasis Shriners parade down Main Street. Join them in Memorial Park directly after the parade for more camaraderie and information on charity work.

Free

Crafting with the Guild: Bamboo Native American-Style Flute

Blowing Rock Art & History Museum 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, United States

Create a small bamboo Native American-style flute using hand tools which will be provided. When the flutes are finished, we will spend time learning to play. Flutes have been used by many Tribal Nations as ceremonial and healing tools, with the oldest found wooden flutes being over 7,000 years old. No prior experience is needed to make or play the flute for this workshop. Website

$110 – $125

Mystery Hill – Murder at the Hill

Mystery Hill 129 Mystery Hill Lane, Blowing Rock, NC

Join us for an interactive night of murder, mystery, and madness! Dinner will be served then we’ll get to work solving the crime of the night- but we can’t do it without your help. IT’S A TOTALLY RAD 80’S PROM (GONE BAD!) Costumes are strongly encouraged at this interactive event and guests will receive souvenir photos to take home, win awards, and enjoy this blast from the past themed murder mystery. This event is BYOB. Tickets include character assignment and information, dinner, and souvenir photos. Website

$49.95

Appalachian Summer Festival: Maeve Gilchrist featuring Aizuri Quartet & Kyle Sanna: The Harpweaver

Rosen Concert Hall 813 Rivers Street, Boone, NC, United States

photo credit: Shervin Lainez A Broyhill Chamber Series Event Sponsored by McDonald’s of Boone Maeve Gilchrist (harp, vocals) Kyle Sanna (guitar) Aizuri Quartet Emma Frucht and Miho Saegusa, Violins Ayane Kozasa, Viola Karen Ouzounian, Cello Harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist’s new offering The Harpweaver plays on the idea of artistic nostalgia. When we can’t be with those that we love, surely the next best thing is to experience the catharsis of familiar sounds; notes and words that bring a sense of connection, possibility and joy. Originally from Edinburgh, Gilchrist — a migrant musician — has been making her mark as a ground-breaking harpist on the streets of New York and Boston for for nearly two decades through her collaborations with The Silkroad Project, Nic Gareiss, Viktor Krauss, Ambrose Akinmusire, Darol Anger, Solas and Okkyung Lee. With The Harpweaver, Gilchrist steps into her own as a composer and producer and illuminates her roots as a traditional folk musician through the prism of luscious string parts, electronic manipulation and an archived recitation of “The Ballad of the Harpweaver,” by the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, a celebrity of Jazz-Age America. In addition to “The Harpweaver” program, the Grammy-nominated Aizuri Quartet (who recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert accompanying Wilco in a performance of “Poor Places”) will bring a selection of their trademark exploratory repertoire juxtaposing the timeless old with strikingly new and exhilarating string compositions. For tickets go to: https://appsummer.org/event/maeve-gilchrist-featuring-aizuri-quartet-kyle-sanna-the-harpweaver/

$30

Appalachian Summer Festival: Broadway’s Next Hit Musical

photo credit: Love Imagery Whose Line Is It Anyway? meets The Tony Awards. Every song is fresh. Every scene is new. Every night is different. It’s all improvised and it’s all funny. The New York Times calls Broadway’s Next Hit Musical “Hilarious!” Time Out NY says “At last! A musical of, for, and by the people.” Broadway’s Next Hit Musical is the only unscripted theatrical awards show. Have you heard of the TONY awards? Well, Broadway’s Next Hit Musical is…The PHONY Awards! The audience members write down made up song titles and our master improvisers gather these suggestions and present them as “nominated songs” for this coveted award. We create spontaneous scenes and songs filled with great dancing, catchy melodies, and tons of laughter. The audience votes for their favorite song and watches as the cast turns that song into a full blown improvised musical – complete with memorable characters, witty dialogue, and plot twists galore. BNHM has been seen recently throughout the United States and in New York City at The Triad Theater, The Tribeca Film Festival, and at The New York Musical Theater Festival, among many other locations. Under the direction of improv veterans Rob Schiffmann and Deb Rabbai, TheaterWeek hailed the show as “brilliant” and The New York Post called Broadway’s Next Hit Musical “remarkable.” Don’t miss the next great American musical — it could be written by YOU! For tickets go to: https://appsummer.org/event/broadways-next-hit-musical/

$15 – $25

Appalachian Summer Festival: Playground (Un monde)

Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts 733 Rivers Street, Boone, NC, United States

photo: ImagePresse Helene and Stephen Weicholz Global Film Series presents Playground (Un monde) In French with English subtitles Belgium, not rated, directed by Laura Wandel, 2021, drama, 72 min In this debut feature by writer-director Laura Wandel, the everyday reality of grade school is seen from a child’s-eye-view as an obstacle course of degradation and abuse. Following 7-year-old Nora and her big brother Abel, we see Nora struggling to fit in before finding her place on the schoolyard. One day, she notices Abel being bullied by other kids, and though she rushes to protect him by warning their father, Abel forces her to remain silent, while he endures more humiliation and harassment by his peers. Transposing the gritty realism of such filmmakers as Jacques Audiard and the Dardennes Brothers to the inner world of kids, Wandel crafts an empathetic and visceral portrait of the cruelty of children, and the failure of adults to protect them. Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Film. For tickets go to: https://appsummer.org/event/playground-un-monde/

$10