The Denim Ball
2025-09-23 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Halifax)
SAVE THE DATE!

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Mark your calendar for The Denim Ball at Camp Yonahnoka at Linville Golf Club in North Carolina. Guest are invited to dine, dance, bid in silent and live auctions, and enjoy the gorgeous mountain setting. The annual event benefits Moses H. Cone Memorial Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Please check back soon for ticket information.
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Cocktails with the Curator: Jack Boul
2025-09-25 18:00 - 19:00 | Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
This cocktail with the curator will feature BRAHM’s Curator Gabe Wilson in conversation with Jack Boul’s son, David Boul. Patrons can expect one part gallery tour, two parts conversation, and a splash of cocktail party. This event is limited to 15 people. Registrations are required. Non-alcoholic options will be available upon request.
Non-alcoholic options will be available upon request.
Free for Members; $8 General Admission
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Blue Ridge Parkway Service Project at Moses Cone Estate
2025-09-27 10:00 - 12:00 | Flat Top Manor, Milepost 294, Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
Image Credit: NPS volunteers clear Hurricane Helene storm damage from the Julian Price Campground. NPS volunteer B.Owens
Moses Cone Estate -milepost 294 (Meet at the Manor House and work the Cone service road area near the Manor House)
On Saturday, September 27, the National Park Service invites park neighbors and visitors to participate in multiple service projects and a wide variety of programs to mark both National Public Lands Day as well as the one-year milestone of Hurricane Helene’s impacts to the Blue Ridge Parkway and surrounding region. National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event in support of public lands, and with this year’s NPLD falling on Helene’s one-year mark, events planned commemorate the park’s continued recovery and the region’s resiliency.
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Creatures of the Night & Bonfire Delight at Grandfather Mountain
2025-09-27 18:30 - 21:30 | Grandfather Mountain, 2050 Blowing Rock Highway, Linville, NC, 28646
Embrace your nocturnal side at Grandfather Mountain through Creatures of the Night and Bonfire Delight, the park’s after-hours program where guests enjoy rare after-dark tours, fireside tales and a chance to meet the park’s nighttime residents.
The evening begins around the glow of a bonfire at the Woods Walk Picnic Area as night falls. Guests will then have the opportunity to partake in three unique experiences as the group splits up and alternates between the different parts of the mountain. These activities include a trek (via shuttle) to atop the mountain at the Mile High Swinging Bridge, as well as a visit to the Mildred the Bear Animal Habitats for a behind-the-scenes tour in which guests get to experience the mountain in a similar fashion as its nocturnal critters. The tour is conducted using red-light flashlights, with an emphasis placed on the guests’ sensory experience while getting up close with the park’s bears, otters, elk and cougars. An educational focus is also placed on how the animals may use their senses of smell or eyesight to navigate or hunt at night.
Groups will then descend back to the Woods Walk Picnic Area to gather around the fire, roast s’mores and hear folktales from one of the mountain’s naturalists or educators.
Hours are 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The event is open to 50 participants, and tickets are $40 for general admission or $34 for Bridge Club members.
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Pattern Mapping: Reception
2025-10-02 17:30 - 19:00 | Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
Head to BRAHM as they celebrate the exhibition, Andrea Keys Connell: Pattern Mapping
The event will flow like this:
5:30 pm – 6 pm Reception with a cash bar
6pm – 6:20 pm Andrea Keys Connell will be in conversation with BRAHM’s curator of exhibitions and collections, Ian Gabriel Wilson.
6:20 – 7 pm The public is invited to explore the exhibition with the artist and BRAHM’s curator.
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Fall Color Rambles
2025-10-04 13:00 - 13:30 | Grandfather Mountain, 2050 Blowing Rock Highway, Linville, NC, 28646
From Oct. 4 through 12, guests enjoy short, guided nature walks that highlight Grandfather Mountain’s fall colors. The Fall Color Rambles take place daily, weather permitting, and are included in your admission ticket. The short excursions begin at 1 p.m. and typically last for 30 minutes. Rambles will start outside the entrance of the Wilson Center for Nature Discovery.
Grandfather Mountain is home to myriad species of plants and hardwood trees that range from pumpkin-colored beech trees to blood-red sourwoods and rusty red oaks. During the daily rambles, guests learn all about the mountain’s unique biodiversity and the science behind the changing of the leaves.
Participants can become familiar with tree identification, as the mountain’s talented and knowledgeable educators and interpretive park guides venture out with guests to some of the most colorful destinations on the mountain.
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ASU Home Football Game
2025-10-04 15:30 - 18:00 | Kidd Brewer Stadium, 733 Rivers Street, Boone, NC, 28607
App State Vs. Oregon State
Parking Info

7th Annual Apple Butter Festival
2025-10-11 10:00 - 17:00 | Saunders Old Country Store, 3637 Blowing Rock Blvd., Lenoir, NC, 28645, United States
Saunders Old Country Store is excited to be hosting the 7th Annual Apple Butter Festival — a free, family-friendly event happening on Saturday, October 11th from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at:
3637 Blowing Rock Blvd, Lenoir, NC 28645
Admission is completely FREE and the day will feature:

5 live bluegrass bands
Free giveaways
Activities for all ages
And the Smoke-n-Shine BBQ food truck on-site serving delicious food all day!

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Sugar Mountain Resort's Oktoberfest
2025-10-11 10:00 - 2025-10-12 17:00 | Sugar Mountain Ski Resort, 1009 Sugar Mountain Drive, Sugar Mountain, NC, 28604
Enjoy a two-day Oktoberfest from 10:00am until 5:00pm in the North Carolina Mountains. The festival features live Bavarian music, German and American food & beverages, a children’s fun center, hay rides; local & regional craft fair, lift-rides on the Summit Express chairlift, a winter sports shop sale, lodging specials and much, much more.
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Valle Country Fair
2025-10-18 09:00 - 16:00
The annual Valle Country Fair is a sure favorite among locals and visitors. Local food and crafts fill the space, while musicians and demonstrators entertain all day. Admission is free, but bring cash for parking and easy shopping.
Tip: If you plan to attend both Valle Country Fair and Woolly Worm Festival on Saturday, arrive as close to 9am as possible to the event you choose to attend first! Traffic is typically very heavy for late morning and mid-day arrivals. To attend both festivals and best avoid waiting in traffic lines, attend Valley Country Fair on Saturday and Woolly Worm Festival on Sunday and arrive early at both.
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Woolly Worm Festival
2025-10-18 10:00 - 2025-10-19 16:00
Banner Elk looks forward to welcoming you to the 48th Annual Woolly Worm Festival hosted by the Avery County Chamber of Commerce and Banner Elk Kiwanis! Head over on October 18 & 19, 2025 in Banner Elk, North Carolina for woolly worm races, craft and food vendors, live entertainment, children’s activities, and so much more.
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ASU Home Football Game
2025-10-18 13:00 - 15:00 | Kidd Brewer Stadium, 733 Rivers Street, Boone, NC, 28607
App State vs. Coastal Carolina
Parking Info

Conversations with the Curator: Arlee Mains
2025-10-23 11:00 - 12:00 | Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
Arlee Mains, Spring Chores, May-June 1996, Acrylic on paper, Promised Gift, Collection of Marth & Terry Satterwhite, 19.5 x 23.5 (framed). Photo: Josh White
Join BRAHM on Thursday October 23 at 11 am when curator Ian Gabriel Wilson will be in conversation with Pam McKay, guest curator of the exhibition Arlee Mains: A Life in Watauga. We will learn about Arlee, her relationship with Pam, and what it is about Arlee’s paintings that still captivate us today.
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Beary Scary Halloween
2025-10-25 11:00 - 15:30 | Grandfather Mountain, 2050 Blowing Rock Highway, Linville, NC, 28646
Visit Grandfather Mountain for a day of nature programs about animals that some consider creepy and crawly! This fun-filled celebration includes an opportunity to trick-or-treat on the mountain and then watch special Halloween enrichments be given to the animals. Included with admission.
Plus, children in costume are admitted at half-price. Children coming in costume do not need to make advance admission ticket reservations online. The discount will be given at the Entrance Gate. Those planning to visit the park not in costume are strongly encouraged to make advance ticket reservations online at grandfather.com/tickets.
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Pumpkin Carving (BYO Pumpkin)
2025-10-25 12:00 - 15:00 | McCoy Minerals, 537 Main St., Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
🎃✨ Pumpkin Carving Party at McCoy Minerals! ✨🎃
Join them on October 25th for an afternoon of fall fun! 🍂
All you need to bring is your own pumpkin— and your creativity! They’ll provide the carving tools + cleanup. 🖤🕸️
🗓️ Date: October 25th, Noon – 3 pm
📍 Hosted by McCoy Minerals
🎃 BYO Pumpkin • We’ll handle the mess!
Grab your friends, carve a masterpiece, and celebrate spooky season together. 👻✨
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Blowing Rock Halloween Festival & Monster March
2025-10-25 17:30 - 20:00 | Main Street, 1094 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
Join Blowing Rock Parks & Recreation for tons of FREE fun with an evening of spooky activities! Enjoy downtown trick-or-treating, the famous Monster March, and a costume contest! This is among the best Halloween events for kids of ALL ages. Memorial Park, located right in the middle of downtown, is the center for all the fun!
2025 SCHEDULE:
5:45pm – Monster March – Main Street is closed for a costume parade, and everyone is invited to showcase their costume! Line up at 5:30pm at American Legion. The Monster March starts at Park Avenue and continues to Ginny Stevens Lane (near Town Tavern and the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum)
6pm – Trick or Treat on Main Street – Directly following the Monster March, kids are invited to go door to door at participating businesses for candy and treats! Main Street remains closed for the first 15 minutes or so, to give plenty of time for Monster March participants to make their way to the sidewalks.
7pm – Costume Contest with DJ Taco- Meet at the Memorial Park gazebo to enjoy music and the contest!
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A Hole in the World
2025-10-30 18:00 - 19:00 | Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
In a raw and inspiring reflection on grief–selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best books of the year–a mourning sister processes her personal story of loss by exploring the history of bereavement customs.
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Gourmet Ghost Tour
2025-10-31 14:00 - 17:00 | Downtown Blowing Rock, 132 Park Avenue, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
A three hour walking tour of historical downtown Blowing Rock, NC exploring local food, wine, art and history with a Halloween twist. From 2-5pm on October 31, tour guide, Joanna, will be leaning into the spooky aspects of Blowing Rock’s food, wine, and art scenes. Prepare to be surprised by the spine tingling things you’ll learn!
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Boone Boo!
2025-10-31 16:30 - 20:00 | Jones House, 604 West King Street, Boone, NC, 28607
Head over to Downtown Boone, as the community and visitors are invited to stop by downtown merchants for a family-friendly trick-or-treating event. The central part of King Street will be closed to accommodate trick-or-treaters and to make room for some surprise guests and performances!
Spooky music, larger than life inflatables, and of course plenty of Halloween costumes and treats will all be a part of the evening’s festivities. Plus, the annual costume contest will take place on the street at 6pm.
Be sure to stop by the Watauga Library between 4-5pm for Halloween crafts and goodies. Visit the Jones House for some additional silly and spooky fun, head down to Howard Street for coffee, popcorn, and treats at The Hope Center, and check out Boone First Baptist Church for their annual Trunk or Treat event.
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ASU Home Football Game
2025-11-06 15:30 - 18:30 | Kidd Brewer Stadium, 733 Rivers Street, Boone, NC, 28607
App State vs. Georgia Southern
Parking Info

Cancer Community & Caregivers Appreciation Event
2025-11-09 14:00 - 17:00 | Blowing Rock Conference Center, 1818 Goforth Rd., Blowing Rock, NC, 28605
Head to the Blowing Rock Conference Center on Saturday, November 9, from 2-5 pm for an event showing appreciation to those battling cancer and those who care for them. There will be free food, live music, a silent auction, door prizes and more! This event is sponsored by the CRA or Cancer Resource Alliance of Watauga County.
For more information call 828-414-9889.

ARS POETICA III Reception
2025-11-13 17:00 - 19:00 | Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
George Pfeffer, Touch, 2024, photo of original mushroom spore pattern printed on archival paper with pigment ink, 15 in. x 14.5 in. Image courtesy of the artist.

Head to BRAHM to celebrate the artists and poets of ARS POETICA III exhibition! The reception will include an awards ceremony to announce the pairings chosen for the two Judges’ Choice Awards as well as the People’s Choice Award. Light refreshments will be available.
Free and open to the public.
Website

Sam Bush at The App Theatre
2025-11-14 20:30 - 22:30 | Appalachian Theatre of the High Country, 559 West King Street, Boone, NC, 28607, United States
On a Bowling Green, Kentucky cattle farm in the post-war 1950s, Bush grew up an only son, and with four sisters. His love of music came immediately, encouraged by his parents’ record collection and, particularly, by his father Charlie, a fiddler, who organized local jams. Charlie envisioned his son someday a staff fiddler at the Grand Ole Opry, but a clear day’s signal from Nashville brought to Bush’s television screen a tow-headed boy named Ricky Skaggs playing mandolin with Flatt and Scruggs, and an epiphany for Bush. At 11, he purchased his first mandolin.
As a teen fiddler Bush was a three-time national champion in the junior division of the National Oldtime Fiddler’s Contest. He recorded an instrumental album, Poor Richard’s Almanac as a high school senior and in the spring of 1970 attended the Fiddlers Convention in Union Grove, NC. There he heard the New Deal String Band, taking notice of their rock-inspired brand of progressive bluegrass.
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Patrick Dougherty: Pilgrimage Reception
2025-11-15 17:00 - 19:00 | Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 159 Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
2015. Photo: Brianna Brough/Chapel Hill Magazine

Join BRAHM as they celebrate the exhibition, Patrick Doughtery: Pilgrimage.
Patrick will be in the Gallery to answer questions about the work throughout his successful career, and this premier exhibition at BRAHM.
Website

Michael's Journey Book Signing
2025-11-22 14:00 - 16:00
Saturday Nov. 22 – Jocelyn Lacey, local author of Michael’s Journey from Caterpillar to Butterfly (and many other books) will be doing a signing event. She will be at the Incredible Toy Co. from 1-3pm. Jocelyn has partnered with WAMY Community Action and 20% of the proceeds of this book will go to Hurricane Helene Relief work.
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ASU Home Football Game - Time TBD.
2025-11-22 19:00 - 22:00 | Kidd Brewer Stadium, 733 Rivers Street, Boone, NC, 28607
App State vs. Marshall
Parking Info

Christmas in the Park & Lighting of the Town
2025-11-28 12:00 - 18:30 | Blowing Rock Memorial Park, 1036 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
Blowing Rock’s Christmas in the Park & Lighting of the Town celebration is an annual holiday event that you are sure to love. Join us for hot chocolate, caroling, and visits with Santa. The festival is always the Friday after Thanksgiving, and is the perfect time to kick off your holiday and Christmas celebrating! Bring the whole family, or enjoy the romance of the lights and fun, jovial atmosphere with your significant other.
The Blowing Rock Christmas Parade follows at 10am on the Saturday after Thanksgiving each year!
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Festival of Lights at Chetola
2025-11-28 18:00 - 2026-01-25 22:00 | Chetola Resort, 185 Chetola Lake Dr, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
Chetola Resort features a sparkling display of lights each winter season! The “Festival of Lights” is free and open to the public, and you are invited to enjoy thousands of dazzling illuminations throughout the resort. As you drive or stroll around Chetola Lake, view glittering ice skaters, “Rudolph” reeling in a big fish, strolling carolers and many more captivating holiday scenes. The “Festival of Lights” opens to the public on Friday, November 28, 2025 and remains up through Blowing Rock WinterFest- till Sunday, January 25, 2026. The displays illuminate at dusk each evening.

The Barter Players: "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"
2025-11-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Appalachian Theatre of the High Country, 559 West King Street, Boone, NC, 28607, United States
The Barter Players present this holiday family live theatrical production, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”.
It’s Christmas time at the Cincinnati Zoo, and everyone eagerly anticipates the birth of Bella, the zoo’s first baby hippo. Seven-year-old Lois Jean, the zookeeper’s daughter, is especially excited—she’s counting on Bella to reunite her family in time for the holidays. Then the unexpected happens, and only one person can prevent tragedy. Will Santa arrive in time to save Bella—and Christmas?
A heartwarming musical adventure for the whole family.
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Blowing Rock Christmas Parade
2025-11-29 10:00 - 11:00 | Main Street, 1094 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, United States
The best small-town parade you’ll find anywhere! Celebrate the Christmas season with us as Main Street hosts a parade of decorated vehicles, dancing, costumes, and more. A 10am start time gets you in the holiday spirit for the rest of the day!
No parking along Main Street before the parade ensures good visibility and safety. The parade runs from the intersection at 221/Yonahlossee Road (by Mellow Mushroom) to Ginny Stevens Lane (by Rumple Church).
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