Upcoming Events in WNC

Summer in WNC: Festivals and Events I’ve Loved

Summer 2026 in Western North Carolina feels like it is flying by. I had great plans for keeping this blog updated but if you follow me on social media, you know that I’ve been steady on the move. I attended several events over the last few months, including:

Trails and Trains Festival | Old Fort, nc

Earlier this spring, I visited the Destination McDowell Visitor Center in Old Fort, NC to grab a map and look around. I met two of the sweetest employees who clearly love McDowell County. They gave me so much good advice on what to see and do and then let me know that it was a must for me to come back to attend the annual Old Fort Trails and Trains Festival. I put it on my calendar!

On festival day, the weather was blazing hot, but game for an adventure, the kids and I got our sunscreen on and headed down the mountain. First, we walked through the vendor booths that were set up on a big lawn in downtown. We saw familiar favorites like Mackey Creek Mud (psst…Jess is hosting a Harvest Festival in this same space on October 24 – deets here) and Bigfoot Books and Brews, and learned about upcoming spots like Parlor Car in Marion. We also learned about the G5 Trail Collective, a non-profit partnership that has been collaborating with the US Forest Service to work on re-opening trails post-Hurricane Helene and other projects too!

Next, we headed over to the train tracks. Train enthusiasts were on hand to tell us about some model trains, the kids were allowed to climb into an antique railcar, and there was a table of festival merch. The kids had a blast with this hands-on experience. Then, we walked over to Black Beary’s for lunch and quickly popped into The Common Pine to say Happy 2nd Birthday to the shop.

Everyone full and content, the next stop was to the public library for the festival kid zone. Each kid got a bag filled with goodies, they played train-themed games, customized walking sticks, and so much more. Although we didn’t participate, the visitor center also had a scavenger hunt for kids throughout the festival area. Everyone was tired, but I squeezed in a stop at The Thirsty Peanuts on the way home for a blackberry lemonade before hopping back on I-40 for home!

All of this fun was just during the day on the Saturday of the festival. The week preceding was full of events, with Saturday evening including live music. Find out more about the annual festival at https://www.oldfortfest.com/.

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Big Barn Bash at Hickory Nut Gap Farm | Fairview, nc

It’s fairly unusual to see Sunday vendor events, and so when one Saturday night I saw an Instagram post from the Appalachian Makers Collective advertising a Big Barn Bash at Hickory Nut Gap Farm, I filed it away in my head. The next day was rainy and the kids and I were itching to get out of the house. Barn implies covered, so we jumped in the car! The rain did not ruin our parade. Hickory Nut Gap Farm has a giant covered barn and even steady rain didn’t interfere with the event.

Although the barn is massive and covered, the sides are open air which gives the perfect balance of still feeling like you are outdoors. String lights ran the course of the barn, live music was playing on stage, and a gaggle of little kids were zooming around on tricycles in front of the stage. This immediately caught the attention of the Alamour girls and before doing anything else, I posted up on a bench to let them cycle their hearts out.

A little energy expended, we then walked through all of the makers and tables including some book-themed fun like Read Me Unconditionally and Thistle Owl Studio. We snagged a giant cookie and coffee from the Roam Coffee & Bakery truck. The Asheville Museum of Science was also set up with some fun educational activities – matching games, stamps, and even some live creatures.

I heard my name being called from across the barn and it was Anne Marie Brown, a local artist who paints and creates incredible fiber art. We used to work together at A.C. Moore a long time ago in what is now Hopey on Fairview Road. It was fun to catch up and introduce her to the kids.

We snacked on some popcorn, did another round of tricycles, and waited for a puppet show to begin. This was no ordinary puppet show – a group of Cherokee Second Language Learners put on a show to teach the kids some basic words and phrases in Cherokee and to tell stories. It was sweet and fun! You can find them on TikTok here. The show was timely too because I’ve been talking to the kids a lot about the importance of learning Arabic and the keeping of our family traditions and languages. The show was a beautiful display of what caring for and preserving tradition and language looks like.

Before we left, we checked out the old silo that is filled with musical instruments and did a quick stop at the Hickory Nut Gap Farm Store. It’s both a farm butcher shop and a market filled with dozens of local brands from across Western North Carolina.

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Rootle Roadster Tour by PBS Kids | Swannanoa, NC

This summer, the Swannanoa Resilience Hub and other partners teamed up with PBS Kids to bring their Rootle Roadster Tour to Swannanoa! This was probably the best kid-centered event that I have ever been to and they managed to set up the event without canceling the Swannanoa Market. The market is open in the same space every Saturday from 10 AM-1 PM.

The Rootle Roadster Tour event was packed with families, but because there was so much to do, there were no long lines or wait times for any games or activities. I invited my next-door neighbor who also has three kids – we started by picking up a free book, bag, and snack for each kid. PBS also handed out a meal ticket and a dessert ticket for the food trucks to every single kid.

The next four hours were a blur – face paint, food, games, a STEM experiment with lab coats, golf simulation, walking around the market booths, and more! You can bet the kiddos passed out on the couch the moment we got home.

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Groovin’ on Grovemont | Swannanoa, nc

A few months ago, I got together with a couple of members of the Swannanoa Community Council for coffee and to learn more about our community-owned Grovemont and Fox Creek parks. Throughout the course of the conversation, I also learned about Groovin’ on Grovemont, a summer concert series at Grovemont that raises money to maintain the properties. I had heard about the event, but had never been.

The first event was on July 14th with Datrian and the Family Tree on stage (so talented!). We packed up our blankets and headed over at 6 PM. By the time we got there, hundreds of people were already set up with their chairs and the event was in full motion. We bought dinner plates and sat down, but I say “sat down” lightly as the kids did very little sitting and a whole lot of running and playing.

In addition to music and food, local organizations had tables, the Swannanoa Library set up a craft, and The Hop was selling ice cream. There are two more events this summer and I’m excited to be a sponsor of the event series. I hope you can make it on July 28 (Ska City) and August 11th (Kellin Watson and the Feelgood) – attending is free!

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Upcoming Field Trips:

Old Fort Field Trip – Explore Downtown Old Fort and Hike Catawba Falls (w/Artemis Rising Collective) on July 18

Marion Field Trip on August 1

Asheville Salt Cave & Botanical Gardens Field Trip (w/Artemis Rising Collective) on August 9