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DKos Asheville Open Thread: Theater, Grindfest, Keeping Asheville Weird, and Weekend events [1]
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Date: 2023-05-27
WLOS, Samiar Nefzi, 5/26/2023
The latest production by Asheville Junior Theater, "Finding Nemo Jr.," takes to the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday and Sunday.
According to Wortham’s website, this is the first theater company in Asheville, and one of the first in the nation, to perform the musical. This also marks the first time the company has partnered with local companies to offer tickets to fosters and other children unable to afford tickets for the show.
“Some of them have probably never even seen a play before,” Becky Woodbridge said.
Asheville Junior Theater and about 12 other companies have donated 180 tickets for children to see the show. “It’s pretty important that we keep going together as a community and include everyone,” parent Carla Delangre said.
The show is an adaption of the 2003 Pixar movie of the same name with a runtime of 60 minutes.
Mountain Express, Andy Hall, 5/23/2023
GRINDFest 2023, a festival celebrating Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurship, kicked off Friday, May 26, with several events in the River Arts District. The festival runs through Sunday, May 28, with a concert Saturday at the Salvage Station headlined by Big Boi and Waka Flocka Flame.
Grindfest AVL will celebrate and promote Black-owned businesses with entertaining and professional events on Memorial Day weekend from Friday, May 26, through Sunday, May 28, in Asheville’s River Arts District.
“We’re excited to host Grindfest 2023 and provide a carnival-themed space where Black-owned businesses can shine,” says a Black Wall Street AVL spokesperson in a press release. “Our mission is to foster community and unity among Black residents and businesses in Asheville, while also educating the public about the history and significance of Black Wall Street.”
The free event, which begins at 10 a.m. each day, will feature a Black Wall Street marketplace where Black-owned businesses showcase their products and services, as well as a dance battle, hip-hop aerobics, a drag show and story times. Attendees can also enjoy food trucks, a beer garden and carnival games and rides.
On Friday, attendees can register for the Nonprofit Social Enterprise Summit, which takes place 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Black Wall Street building. The learning summit will offer a chance for nonprofits to network and share ideas. On Saturday at 6 p.m., rappers Big Boi, Waka Flocka Flame and Talib Kweli will perform in a special concert at Salvage Station.
Black Wall Street is at 8 River Arts Place. For more information, visit avl.mx/bl2.
Mountain Express, Jessica Wakeman, 5/26/2023
Asheville has always been a city where creative folks could survive or even thrive. Some opened brick-and-mortars; others eked out a living in food service, hospitality or elsewhere and pursued their creative aspirations on the side.
Yet, these same free thinkers who bolster Asheville’s reputation as a haven for creative expression feel a strain wrought by the city’s success. They feel pushed out of affording a home, struggle to pay ever-rising rent or succumb to living with multiple roommates. Others worry about being able to swing rent for their businesses in Asheville that fulfill the mantra to “keep Asheville weird.”
“There are so many creative people here, and none of us are wealthy,” says Molly Clark, co-owner of Ben’s Tune-up. She estimates half of her employees live in Canton or Candler because they can’t afford rent in Asheville.
Tattoo artist Reina Lynn, who uses they/them pronouns, moved to Asheville from Florida. The city is more open about embracing members of the LGBTQ+ community like Lynn, they say, and the tattoo artist community is more mutually supportive. Plus, they add, the area is “so full of art everywhere you go, and you see supercool pieces everywhere.”
Memorial Day weekend brings pool openings, seasonal events to Asheville
Things to Do in Asheville This Memorial Day Weekend -- May 26-28, 2023
12 Ways to celebrate Memorial Day in Asheville and across WNC (2023)
Thank you for reading and contributing, wishing all a safe weekend.
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