This coming Labor Day holiday weekend, Sept. 3-6, leave your labors behind at our Lovers’ Loop Retreat, an affordable Asheville bed and breakfast alternative.
Have loads of laughs at LAAFF, an Asheville festival
One of our favorite annual events is LAAFF (Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival) on Sunday, Sept. 5. Yes, every Labor Day weekend, you can people-watch, eat some groovy grub, enjoy multicultural music and dance and check out a great variety of artists and other vendors at this gem of a FREE street festival. Boredom doesn’t happen at this circus.
It’s Asheville’s funkiest festival, with a dose of the eye-opening, a touch of Halloween, a huge helping of community spirit and a heap of heart and soul. The event, which raises money for a local arts organization, is laid-back and frenzied at the same time. Wear a creative costume if you wish; many people do. Go and be as odd as you want! Think comedy acts and fire dancers, belly dancing and hula hoops, tattoos and tutus, green hair and pink hair, the zany comedy tour bus LaZoom, street performers and a little wackiness. Did we say it’s unpredictable, too?
Free things to do in Asheville on Labor Day weekend
LAAFF is just one of the free activities in Asheville for Labor Day. On Saturday, Sept. 4, there’s Shindig on the Green, a free, summertime music event in Asheville. Shindig, at a park downtown, serves up bluegrass, mountain music and dancing. Take a blanket and a picnic, and relax and enjoy the communal spirit. If you’re a musician, take your own instrument and join in on an improvised jam session. Or you might be moved to dance spontaneously!
In the morning on Saturday, Sept. 4, you can hear Stories on Asheville’s Front Porch, a storytelling series. The free downtown event offers an opportunity to hear talented storytellers, some of whom are nationally known.
Another free event is the North Carolina Apple Festival in Hendersonville, just south of Asheville, Sept. 3-6. Go munch some fruit in the biggest apple-producing area of North Carolina.
Here are some other FREE things to do in Asheville on your happy holiday weekend:
* Watch the sunset on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a famous, scenic road with mountain views that’s a minute from Lovers’ Loop Retreat.
* Stop by the weekly drum circle at Pritchard Park downtown on Friday, Sept. 3. You’ll find it hard to leave. Take your own drum and pound along, dance as your body moves you, or just watch and wonder.
* Bring a kayak or canoe – which you can store at Lovers’ Loop Retreat— and put out on the French Broad River, one of the world’s oldest waterways.
* Take your own walking tour of downtown Asheville’s art galleries. Some of our favorite galleries downtown are Blue Spiral, Minerva and Haen. We have brochures at Lovers’ Loop Retreat that list galleries.
* Visit Malaprop’s, an independent bookstore that’s the pulse of the downtown literary scene. They have a café and frequent readings and other events, too.
Get your grin on in Asheville this Labor Day weekend!
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