Celebrate! Bele Chere

          Bele Chere has been around for a generation now, and it’s earned a reputation as the largest free outdoor street festival in the southeast.  From July 28 to July 30 a hundred thousand people wander through downtown Asheville sampling music, art, crafts, and endless food.

Bele Chere Celebration, Pack Square.  Photo by Cathryn Shaffer.

     Booths feature the work of local and regional craftspeople who make the pottery and baskets and wood carvings that are a staple of mountain history, and local restaurants provide food.  There are raft rides that reflect our mountain whitewater experience and skateboarding contest that hightlights Asheville"s Food Lion Skate Park on Cherry Street.

      But the big thing about Bele Chere is the music.  Asheville native Warren Haynes and his Government Mule band  and the Friday night headliner, and the Grammy winning Train highlights Saturday night, with special guest Yo’ Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band.  Local favorite David LaMotte plays Friday night, Grammy-winner David Holt of Fairview on Saturday, and the Chicago Afrobeat Project on Sunday.  The lineup includes a roster of local, area, and regional bands, and with six stages, there’s generally music for every taste.

      For the adventurous, the Second Annual Bele Chere Urban Challenge offers tests of physical strength, mental quickness, and creative thinking.  You  can scale a rock wall, enter the Bele Chere Autocross or 5K run, or participate in the City-Wide Softball Tournament at Martin Luther King Park. 

       Children will have their own special area in the Health Department’s parking lot, with arts and crafts, story-telling, clowns, face-painting, and other activities – all free.  A full schedule of Bele Chere activities is available at belecherefestival.com