Events in Waynesville, NC

Author Andrew K. Clark visits City Lights for a conversation about his new novel, Hollow Folk, with Emily Naser-Hall. The book follows grad student Ethan Ray during an overnight shift at the Holloway, a fading mountain hotel, where he expects routine tasks but encounters unsettling phenomena. Reddish light stains the Appalachian sky, wind moves without a sound, and owl-like figures seem to stir awake. When the clocks stall in the small hours, Ethan and his coworkers, Kal and Teresa, find themselves shut inside. The building proves to be more than a relic, an ancient force has stirred, and the only way out is to unearth the hotel’s buried secrets even as unexpected feelings develop between Ethan and Teresa. Their visions carry the same warning that trust is perilous because someone among them may not be who they appear to be. The story blends gothic romance with Appalachian folk horror, where the land seems to watch and darkness leaves its trace. Early blurbs from Erika T. Wurth and Paulette Kennedy praise the novel as a surreal love story with a Kafka-esque undercurrent, both unsettling and entertaining. Clark is a Western North Carolina writer with deep regional roots. His debut, Where Dark Things Grow from Cowboy Jamboree Press, was a Manly Wade Wellman Award finalist, made the Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award shortlist, and earned an IPPY from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. The sequel, Where Dark Things Rise from Quill & Crow Publishing House, won an IndieReader Discovery Award and was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award. Hollow Folk is his third novel. Emily Naser-Hall is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies and Graduate Program Director in the Department of English Studies at Western Carolina University. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, an MA from Northwestern University, an LL.M. from Georgetown University, and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University. Her research explores post-1945 American literature and film, cultural narratives, and the connections between law and literature.

WNC duo Seth and Sara have pressed pause on their van-life tour for another year and are focusing on regional shows in 2026. Over the past seven years they have taken their music to 49 states, sharing original songs born around the campfire alongside familiar favorites from artists such as Tyler Childers, The Beatles, Colter Wall, Brooks & Dunn, Radiohead, and Johnny Cash. Seth brings captivating vocals and guitar paired with a continually evolving suitcase kick drum groove, while Sara supports with percussion and gentle harmonies that fit their cowboy-tinged sound. The set mixes affection and humor with heartbreak and moments that invite dancing, all carried by a rootsy edge.

Geared toward infants and babies at any stage, this class focuses on early movement and helps build milestones such as rolling, crawling, and walking in a playful, supportive setting.

A double feature at Studio 505 Sylva sets the tone for spooky season with The House in Cyprus Canyon and Carmilla. Advance tickets are $10, payable in cash at Baxley’s Chocolates or by requesting Venmo details via direct message.

Bring clean, non-food-packaging Styrofoam to Mark Watson Park in Sylva for recycling. This monthly drop-off welcomes any items that meet those guidelines.

Storyteller Kathi Littlejohn (EBCI) leads a monthly, conversational program that highlights important Cherokee places, notable figures, and related history in the Museum of the Cherokee People's TJ Holland Education Room. Every session explores a new theme. Littlejohn has shared Cherokee stories for more than forty years at festivals, schools, and other events, and for the past five years has guided history tours to culturally and historically significant sites in Western North Carolina. Her work includes four storytelling albums titled Cherokee Legends Volume I, Volume II, and Volume III, and Cherokee Stories of the Supernatural, which are available at select gift shops. She also created the YouTube series Cherokee History and Stories, What Happened Here?

Now in its second year, Southeast All Truck Nationals returns to Maggie Valley. Online registration will be available. Building on the momentum from its debut, organizers aim to deliver another strong year.

Explore the elk of the Smokies during peak mating season, often called the rut, with the possibility of hearing the bugle of an elk and observing behaviors specific to this time of year. The day includes a conversation about elk biology and their reintroduction in the Smokies, followed by a short walk on a nearby trail to improve the chances of seeing these animals along with other natural highlights.

Back for its second running, Papertown Trail Races returns to Chestnut Mountain Nature Park in Canton with a trail course that blends natural beauty with a tough test. Participants can choose between long and short race options on the park's trails.

At The Ten Acre Garden, this hands-on workshop helps dogs build the manners needed for relaxed outings to patios and picnic spots. Training is tailored to each dog’s current level, with guidance from Victoria, owner and operator of Cruso Kennels and Training. Teams practice settling calmly in busy outdoor areas, ignoring food and table temptations, and improving leash manners in public places. Sessions provide individualized coaching and real-world practice to boost confidence and reliability in social settings. The fee is $35 per dog, and classes are limited to eight dogs to keep instruction focused. Fresh, farm-to-oven wood-fired pizza is available on site after the lesson, offering an easy way to keep practicing polite behavior during lunch.

This event showcases a 12-string sound rooted in Americana and rock, featuring a mix of original tunes and cover songs.

Texas Peat delivers a high energy mix of country, country rock, rockabilly, and Americana that keeps people moving. Known around the region for tight vocal harmonies and a broad range of songs, the band packs plenty of variety into the set. The music happens at Frog Level Brewing Company, a working microbrewery with 21 taps. Guests can relax inside or in the creekside beer garden that doubles as the music venue, with live performances throughout the year. Pub-style favorites are on the menu, and the casual atmosphere is friendly to families and pets, making it a popular Downtown Waynesville spot for locals and visitors.

Returning to Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, AVL Scarefest marks its 10th anniversary with a classic monsters theme that plays with the age-old question of whether vampires and werewolves can get along. The program teases everything from tense showdowns to unexpected chemistry as it explores this fang-and-fur dynamic. Tickets are on sale, and there is also a chance to vote on this year’s t-shirt slogan.

Experience live acoustic music at Valley Tavern.

The 25th annual Tournament of Champions will bring 25 ensembles to Cullowhee for a full day of pageantry at E.J. Whitmire Stadium. A preliminary schedule has been released.

A comic convention for the geek community takes place in Waynesville, North Carolina at the Smoky Mountain Event Center. Connected to Haywood County and the broader Western North Carolina community, it offers a friendly setting for fans to come together and share what they love.

In October, elk in the Smokies enter the rut, a period marked by bugling calls and notably active behavior. The day includes a discussion of elk biology and the reintroduction program in the area, then a short Naturalist Ramble on a nearby trail to increase the chances of seeing elk along with other natural highlights.

City Lights Bookstore hosts a poetry reading featuring contributors to Had I a Dove: Appalachian Poets on the Helene Floods. Edited by North Carolina poet Hilda Downer, this anthology gathers more than 95 voices responding to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and neighboring states in 2024. The selections reflect grief, remembrance, and the determination of Appalachian communities, moving from solemn elegy toward cautious hope. The reading emphasizes poems of witness and communal mourning that underscore resilience, vigilance, and the human capacity to rebuild in the face of nature’s power.

Mountain Medicine performs live at The Ten Acre Garden for a laid back afternoon in WNC. The event welcomes families and dogs, and attendees can come ready to listen and bring a hearty appetite.

Lauren K. Watel and Chelsea Rathburn visit City Lights for a poetry reading featuring their newest books. Watel will share work from Book of Potions, her debut in prose poetry and recipient of the 2023 Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry, with Ilya Kaminsky as judge. With urgency and candor, these brief hybrid pieces follow a woman navigating midlife and the pressures of roles and expectations. The potions fuse lyric intensity with narrative breadth, moving through fairy tale terrains, allegory, sharp social satire, thought experiments, and vivid surreal imagery. Each piece feels like a linguistic elixir, at times soothing, at times caustic, always alive with imagination. Rathburn will read from Broken Houses, her fourth collection, an exploration of home and the fragile structures, physical and metaphorical, that shape identity. Early fascination with model homes and half-built houses opens into an awareness of class divides and how quickly shelter can be undone by storms or by human action, along with the losses that follow. Drawing on historical records, contemporary art, family photographs, and memory, the poems trace stories that include the settlement of Miami and her father’s time in a California foster home, widening into reflections on dispossession and erasure. In a moment when the American Dream can feel distant, the book turns toward connection and care. Watel’s Book of Potions received the Kathryn A. Morton Prize from Sarabande Books, and her poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and potion pieces have appeared widely. She holds an M.A. in English from Hollins College and a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies from Emory University, is a Dallas native, and lives in Decatur, Georgia. Rathburn is the author of three earlier full-length collections, most recently Still Life with Mother and Knife, recognized by the New York Times as New & Noteworthy. Her first book won the 2005 Richard Wilbur Award, and she received a National Endowment for the Arts poetry fellowship in 2009. Her poems have appeared in publications that include Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, The Southern Review, New England Review, and Ploughshares. She is an associate professor of English and creative writing at Mercer University, was appointed poet laureate of Georgia in 2019, and received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship in 2021.

David Sedaris appears at the Performance Hall at Bardo Arts Center in Cullowhee, NC.

Experience a guided forest bathing walk led by ANFT-certified guide Debby Singleton. Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, this gentle immersion invites unhurried movement, mindful observation, periods of reflection, and quiet solo moments. Studies have associated forest bathing with lower stress, a strengthened immune system, renewed creativity, and mental rejuvenation. The outing concludes with a tea ceremony and snacks provided by Debby. If you have dietary needs, share them during registration.

As fog settles in, ScreamFest transforms the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds into a two-night Halloween celebration. Explore haunted trail scares and unexpected thrills, sing along at karaoke, and enjoy live music and games. Shop from spooky vendors, grab food from local trucks, and let face painting complete the look. Costumes are welcome for a contest that invites attendees to show their best creations. With tricks, treats, and activities for all ages, there is Halloween fun around every corner.

Music will be playing out on the patio. Enjoy an open-air setting while you listen.

Grace, a Carolina farm girl in her early twenties, has long imagined the moment when Mr. Right would place a Princess Cut diamond on her finger. After fifteen months with Stewart and a special plan in the works, everything takes an unexpected turn, and the heartbreak that follows sets her on a journey, supported by her father, to learn what genuine love really requires. Marking the film’s 10th anniversary, Mountain Cross presents Princess Cut back on the big screen at the Smoky Mountain Cinema, with a suggested donation of $10 at the door.

Celebrate service at a special 250th-themed Veterans Appreciation Dinner featuring a classic chicken meal with all the fixings, guest speakers, and a raffle. The gathering takes place in the Heritage Room Dining Hall at the Department on Aging. Seating is reserved, and reservations can be made by calling 828-631-2231.

Rooted in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, country artist Kristen Toole takes the stage with her band The Tooleshed to perform a mix of country classics, 90s country, contemporary country, and her own original songs. Regular regional performers, they share a broad slice of the genre in a welcoming, down-to-earth show.

A celebration honoring veterans featuring a live concert by the Ronnie Call Band, along with vendors, food trucks, inflatables, and a car show. Guests may want to bring lawn chairs for comfortable seating and plan for a day of music, food, and activities.

A luxury mahjong retreat is being hosted at Cataloochee Ranch, approximately 35 minutes from Asheville. The event is centered on the game of mahjong, and space is limited.

Enjoy a live performance on the Lazy Hiker Brewing - Sylva Taproom stage featuring a blend of jazz, blues, soul, Motown and more. Food is available at the venue.

The Mountaineer Holiday Classic at Tuscola High School features individual competition for high school boys and girls, with athletes competing on their own rather than as part of a team.

At the Historic Haywood Farmers Market, EAC teams up with Feed Me Foam to collect and recycle large pieces of Styrofoam. Food service foam is not accepted and should be taken to Publix instead. For details on preparation and accepted materials, review the guidelines provided by Feed Me Foam.

LRC brings a live acoustic performance to The Scotsman Waynesville.

Enjoy a weekend devoted to Christmas themed cross stitch at Pride Rv Resort, filled with festive fun and lots of dedicated stitching time. Highlights include an ugly Christmas sweater contest, a Christmas pajama party, Christmas cookies, and a Christmas smalls swap. This is a no frills gathering with no designers or classes. Meals and lodging are on your own, with several restaurants nearby. The campground offers campsites and lodging rentals, and there are motels about five miles away. The retreat fee is $20 per person, it is non-refundable, and a spot is secured only after the $20 payment is received. Payment is accepted by mailed check. If interested, please email priviesandprims@yahoo.com to check availability or to be added to the waiting list. When contacting the campground, mention the cross stitch retreat, and do not reserve a site until the organizer confirms that there is an opening. After payment has been received, mark yourself as going and change your notification settings to receive all updates so nothing is missed. For the smalls swap, create a Christmas themed piece that includes a star somewhere in the design. The finished gift should be approximately 6 to 8 inches or smaller, small enough to fit in a brown paper lunch bag. Please wrap the gift in tissue paper. Paper bags will be provided, and no extras should be included with the swap gift.

Now in its second year, this no-tap bowling tournament is open to all bowlers. Each participant bowls four games across eight lanes, and the highest total pinfall determines the winner. The final cashing spot earns a complimentary entry into the subsequent event. Lane conditions will mirror the duel patterns planned for that event, providing a chance to fine-tune your approach. Entry is $60, with $45 going to the prize fund and $15 covering lineage and expenses. Optional $2 brackets and side pots are available. To register or ask questions, call or text 828-269-8580 to reach Trent Wolfe, or send a Facebook message to Trent Wolfe or Brandon Wolfe.

Live music at The Rivers and Rails Tavern pairs with a menu made from scratch. Drawing on Szymanski’s Rockland County, New York roots, the kitchen gives careful attention to every plate, with dressings and sauces prepared in-house. The tavern fosters a home away from home atmosphere, and this performance is part of the ongoing fun.

At UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Harrah's Cherokee Resort, this second annual bowling competition welcomes bowlers of all ages, including youth. Each entrant will bowl four qualifying games across eight lanes, then the top 16 advance to a single elimination bracket. The entry fee is $100, with $75 going to the prize fund and $25 covering lineage and expenses. Handicap is calculated at 80 percent of 200, capped at a maximum of 25 pins for men and 30 for women. Optional sidepots and additional bracket action will be offered.