Asheville, N.C. (Aug. 26, 2025) – Experts predict a vibrant and long-lasting fall color season, setting the stage for Asheville's milestone autumn. With more than 100 tree species spanning 5,000 feet of elevation, the Blue Ridge Mountains are home to one of the longest fall color seasons in the world — now paired with a U.S. art premier, major reopenings and community-wide celebrations in the year following Hurricane Helene.

The tropical storm struck during last year's peak travel season, disrupting one of the region's most critical economic drivers. This fall, the Asheville area returns with resilience: a region alive with festivals, artistic debuts, culinary openings and neighborhood gatherings — all against a kaleidoscope of red maples, golden poplars and scarlet sourwoods.

Experts predict a long and colorful fall in the Blue Ridge

Dr. Howard S. Neufeld, biology professor at Appalachian State and fall color expert, says the upcoming fall color season in Western North Carolina will be long and vibrant. Thanks to a warm summer, healthy trees and above-average temperatures in the forecast, leaf peepers can look forward to weeks of brilliant reds, golds and oranges. While the season always begins on schedule, certain trees will hold onto their leaves a little longer, stretching out the show.

Neufeld says September is a critical month for determining fall foliage. The perfect recipe is warm, sunny days and crisp, cool nights with little wind or rain. So far, the outlook is bright — pointing to a breathtaking tapestry of color across the Blue Ridge Mountains and Western North Carolina.

From trails to trolls: an insiders' guide to savoring the season

The Asheville area offers no shortage of fresh vantage points for savoring Autumnal hues — from freshly reopened stretches of the Blue Ridge Parkway to a retro Airstream glamping site. Even arrivals at the expanded Asheville Regional Airport are greeted with sweeping aerial views and a newly opened air terminal.

• Blue Ridge Parkway expands access – The Blue Ridge Parkway in August completed a major repair that opened 38 miles of continuous access from milepost 382 in Asheville and Buncombe County. Nearly 60 percent of the Parkway in North Carolina is now open, including the Folk Art Center, Graveyard Fields and the Cold Mountain Overlook. An updated guide to reopened sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway can be found here.
  
  
• Thomas Dambo's Trolls descend upon the NC Arboretum – The brand-new traveling exhibition, “Trolls: A Field Study” by wildly popular and renowned Danish artist Thomas Dambo, will make its U.S. debut at the North Carolina Arboretum, Nov. 15, 2025 – Feb. 17, 2026. Crafted from reclaimed materials, his twelve larger-than-life trolls inspire wonder while promoting sustainability and a deeper connection to nature. This fall and throughout the winter season, visitors can follow a map to discover each troll's unique personality across the Arboretum's 65 acres of gardens and 10 miles of trails.
  
  
• Chimney Rock State Park reopens – The iconic and highly-grammable Chimney Rock State Park reopened in June after an extensive rebuilding effort following the Hurricane. Guests must reserve tickets to the attraction in advance here. The family-friendly park features beginner-level trails, as well as the option to ride an elevator 26 stories to Sky Lounge, the upper-level café and gift shop, which offers spectacular views of Lake Lure and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
  
  
• Farm tours offer a taste of Foodtopia, off-the-beaten-path – The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) hosts its annual Farm Tours on Sept. 20-21, which offer a chance to experience how food is grown and raised through guided tours, demonstrations and tastings. This year's tour highlights 24 farms in the region that specialize in a variety of produce and products, including Addison Farms Vineyard, Looking Glass Creamery and Wilderkin Beekeeping. One pass is good for all passengers in a single vehicle at all farms, both days.
  
  
• A family favorite returns – Eliada Homes, just five minutes from downtown, puts on the Fall Festival & Corn Maze – the foster care non-profit's largest annual fundraiser. The festival, featuring an 8-acre corn maze, tractor rides, food trucks and family activities, kicks off Sept. 26 and continues through October.

INSIDER TIP: Asheville's fall color hunters are back on the trails. This season, six local photographers will chart the region's most brilliant views, with weekly updates and travel inspiration. Catch reports, events and an interactive maps of peak fall color hot spots at @VisitAsheville and ExploreAsheville.com.

River Arts District leads creative revival

The River Arts District (RAD) along the French Broad River was among the hardest hit creative commercial districts by Hurricane Helene, with hundreds of artist studios and galleries initially impacted. Since then, more than half of the lively neighborhood's artists and makers have returned with remarkable energy. Visitors will once again find open studios, engaging workshops, galleries, boutiques, breweries and music venues — a full revival of Asheville's creative heart.

• Sprawling art market makes a bold comeback | The Marquee, home to 350 vendors, was completely submerged during Helene, but it's making a bold return almost exactly a year later. The Marquee is slated to reopen Sept. 25, with nearly all of its previous artists and antique vendors proudly displaying their wares once again.
  
  
• New gallery provides space to artists | The team behind The Radical Hotel has opened the new RAD Rendezvous, a mix of artist studios, retail and pop-up experiences, with a grand opening party on Sept. 16. The space will house up to 40 artists in individual and shared studios, plus opportunities for visitors to shop, connect and immerse themselves in arts experiences and demonstrations.
  
  
• Fiber collective weaves a new thread | The non-profit Local Cloth, which supports more than 500 fiber artists and farmers across the region, will open its restored workshop and boutique on Sept. 13 with a grand reopening celebration. Local Cloth offers a wide range of classes year-round, including weaving, embroidery, spinning and natural dyes.
  
  
• Artisans return to woodshop and turn fallen trees into fine art | Foundation Woodworks, a collective of 11 master woodworkers and furniture makers, will return to its restored workshop in September. The wood artisans also launched a non-profit, Echoes of the Forest, aimed at transforming downed trees from the hurricane into a healing arts experience with installations, like benches and sculptures.
  • Event: Echoes of the Forest will unveil its installations at “Wood, Wonder & Renewal,” a community celebration at the C. Arboretum, on Sept. 26 – just before Thomas Dambo's new trolls roll in.
    
    
• Neighborhood event honors creative spirit | On Sept. 13, the River Arts District Association will host RAD Resilience — a neighborhood-wide celebration of healing, creativity, and collective strength in the year since Hurricane Helene. Visitors can explore works by more than 350 artists, shop an outdoor market featuring 100 displaced makers, and enjoy food trucks, live talks led by local artists, and a large-scale art installation. Timed alongside “A Tale of Two Cities,” a parallel exhibition in New Orleans marking 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, RAD Resilience underscores the vital role artists play in rebuilding, remembering and reimagining what comes next.

STORY IDEA | ART AFTER THE STORM: In the wake of the storm, new artistic styles and forms of expression have emerged. Print artist Anna Bryant has shifted her focus to a contemplative subject in her series: “Echo of a Room That Was Never Real.” Contemporary painter Jaime Byrd renamed one of her paintings, “Footprints of Helene,” which was marked with beaver pawprints when her gallery and studio flooded.

Food culture: new and reopened spots serve soul and story

• Two local favorites reopen ahead of one-year milestone | After the devastating floods last year, two beloved gathering places are back. In Biltmore Village, Corner Kitchen is welcoming back guests with its legendary Southern classics, shrimp and grits with red eye gravy and pecan-crusted trout from Sunburst Farms. In Woodfin, Zillicoah Beer Company is pouring pints again at its taproom on the banks of the French Broad River. Both establishments embody the community's grit and resilience — and salvaged memorabilia woven into their renovations pay tribute to that spirit.
  
  
• New restaurant rooted in memory | Crusco, named for a sweet red pepper from Italy's Basilicata region, carries forward the legacy of beloved Asheville chef Brian Canipelli, who died unexpectedly in February. Founded by Canipelli's wife and business partner, Kat Kearney, along with former staff of his restaurant Cucina 24, Crusco opened in the River Arts District in late July. The mountain fresh menu highlights heirloom vegetables from The Culinary Gardener and other local farms, paired with pastas, seafood and small plates that honor the seasons. “We all need places to come together, now more than ever, and there's no better place to do that than around a table,” Kearney said.
  
  
• Ukrainian bakery and café preserves heritage traditions | Asheville's Ukrainian community is a small, close-knit community, making up about one percent of the county's population. This fall, Slava Cafe will open on Wall St., a charming, 730-foot-long cobblestone side street downtown. For Ukrainians, the café will offer a taste of home; for others, it's a chance to discover something new and deeply comforting. Slava will offer traditional Ukrainian breads and pastries, as well as classic dishes, like pierogis and cabbage rolls.
  
  
• Modern Mexican makes its way to downtown | Xico, an upscale Mexican restaurant from chef and restaurateur Scott Linquist, will open on Biltmore Ave. this fall with a menu showcasing regional specialties like Veracruz-style moles and Yucatán-inspired grilled fish. The downstairs taqueria, Zico Xico, will offer quick-service tacos and street food favorites, including sopes, huaraches and quesadillas with squash blossom and huitlacoche. Both spaces will feature a robust bar program with an extensive tequila and mezcal selection, traditional Mexican cocktails and inventive craft drinks.
  
  
• Northeastern deli culture makes its way to Appalachia | Finest Deli, a longtime staple at Asheville farmers markets, will open its first brick-and-mortar in West Asheville with a menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, and other casual fare made with locally sourced ingredients. The neighborhood spot features a beer garden and in addition to its food offerings, Finest will serve cheap beers, Italian wines, local drafts and coffee. Jersey South Bagel Co. opened its shop near downtown serving hand-rolled, Jersey-style bagels. In addition to its fluffy bagels, Jersey South offers deli classics, like lox, whitefish salad, and a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich – all made with local produce and ingredients.
  
  
• Cozy Italian eatery opening in River Arts District gallery | Piccolina, a casual Italian restaurant adjacent to Trackside Studios, is opening in September. By day Piccolina will serve scratch-made Neapolitan sandwiches, pizzas, pastries, and Italian ice. By night, it transforms into an intimate dinner spot serving handmade pastas, risottos and whole animal butchery.

Fall events spotlight culture and community pride 

• Goombay Festival | 4-7 – This annual event celebrating Affrilachian heritage and culture has been part of Asheville's cultural landscape for more than four decades. Last year's event was canceled due to the hurricane, and this year's Goombay promises to be a historic event. The weekend lineup includes live jazz, soul, gospel and hip hop performances as well as a fashion show, wellness classes, and family-friendly activities.
  
  
• Blue Ridge Pride Festival | 26 – Asheville celebrates Pride in September, and this year's festival coincides with the one-year milestone since Helene. In addition to the Saturday festival in Pack Square Park, the weekend will pay tribute to the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate the heroic efforts made to provide relief in the storm's wake.
  • Special guest helps kick off Pride weekend: Pattie Gonia, the mustachioed, environmentalist drag queen, will perform at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville Fri, Sept. 26, a stop on Pattie's “SAVE HER!” tour. The drag show, which centers on climate change and solutions, features a lineup of local and national drag performers.
    
    
• Black Mountain Blues Festival | Sept. 26-28 – Blues musicians from across the nation will descend upon the town of Black Mountain for this second-annual festival, which takes place across multiple venues. In addition to live music, Black Mountain Blues will feature panel discussions, open blues jams and educational opportunities.
  
  
• Burnpile | Oct. 4 – This annual festival at Burial Beer Co.'s Forestry Camp pairs genre-defying national acts and beers from more than 60 craft breweries around the world. This year's event aims to be an offering of joy, recognizing the community's perseverance and revival. A portion of ticket sales will go toward the brewery's Manifest Eternity Program, which supports local breweries' rebuilding efforts.
  
  
• LEAF Global Arts Festival | 16-19 – This family-friendly global festival celebrates 30 years connecting cultures through music, art and workshops on the campus of Lake Eden, in Black Mountain. This year's lineup features folk artist Valerie June, “immigrant rock” band Making Movies and local cumbia group Las Montañitas, among a dozens of artists from around the world.
  
  
• Asheville Symphony Orchestra Presents “Convergence” | Oct. 25 - Celebrating more than 90 years of the enduring creative legacy of Black Mountain College, this unique performance traces a journey from European romanticism to American avant-garde, including groundbreaking works by John Cage that emerged from the renowned transformative haven for creatives in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
  
  
• RADfest | Nov. 8-9 — The second annual RADfest, will celebrate a year of resilience and reopening with a two-day-long street fare featuring artist demonstrations, open studios, live music, food trucks and creative happenings. Last year's inaugural event drew thousands to the neighborhood, creating a critical source of revenue for artists and bringing community together when it was needed most.
  
  
• The Asheville Sessions | Nov. 6-9 — A century ago, Asheville helped change how American music was heard. In 1925, the city hosted the first commercial recordings made in Appalachia — capturing fiddlers, banjo pickers and singers who helped lay the foundation for what would become known as Americana. This fall, Explore Asheville is the presenting sponsor of The Asheville Sessions: Celebrating 100 Years of Americana & Appalachia, a weekend of concerts, discussions and events honoring that legacy while spotlighting the city's thriving modern scene. The celebration includes two marquee concerts:
  • Nov. 7 – Ketch Secor, of Old Crow Medicine Show, will perform with Nest of Singing Birds and Jesse Smathers at The Grey Eagle.
  • Nov. 8 – The spotlight turns to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium for a hometown showcase with Asheville-based River Whyless, Tyler Ramsey, Toubab Krewe and Floating Action.
    
    

STORY IDEA | NATION'S OLDEST BLACK GOLF TOURNAMENT PLAYS ON: Sixty-five years ago, the Skyview Golf Tournament held its first competition for 50 participants. The annual event was created to give Black golfers a chance to compete. Several players over the years have gone on to compete and win on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. The tradition continues on Sept. 22-23 at the Country Club of Asheville.

For more information on Asheville fall travel, including weekly color reports, a fall foliage tracking map, and autumn adventure ideas, visit ExploreAsheville.com. A gallery with high-resolution images can be found here – please credit: ExploreAsheville.com. For more information, spokesperson contacts, visual assets, or site visit requests, please contact the PR team at media@exploreasheville.com.

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About Asheville 

Asheville is where unrivaled natural beauty and bold creative expression meet. Tucked away in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, the city is steps away from some of the world's most biodiverse forests and the tallest peaks in the East. For generations, the Asheville area has nurtured and inspired a compassionate community that's deeply rooted and ever-evolving – just like the ancient French Broad River that runs through it.