Walk around downtown Asheville and it’s hard to miss the multitude of stone icons, from the ethereal girl dancer in front of the Civic Center to the snarling gargoyle monitoring the city from the heights of the Jackson Building. Stone lions guard the entrance to the Grove Arcade, while a graceful angel hovers just outside Pack Place. Luckily, in this land of beauties and beasts, all the statuary is more artistic than ferocious.
Beauty and the beasts
Festivals (like art-deco architecture) are studies in angels and monsters—in the best possible sense, of course. Snarling rockers share stages with soulful crooners, and early morning joggers make a healthful sprint while party animals sleep off their previous night’s indulgences. Cute kids are transformed into all means of creatures thanks to glittery face paint. Purina Ultimate Air Dogs, Budweiser Clydesdales and Burt’s Bees represent the beasts, while caricature artist Brian Vasilik helps festivalgoers find their inner beasts.
Go local
This year’s 29th annual Bele Chere festival, like Thomas Wolfe’s iconic angel, looks homeward with a decidedly local focus. Area talent is showcased in visual arts, food and music (look for a gargoyle denoting local bands and events within the pages of this guide). With 22 Western North Carolina counties represented, the festival aims for a more down-home feel than ever. Nearly 30 percent of artists at this year’s ArtsPark live and work in the area. Thirty-four out of 66 bands slated to play call the Asheville area their home. And when it comes to noshing, such far-flung cuisines as Greek, Thai and French are served up by local vendors. (As for assigning angel or monster classifications to funnel cakes and smoothies ... we’ll leave that task to Bele Chere attendees.)
File under “Angel”
Even closer to home is athlete Rashad McCants (a member of the 2005 N.C. Tar Heels championship team, currently playing for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves), who will host “Shoot for the Cure.” McCants, who graduated from Erwin High School, created “Shoot for the Cure” to benefit Asheville-area nonprofits. Proceeds from this year’s contest go to the Mission Breast Center/Mission Healthcare Foundation. Want to get involved? Head to the corner of College and Spruce Streets, where, for a $1 donation, contestants can attempt the half-court shot with a chance to win $10,000 in the Sunday, July 29, finals. (For those keeping track, this new-to-Bele Chere event has “angel” written all over it.)
Jam comes in many flavors
Also new to the festival: the first ever Bele Chere Jam. This ticketed event ($18 in advance, $23 day of show), held Saturday, July 28, is a marathon concert geared toward jam-band fans. JJ Grey and Mofro, Perpetual Groove, KD3: Karl Denson Trio and headliners Rusted Root keep the tunes coming from 3 to 11 p.m.
For those taking a pass on the jams, Bele Chere’s other stages offer up plenty of sweet local sounds, from the gypsy jazz of One Leg Up to the infectious grooves of The Afromotive. Add to that a host of reggae, funk, blues, bluegrass, zydeco and experimental groups, and there’s something for every beauty ... and every beast.
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I am very dissappointed that in light of the encouraged “local acts,” there is no hip hop or urban geared music. |
Rosalyn Roland Jul 26, 2007 |
