A collective celebration of neighborhood history and culture.
Honor the past. Celebrate the present. Help shape the future.
August 28 and 29, 2026
Memorial Stadium, Asheville
Free and open to the community
The Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition invites Asheville residents, former residents, extended families, and neighbors from across the city to gather for the inaugural Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition Festival.
This free, two-day celebration will honor the people, stories, traditions, and creativity of Asheville’s legacy neighborhoods: Burton Street, East End/Valley Street, Emma, Shiloh, and Southside.
The festival is both a celebration and a call to action. It invites us to honor those who came before us, carry their work forward, and help ensure that Asheville’s historic communities remain places where future generations can live, lead, and thrive.
What to expect
Throughout the weekend, festivalgoers will experience the history, culture, and community life of Asheville’s legacy neighborhoods through:
- Live music and cultural performances
- Local food and community vendors
- Visual art and neighborhood storytelling
- Youth and family activities
- Games and interactive experiences
- Historical and cultural displays
- Opportunities to meet neighborhood leaders
- Information about community initiatives and ways to get involved
Additional schedule, performer, vendor, and activity details will be announced as plans are confirmed.
Celebrating the communities that shaped Asheville
For generations, Asheville’s legacy neighborhoods have been places of family, culture, faith, creativity, entrepreneurship, organizing, and mutual care.
Parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents built communities whose influence remains visible throughout Asheville today. The Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition Festival creates space for those stories to be shared with younger generations so they can better understand what they have inherited and the responsibility they now carry.
The festival will also recognize the residents and neighborhood leaders who continue working to preserve community history, protect neighborhood identity, strengthen resident leadership, and advocate for equitable investment.
A celebration with a purpose
Since 2019, the Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition has worked alongside neighborhood leaders and residents to preserve community history, restore visibility to people and stories that have been erased, and advocate for equitable investment throughout Asheville.
The festival reflects that ongoing work by creating a space where people from every part of the city can gather, learn, celebrate, and build relationships.
It is an opportunity to experience the cultures that helped make Asheville what it is today while learning how residents are working to protect their communities and shape what comes next.
An invitation to the whole city
The Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition Festival welcomes longtime residents, former residents, descendants of neighborhood families, and people who are newer to Asheville.
Strong neighborhoods grow when people choose to become good neighbors. Learning the history of a place, building meaningful relationships, and investing in the people around us strengthen the entire community.
Whether your family has lived in Asheville for generations or you are just beginning to call the city home, the festival offers an opportunity to listen, learn, celebrate, and become more connected.
About the Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition
The Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition exists to protect historic communities that are most impacted by displacement.
We honor the legacy and culture of historically under-resourced residents and build collective power that strengthens community voices, expands civic participation, and stewards opportunities where future generations can thrive.
The coalition includes residents and neighborhood leaders from:
Burton Street
East End/Valley Street
Emma
Shiloh
Southside
Asheville Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition 