Two new outdoor venues are poised to breathe life into areas ravaged by Hurricane Helene’s floods, with openings anticipated as early as 2026.
These projects were spotlighted during the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s recent Year Ahead event.
The owners of Asheville’s Orange Peel music club are leading the first venture, aiming to establish a 6,000-capacity outdoor concert space on Thompson Street near the Swannanoa River, where the Cursus Keme brewery previously stood.
Liz Tallent, co-owner of the Orange Peel, shared that the venue’s stage will feature a “flow-through structure” designed to withstand floodwaters, with movable elements that can be relocated in the event of a flooding forecast.
“We think that in order to bring life and new economic development to this part of Asheville, which was so devastated, these kinds of outdoor-centric uses are kind of the only smart way to redevelop,” Tallent remarked during the event at the Orange Peel.
The second venue is planned for Swannanoa, where a versatile outdoor area, Beacon Park, is underway. This project will feature a bike park, outdoor climbing walls, an event lawn, and a one-mile walking trail.
Casey Watkins, one of the founders of Beacon Park, announced a collaboration with the nonprofit RiverLink to enhance stormwater management in the region.
“We really see this park opening in the summer not just as a community park but as a recovery engine for our community that will continue to be able to pump out really cool things for our projects that are happening in Swannanoa,” Watkins explained.
The project has received $4.5 million from the TDA’s Tourism Product Development Fund.
Both venues are slated for a soft opening in the spring or summer of the year.
The meeting also unveiled several other tourism ventures planned for 2026:
- The Biltmore Championship Asheville golf tournament is scheduled for September at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a course designed by Jack Nicklaus.
- From March through October, the Biltmore Estate will feature Luminere, an immersive light show projected onto the Biltmore House.
- The Asheville Art Museum will host the exhibition “In A New Light: American Impressionism 1870-1940” from February through June.
- Woodfin is gearing up to open the Woodfin Wave this summer, a new whitewater wave park.
