Description
The Lovely Asheville Annual Fall Festival — LAAFF — is a free, two-day music and arts weekend in Pack Square Park, timed to peak fall foliage in mid-October. The fifth annual edition ran Saturday and Sunday, October 10–11, 2026, under the theme “Lovely Asheville Rises”, a celebration of the city’s recovery from Hurricane Helene turning into renewal. Dates for the 2027 edition have not been announced yet.
It is produced by Lovely Asheville Enterprises in partnership with Asheville Creative Arts. Multiple stages carry R&B, pop, jazz, Afrobeats and reggae; Roger McGuire Green and Reuter Terrace fill with vendor booths and food; and there is a kids’ area with hands-on activities. Saturday is the long day, running into the evening; Sunday is an afternoon.
If you remember LAAFF as a Labor Day street party on Lexington Avenue, that was a different festival. The Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival ran from 2001 for roughly fifteen years as Asheville’s all-local street fair, produced by the nonprofit Arts 2 People, and was rebranded in 2016 as LAAF, the Living Asheville Arts Festival. We have not found a confirmed edition since 2017. Same initials, different organizers, different month, different park.
What is available?
Multiple live-music stages (R&B, pop, jazz, Afrobeats, reggae); artisan and vendor booths; food; a kids’ activity area.
Located inside of: Outdoors — Roger McGuire Green and Reuter Terrace, Pack Square Park
Special tips for the festival?
Free admission, no ticket needed. Downtown garages beat street parking on a festival weekend. It falls the weekend after Asheville Oktoberfest and overlaps the fall Art in the Park Saturdays, so one long weekend can cover all three.
Location: Pack Square Park, 80 Court Plaza, Asheville, NC 28801
Phone: (828) 333-4875
Opening Hours: Saturday all day into the evening; Sunday afternoon (confirm times with the organizer)
Dates: Annually, mid-October (2026: Saturday–Sunday, October 10–11)
Parking: Downtown Garages / Street Parking
Location of the Festival: Roger McGuire Green & Reuter Terrace, Pack Square Park, Downtown Asheville
