Lovely Asheville Fall Festival (LAAFF)
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 runs 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.
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
