Black Mountain Home welcomes the Swannanoa Valley back to annual gathering
Fall festival embraces community and generations of former residents
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 5, 2025
The Black Mountain Home for Children will host its annual Fall Festival, Oct. 11, for the first time since 2023. The event, which features live entertainment, food and family-friendly activities on the nonprofit organization’s campus, was canceled in 2024, due to Tropical Storm Helene. Courtesy photo
Colorful foliage set against a backdrop of sweeping mountain views will once again serve as the setting for an annual autumn tradition, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, when the Black Mountain Home welcomes past residents and members of the surrounding community to campus.
The BMH Fall Festival, a free family-friendly event featuring games, bounce houses, live entertainment and more, is returning from a one-year hiatus, due to Tropical Storm Helene, which damaged much of the 90-acre campus one year ago.
The nonprofit organization, established in 1904 and operating in the Swannanoa Valley since 1923, provides a range of services for area children, youth and families, including residential care for more than 100 young people. Its campus includes modern cottages, longstanding brick buildings and recreation facilities situated on rolling hills.
Parking for the event is at Owen High School, while a shuttle service is available to transport attendees to the festival, which will feature food trucks, face painting and hayrides. Joining the festivities is Candler-based Ridin’ on Faith Ministries, which highlights the talents of horses and riders, ages 6 to 32 years old.
The gathering, which has taken place every October since 2005, excluding last year and a two-year absence due to the COVID, follows an annual alumni reunion and breakfast, attended by past residents of the home.
“One of the reasons we didn’t mark the anniversary of Helene with an event is because we have the Fall Festival every year,” BMH President Jimmy Harmon said. “In our mind, we need to honor what happened, but getting back to our regular schedule was important. It gets us back into the normal routine, and it’s an opportunity for us to thank our community for stepping up for us during the storm.”
Throughout its history, the festival has become a day in which BMH showcases its ministry and campus, offering cottage tours and a behind-the-scenes at what “God is doing in the lives of our children.”
While a nearby campus of BMH suffered significant damage from a massive landslide during Helene, support from volunteers and community members has allowed the nonprofit organization to maintain its programs, which include residential care in Black Mountain and Pisgah Forest, an independent living model that boasts a nearly 90% high school graduation rate, career development apprenticeship courses and therapeutic sanctuary farmyard with alpacas, donkeys, goats, ducks and hens.
“We would love for the community to come and just be present with us,” Harmon said. “Through the generosity of others, we have been able to keep our programs moving forward, and our kids, today, have the same opportunities the did before the storm. That’s a huge accomplishment, especially considering we lost three-quarters of the space for our apprenticeship program.”
The Fall Festival represents an opportunity to express its appreciation to the community that has helped sustain the home for more than a century, he added.
“People are still having a really hard time since the storm, and I believe BMH is uniquely positioned to help children and families in this valley,” Harmon said. “We know the needs are there, and even as we continue to rebuild, it’s important to us to keep strengthening the bonds that proved to be so strong during Helene. For us, the festival is all about inviting our neighbors out for a day of fun, and connecting with the people who have helped make the Swannanoa Valley such a wonderful home for us for more than century.”
For more information on the BMH Fall Festival, including sponsorship and donation opportunities, visit blackmountainhome.org.