The Sourwood Festival gets back to its roots
Annual Black Mountain tradition emphasizes return to normalcY
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
July 23, 2025
The 48th Annual Sourwood Festival will arrive, Aug. 9 and 10, in downtown Black Mountain. The event will bring thousands of visitors to the Swannanoa Valley. Photo by Fred McCormick
A local tradition nearly half a century in the making will return, from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, and from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 10, when the streets of downtown Black Mountain host thousands of visitors, hundreds of vendors and a variety of family-friendly activities.
Following a year of hardships in the Swannanoa Valley, the 48th Annual Sourwood Festival, presented by the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce, aims to provide comfort by restoring a sense of normalcy.
While last year’s event introduced several notable changes to the format, the arrival of Tropical Storm Helene a few weeks later paused all organizing efforts through last January, according to the chamber’s Sourwood Committee Chair Olivia Tyson-Warren.
“Typically, after the festival is over you have time to debrief," said the Black Mountain native and Sales Manager for Tyson Furniture. “That was definitely not the case last year.”
The first-year chair began working with committee members on exploring the “pros and cons” of the expanded layout, according to Tyson-Warren.
“We wanted to know what the local small businesses thought about it, because that’s really what the chamber is for: supporting its members. We took the feedback we received and viewed it as an opportunity to improve upon last year’s model,” she said. “For years, the footprint of this festival was mostly the same, with the (former) Truist Bank area as a big circle to lead you back into downtown, but that property wasn’t available to us this year.”
Streamlining the festival into an “easy walking path” along Cherry Street, Sutton Avenue (west of N.C. 9), Black Mountain Avenue and portions of Terry Estates Drive allowed organizers to showcase the charm of its downtown historic district while supporting chamber members and vendors.
“One of our goals was to figure out what was important and how to support that with a concise and easy festival,” Tyson-Warren said. “Then, dealing with a lot of lost planning time and what the community has gone through since Helene, we didn’t think this was the year to ask local businesses for a lot of sponsorship money.”
The committee envisioned the 2025 iteration of the nonprofit chamber of commerce’s largest annual fundraiser as a return to its roots and a celebration of local culture and hospitality.
“I grew up going to Sourwood and for me, personally, it was always about having a fun time in town with your friends and family just a few weeks before going back to school,” Tyson-Warren said. “It’s a chance to show off the best of our town, which has kept so many vendors and visitors coming back all these years.”
The 2025 Sourwood Festival will feature vendors along Cherry Street, parts of Sutton Avenue, Black Mountain Avenue and a portion of Terry Estate Drive. Photo by Fred McCormick
This year’s roster of approximately 170 vendors includes potters, jewelers, metal workers and a wide range of artisans from the Western N.C. and the southeastern U.S.
“We’re fortunate to have so many vendors come to our small town and choose to support this event every year,” Tyson-Warren said. “This year, we’ll have 200 spaces, but instead of being spread out, they will all be easy to find and access.”
Food and refreshments will be available throughout the route, with several options gathered on Sutton Avenue.
“We were careful to select a handful of food vendors that didn’t make the same kinds of food as local places in town,” Tyson-Warren said. “But, we did hear from a few people that they look forward to having fair-style food, like funnel cakes or corndogs, so we’ll have a few of those vendors there.”
Live music for the festival, which will be hosted by The Grange and White Horse Black Mountain, is sponsored by Explore Asheville.
“We were really fortunate that Explore Asheville came through with a generous offer to sponsor the music,” Tyson-Warren said. “We feel like the White Horse and The Grange are both great because they’re both within the footprint of the festival, but they’re not taking up parking lots and they’re walkable. Plus, if someone wants to grab a drink, relax and listen to some music, both places are really convenient.”
Each venue will host two concerts, from 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. - 5 p.m., both days. Redbud, Asheville Cats, Gavin Byrd and McKinney will perform on the outdoor stage at The Grange, while Teso Ellis, Carolina Drift, Watkins and Emeline Scales play at the White Horse.
The 48th Annual Sourwood Festival, which will be held, Aug. 9 and 10, in downtown Black Mountain, features approximately 170 vendors, live music and honey, from which the local tradition borrows its name. Photo by Fred McCormick
The musical offerings, organized with the assistance of White Horse Event Coordinator Mary Ellen Davis, reflect the mountain setting of the festival, according to Tyson-Warren.
“This is eight bands that are local to WNC area, focusing on Appalachian roots-style music,” she said. “It’s a mix of a little bit of everything. Traditionally, music has always been a big part of Sourwood, so we’re really excited to have these artist performing out our local venues and grateful for the support of Explore Asheville.”
A children’s area supported by volunteers from the Kiwanis Club of Black Mountain-Swannanoa will feature activities, face painting and young local vendors in the town parking lot on Terry Estate Drive.
True to its name, the upcoming Sourwood Festival will feature plenty of honey from vendors around WNC.
“We focused on finding as many honey vendors as we could,” Tyson-Warren said. “Several have guaranteed they will have sourwood honey available, while others have said it depends on whether their bees are able to make the honey.”
Several honey vendors and conservationist organizations, including the Asheville-based Center for Honeybee Research, will offer educational presentations.
“There will be honey and bees, and we’re trying to make sure there is at least one on every street,” Tyson-Warren said. “It won’t be easy to forget that you’re at a festival celebrating sourwood honey.”
The nonprofit chamber is still seeking volunteers to assist, Friday, Aug. 8, with the check-in process and setting up vendor booths, while coordinators for each street are still needed for the two-day festival. Those interested in volunteering for the event can apply online on the Sourwood Volunteer Application page of eventeny.com.
“Our goal this year was to host something cheerful and happy that celebrates and uplifts the Swannanoa Valley,” Tyson-Warren said. “We wanted to restore some sense of normalcy after the year everyone here has experienced, so we focused on getting back to the Sourwood Festival as we’ve all come to know it over the years.”