Asheville Orchid Festival will feature thousands of blooms at NC Arboretum
ASHEVILLE - Thousands of extra spring blooms are joining the daffodils this season with the return of the Asheville Orchid Festival.
The Western North Carolina Orchid Society will partner with the North Carolina Arboretum for their 23rd annual orchid extravaganza to showcase and sell more than 1,000 award-winning blooms. The festival will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 13-14. For the first time, the Orchid Society is providing a sneak peek of the festivities 4-8 p.m. April 12.
The WNCOS, a nonprofit established in 1962, holds the festival yearly to display and sell orchids from their colorful collections and raise important funds. They also aim to educate the public on their passion through a variety of programs. Before last year’s 22nd annual festival, however, the WNCOS had been unable to host the event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WNCOS President Graham Ramsey spoke to the Citizen Times about the public’s response to the event’s rebirth. He estimated that 2023 festival attendance outnumbered 2019 by between 500 and 1,000 festivalgoers, and he hopes for even more growth this year.
“I think that last year, people were really ready to get out,” Ramsey said. “There was lots of expressed sentiment that they missed the show during the COVID pandemic.”
In fact, the new “sneak preview night” was added in response to the turnout the WNCOS saw in 2023, a testament to the demand for opportunities to experience their exotic offerings. And the increase in numbers isn’t the only thing changing. Ramsey hopes this year’s “House of Orchids” theme he selected with the help of his wife, Leslie Ann Keller, will call to mind an elegant Victorian conservatory.
“Usually we arrive at a theme, believe it or not, when we're out hiking. We try to think of a theme that we can also come up with a neat display to match," Ramsey said.
For last year’s “Orchid Express” theme, the display in question was a 24-foot train built by Ramsey that functioned as an eye-catching display for many orchids featured by the festival. For this year’s display he described the ambitious undertaking of building a Victorian-inspired model greenhouse.
The festival also features a variety of vendors and educational programs. Programs include guided tours of the many orchid exhibits, clinics on how to grow and care for orchids and more. A full list of programs and vendors can be found on the festival website.
The Asheville Orchid Festival is one of the most important events of the year for the WNCOS. Beyond the opportunity for members of the society to “strut their stuff” as Ramsey put it, the event also provides crucial funding for the nonprofit's operations.
“The money that we make from the Orchid Show, that's how we operate and are able to not only put on the show, but finance all of our fun activities and speakers and things throughout the year,” Ramsey said. “As the president I like to give back to our members throughout the year with all the things they get; quite a bargain for their $25 membership.”
Members of the society, after paying the $25 yearly fee – or $35 for families – can enjoy meetings on the second Sunday of every month at the Asheville Visitor Center. Ramsey said these meetings are packed with activities including blossom show-and-tell sessions, regularly planned activities and guest speakers who discuss everything from plant care to deep dives on their favorite orchid species.
Beyond funding and the chance to display their huge variety of orchids to the public, Ramsey said gaining members of the WNCOS is one of the most important aspects of the festival. He added that the eclectic group welcomes anyone to join them, “whether you have one orchid on your windowsill or 1,000 orchids in your greenhouse."
Whether you’re a member of the WNCOS or simply a festivalgoer, Ramsey is certain of one thing.
“When you walk into the auditorium and see all the orchids on display, it'll just blow your mind,” he said. “I've never had anybody not be thoroughly entertained by the amazing displays of the orchids that are in the room."
Want to go?
Tickets to the Asheville Orchid Festival are $5 at the door. A regular parking fee of $20 for the North Carolina Arboretum applies for all attendees with the exception of arboretum members. Visit the WNCOS website for more information on the festival and society memberships.
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Iris Seaton is the Trending News Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Orchid Festival returns to North Carolina Arboretum
