Asheville Lexington Ave Arts Fun Fest 09

LAAFF - All Local ~ All Original
Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF) on Sun Sep 6 from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm on Lexington Ave
Contact Info: lexfest@gmail.com

The 8th Annual Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival Downtown Asheville ~ Sunday, Sept 6th, Free! ~All Local ~ All Original~

LAAFF is an annual FREE end-of-summer celebration of Asheville's artistic and musical communities. Three blocks of N. Lexington Ave in downtown Asheville are brimming with all local art, food, beer, music, street performers, and random acts of creativity on Labor Day Sunday, September 6th from 11am - 9pm between College Street and the I 240 overpass.

LAAFF has become the showcase event for all types of talent on multiple stages and performance areas including rock and roll, indie pop, funk, folk, ragtime, reggae, world beats, singer-songwriters, bluegrass, old time, African drummers, clowns, magicians, contortionists, belly dancers, modern dancers, vaudeville actors, break dancers, hula hoopers, and more. LAAFF has grown over the years to become known as Asheville's largest independent street festival with upwards of 12,000 in attendance.

LAAFF is is an experience the whole family can get into. Kids will love making art, dancing, getting their faces painted and having fun all day long. Kids are also in on the act showing off their breakdancing, parading, and making music. The big "kids" enjoy the ever popular bicycle jousting, local brews provided by the Asheville Brewers Alliance, an eclectic culinary and artistic experience, as well as the new big people game, Big Wheels for Big Kids. There are lots of fun new vendors as well as old favorites with a ton of variety.

The ever popular Bicycle Jousting, once again makes it's appearance, led by LAAFF co-founder, Michael Mooney, as Medieval Knievel. This is a fun and safe bike joust where contestants are armored up with foam and helmets. The sit upon bike with banana seats and wheel with elliptical hubs which make the bike bounce up and down like riding on a horse. Each contestant holds a long pole with a boxing glove on the end..If they can reach each other they try and joust the other off the bike. It is extremely fun to watch and a great activity that Michael created as an event at LAAFF. Will you dare to ride?

LaZoom Tour Bus is also involved as a performance area this year if you just want to enjoy an easier going ride... LaZoom has six scheduled shows departing from the top of Lexington Ave on the top of each hour starting at 2pm. Each ride will be a 40 minute loop around Asheville. There will be a variety of acts; a kids show, three family friendly shows, and two adults only shows. This is set up as an affordable way to fundraiser at LAAFF with extra entertainment to the festival. $2 for kids and $3 for adults.

The Asheville Arts Center and the Oddysey Kid schools will be teaming up to host the LAAFF Kid's Area. There will be free face painting and a chill out zone for parents with babies who may need to sit down and relax, breastfeed, or change a diaper.

As part of an ongoing commitment to improve and expand the role of the Lexington Avenue Arts Festival in the community, greening efforts and more emphasis on environmental issues will continue to increase. The core principle of being an all local event has been a foundation of the festival's efforts to support local artists, musicians, restaurants, and non-profits. For instance, using water sales as a way for local non-profits to raise funds and involving the Asheville On Bikes organization to host a bike corral, encouraging participants in the festival to ride bikes, use public transportation, and carpool to limit their impact. Reducing waste has always been an important goal, and last year composting was added to the recycling and reuse efforts. Many of the food and beverage vendors are now using compostable cups and utensils from local business Jack's Boxes. The festival will
continue to include local non-profits, especially environmental and arts organizations and hopefully will showcase renewable energy at next year's event. For more info email greening@lexfestasheville.com.

LAAFF will also have a great merchandise area with performer merchandise, Freaks of Asheville calendars, LAAFF T-shirts, and LAAFF water bottles. 100% of performer merch proceeds goes back to the bands themselves. There will also be a silent auction to raise funds for Arts 2 People.

LAAFF relies on community support to ensure our success each year. LAAFF is a volunteer driven event, with minimal staff put on by and for the community. If you'd like to donate to the festival or Arts 2 people, your tax-deductible contribution ensures the ongoing successes of this much anticipated yearly Asheville celebration. Contact director@lexfestasheville.com.

For more info visit out website www.lexfestasheville.com

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