| Bele Chere | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Music and arts street festival |
| Dates | Last weekend in July |
| Location | Asheville, North Carolina |
| Years active | 1979–2013 |
| Founders | City of Asheville |
| Attendance | 350,000+1 |
| Website | [1] (archived) |
Bele Chere was an annual music and arts street festival held in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The festival was previously held annually on the last weekend in July beginning in 1979. It was the largest free festival in the Southeastern United States, attracting over 350,000 people.1
The festival consisted of six stages scattered on various street corners in Asheville. A designated area called Arts Park typically featured several dozen regional artists and their work. Displayed art covered a variety of media types including painting, photography, pottery and jewelry.2 A variety of music genres were represented at the festival, including country, blues, folk, mountain, rock and jazz with both local and nationally known musicians represented.
Gallery
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Jonathan Scales at Béle Chére on July 23, 2010 -
Stephanie Morgan at Bele Chere 2009
Economic impact
In 1979, the festival was sponsored by the Asheville Revitalization Commission Bele Chere, pronounced "bell share", is a Scottish adaptation of a French phrase meaning "beautiful living". The festival was created to address a severe decline in tourism, a decline in shopping downtown, a general feeling of hard economic times. By 2007, the festival's 28th year, it had become one of the Southeast's top summer events.3
In later years, the area had recovered and businesses in the festival's downtown area began to see negative financial impacts from the event. A 2007 survey of businesses in downtown Asheville indicated that for more than 80% of respondents, the festival was bad for business, resulting in significant revenue declines during the days on which it was held. Two factors contributing to this were the large number of non-local vendors arriving for the event and the rise in vandalism during the festival. Despite these impacts, more than half of respondents felt that if the festival were to continue after 2007, it should remain in the same location. The event was revenue neutral for the local government.4
On March 12, 2013, City Council discussed ending the festival. Lauren Bradley, the city's director of finance and management services, told Council that holding Bele Chere in 2013 but ending financial support in 2014 would save the city $200,000 the following fiscal year. 56
July 26-28 was Bele Chere's 38th and final year. With the city facing budget shortfalls, City Council decided to end funding Bele Chere.7
See also
See also
References
References
- Kiss, Tony (2007-07-27). "Asheville prepares for its biggest party". Local Events and Festivals. Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
- "Bele Chere Emphasizes Local Creativity at Arts Park" (Press release). City of Asheville, Department of Parks and Recreation. 21 June 2007. Archived from the original on 12 August 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
- "Start of Bele Chere". The Asheville Times. 1979-08-05. p. 51. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
- Todd, Mark (2007-07-15). "Bele Chere may have outlived its usefulness, business people say". Western Carolina Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
- "Article clipped from Asheville Citizen-Times". Asheville Citizen-Times. 2013-03-13. pp. A1. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
- "Article clipped from Asheville Citizen-Times". Asheville Citizen-Times. 2013-03-13. pp. A4. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
- "Editing Bele Chere (section) - Wikipedia". en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2026-03-24.