Orchid festival returns to Asheville
![The festival will feature hundreds of carefully crafted orchid displays. N.C. Arboretum photo](https://smokymountainnews.s3.amazonaws.com/media/k2/items/cache/c5c8d094607c34a9fe24ee6b1ce7afa5_XL.jpg?javer=2407041147)
The Asheville Orchid Festival, one of the largest international orchid shows in the Southeast, will return for its 22nd year 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2, at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville.
World-class orchid growers and breeders along with regional orchid societies will exhibit for the American Orchid Society-sanctioned judging event, with hundreds of orchids presented in carefully crafted orchid displays. Vendors from Ecuador and across the U.S. will have orchids for sale, including rare species and cutting-edge hybrids, and the days will be studded with programs and educational lectures.
The event is hosted by the N.C. Arboretum and the Western North Carolina Orchid Society. Admission is $5 per person in addition to the standard Arboretum parking fee of $20 per vehicle. Free for children 12 and under. All admission proceeds benefit WNCOS, a nonprofit whose mission is to share the excitement and joy of cultivating orchids and to promote orchid conservation.
For more information, visit ncarboretum.org.