Presenting on the Uleaf Stage

HYPE MACHINE

MONDAY | OCTOBER 27th | 5pm - 7pm

 We are so excited to bring live music back to Oak & Grist thanks to our partnership with LEAF Global Arts! Every Monday & Saturday from 5pm-7pm, the ULEAF stage will feature musicians from around Western North Carolina. True to the LEAF mission, the stage will host a global sound with influences from around the world and from a variety of genres. Every show is FREE to attend.

Sound Machine has those “semi, noninvasive party vibes” you’ve been looking for

Charlie King will be serving up Jamaican Jerk

BLACK MOUNTAIN

HOWL-O-WEEN PET PARADE

AFTER PARTY

OCTOBER 25th | 5:30pm - Close

FREE VEGGIE & HOT DOGS

PUPTAILS | COCKTAILS | MOCKTAILS | BEER | WINE

We are excited to see you and fury friends at the distillery for the official pet parade after party. We have lots of cover space so this event will happen rain or shine. We’ve also got more parking than all of downtown Black Mountain. Just kidding but we do have plenty of parking.

So that we can make sure to have enough food for everyone we would love it if you RSVP’d

COCKTAIL CLASS

Land the PUNCH at your halloween party

OCTOBER 23rd | 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Join our head bartender Arah for her October Cocktail Class! She will walk you through one of your best cocktail options for a party...a punch. Grab a cocktail, settle in because she is going to take you through a bit of this cocktail's history, how to infuse spirits, and then take you through how she makes her Apple Spritz.

Each tickets gets you a spot in the class & a cocktail to sip on. Add an OG Apple Spritz kit to your ticket and we will provide you with everything that you need to make the punch at home. Want to try the cocktail first before committing to the kit? You can order one at the class for pick up the following week (10/27-10/29)

Sign-ups to share will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the event and fill up fast. We look forward to seeing you there!

LIVE ON THE ULEAF STAGE

FUN SIZE

Monday | OCTOBER 20th | 5pm - 7pm

 We are so excited to bring live music back to Oak & Grist thanks to our partnership with LEAF Global Arts! Every Monday & Saturday from 5pm-7pm, the ULEAF stage will feature musicians from around Western North Carolina. True to the LEAF mission, the stage will host a global sound with influences from around the world and from a variety of genres. Every show is FREE to attend.

Charley King will be on site serving up Jamaican Jerk.

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LIVE ON THE ULEAF STAGE

ABBY BRYANT

SATURDAY | OCTOBER 18th | 5pm - 7pm

We are so excited to bring live music back to Oak & Grist thanks to our partnership with LEAF Global Arts! Every Monday & Saturday from 5pm-7pm, the ULEAF stage will feature musicians from around Western North Carolina. True to the LEAF mission, the stage will host a global sound with influences from around the world and from a variety of genres. Every show is FREE to attend.

Bryant’s recent album, “Glowing features a collection of dynamic and contemplative tracks that highlight Bryant's artistic growth and evolving sonic landscapes as she comes into her own and ventures into ever-bolder explorations.”

Charley King will be on site serving up delicious Jamaican jerk

Join us, rain or shine, for the 2025 Carolina Mountain Cheese Fest to benefit the WNC Cheese Trail. Meet the makers and the milkers, explore the craft of cheesemaking, sample product, and buy lots of local cheese!  We will have vendors from across the Cheese Trail including winemakers, specialty gourmet food and more! Please note: pets are not permitted at the festival.

When and Where: We invite you to the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina on September 28, 2025, when we'll be on the grounds of Oak and Grist Distilling Company in Black Mountain to celebrate southern cheese and support the WNC Cheese Trail. 

You'll get to experience more delicious cheese this year! We have more additional ticket levels this year with less people at each level based on FAN feedback.

We are honoring tickets sold last year that didn't ask for refunds or to be donated. So be sure to check back for ticket numbers. We also are adding a few events on alternate days that are festival adjacent!

** Added Event** Friday, September 19th - 6:30pm Raclette and Cider Night at Barn Door Cider Works 30 tickets total $75 per ticket Dinner and Dessert with Cider Flights

Cheese Fest Ticket Levels - SUNDAY, SEPT 28TH AT OAK AND GRIST

11:30am to unlimited: The Super Cheese Lover - 40 tickets only for $65. Includes a bag, drink ticket, a sticker, cheese tasting table and 30 extra minutes to shop and enjoy with no crowds. 

12pm to 2pm VIP Cheesy - 75 tickets for $40 includes a bag and sticker and access to the cheese tasting table.

1pm to 3pm Big Cheese  - 150 tickets for $35 -- sticker and access to the cheese tasting table

2:30p to 5pm Cheese Supporter 150 tickets for $25 -- don't worry.. we have some special cheese treats planned for you all.

3:30p to 5pm Cheese 300 tickets for $15 -- we've got some special cheese treats planned, but you may wait a little longer in lines.

Tickets are needed for those ages 10 years and up.

We will also have a very limited supply of tickets for tours inside the distilling company. We will be updating the information on these over the next few weeks. We are anticipating more activities and vendors this year - and our folks can't wait to see you all again.

Parking at Oak and Grist is great and we will have more staff helping on this, but we still encourage car pooling &/or meeting up with friends nearby and using one car to get to the venue - especially if you want to taste their offerings. 

We'll be updating our festival website regularly with information about the day's activities.  We'll have a wide variety of family-fun activities, vendors from across the region, demos, workshops, competitions, farm animals and more!

Tickets proceeds benefit the WNC Cheese Trail and are non-refundable. Please know that if you are unable to use your tickets and cannot find another to use them, we assure you that WNC cheese makers value your contribution as an important way to support small artisanal businesses and help keep the local dairy industry alive and well. 

We are NOT anticipating having general admission this year. We may change that, but we're keeping our numbers down so folks can enjoy ALL the cheese.

Purchase entrance tickets here!

Interested in Volunteering or in Sponsorships? Please connect with us at wncctcmcf@gmail.com!

 Ticket proceeds benefit the WNC Cheese Trail and are non-refundable.  

PLEASE NOTE - Pets are not permitted at the festival.  Thanks.

Join us after our river clean up for an evening of music and poetry with Seth Kauffman (of Floating Action) & Clint Bowman (Dark City Poets Society)

This event is free and open to the public.

Come join the Mountain True team and Oak and Grist as we clean up the trash left behind by Hurricane Helene in the Swannanoa River. We will be removing trash and debris along the riparian areas. Please note this will be a land-based clean-up. All volunteers are invited for FREE food after the clean-up, sponsored by Oak & Grist.

Please wear closed-toe shoes, long pants, and long sleeves (and waders if you have them), and bring drinking water, lunch/snacks, and perhaps a change of clothes for afterward in case you get wet or dirty. We will have plenty of trash bags, gloves, safety glasses, and buckets for use, along with some hand tools such as shovels, loppers, hand saws, rakes, etc., however, feel free to bring your own if you would like. We will have our dump trailer there for the removal of collected garbage and recyclables.

LOCATION:
The exact location will be emailed to participants closer to the event date. Location is largely based on where the Army Corps of Engineers is working, parking, and other factors. We expect to be in or around Swannanoa, NC.

You’re invited!
Our friends at Oak & Grist will feed all volunteers and their immediate family members for FREE at their distillery after the clean-up.
1556 Grovestone Rd, Black Mountain, NC 28711
The after-celebration starts around 3:30 pm. Please make sure to RSVP so they can ensure there is enough food for everyone.

To thank you for your time, volunteers are also eligible to receive a complimentary annual membership toMountainTrue. Please email members@mountaintrue.org to request yours.

Sign-ups to share will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the event and fill up fast. We look forward to seeing you there!

We are so proud to announce a new partnership with LEAF Global Arts (+ their 30th anniversary), and what better way to kick it off than with their annual FUNdraiser. The LEAF mobile stage at Oak & Grist will welcome New Dawn Starkestra w/ Jeff Sipe, Isaac Hadden, Rebekah Todd & Quinn Sternberg.

(Free to attend w/ suggested donation)

LEAF Global Arts is on a mission CONNECTING CULTURES and CREATING COMMUNITY through world music, arts education, preservation and experiences. The closest distance between two people is a story, a song, or a dance.

Charlie King will be serving up authentic Jamican food to fill your bellies. To celbrate LEAF Global Arts’ 30th anniversary, Oak and Grist will be launching their LEAF LOVE cocktail of which 30% of the proceeds (not profits!) will go to LEAF to support cultural arts programing in schools & afterschool programs.

Give yourself a few moments of literary escape at our weekly Tuesday night Book Swap. We’ve seeded a small library at the distillery to kick start this weekly event to benefit Swannanoa/Black Mountain valley teachers. Spread out in our garden or curl up on our patio with a cocktail and your favorite literary indulgence. In between books? Take one from our library. Finish one? Leave it for a friend and pick up a new one. We’re curating a mid week moment of calm just for you.

WHERE: Oak & Grist Distilling Company

WHEN: August, 21st 2025

6:00pm - 7:30pm

Ever been curious what we have in the works? Here is your chance. Join us in the distillery for a vertical tasting of upcoming spirits straight from the barrel warehouse. Our production team will lead you through a selection of 3-4 unique and unreleased spirits; focusing in on the nuances of how each came to be. They will also shed some light on some of the things we look for in our mature spirits. The tasting lasts 1 ½ hours and participants must be 21+.

Sign-ups to share will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the event and fill up fast. We look forward to seeing you there!

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Want to help clean up our rivers and then? We’ve teamed up with Catawba Riverkeeper and G5 Trail Collective to put together a day of service, resilience, and celebration. Those who choose to join us will spend a few hours cleaning up our shared watershed; afterwards volunteers and their families are invited back to Oak & Grist Distilling for complimentary food for the whole family. In addition the distillery will be donating 5% of seasonal cocktail, beer, and wine sales for the day to our partner non-profits.

To sign up please click the button button to see our friends at G5 and they will get you squared away!

Give yourself a few moments of literary escape at our weekly Tuesday night Book Swap. We’ve seeded a small library at the distillery to kick start this weekly event to benefit Swannanoa/Black Mountain valley teachers. Spread out in our garden or curl up on our patio with a cocktail and your favorite literary indulgence. In between books? Take one from our library. Finish one? Leave it for a friend and pick up a new one. We’re curating a mid week moment of calm just for you.

Give yourself a few moments of literary escape at our weekly Tuesday night Book Swap. We’ve seeded a small library at the distillery to kick start this weekly event to benefit Swannanoa/Black Mountain valley teachers. Spread out in our garden or curl up on our patio with a cocktail and your favorite literary indulgence. In between books? Take one from our library. Finish one? Leave it for a friend and pick up a new one. We’re curating a mid week moment of calm just for you.

Give yourself a few moments of literary escape at our weekly Tuesday Night Book Swap. We’ve seeded a small library at the distillery to kick start this weekly event to benefit Swannanoa/Black Mountain valley teachers. Spread out in our garden or curl up on our patio with a cocktail and your favorite literary indulgence. In between books? Take one from our library. Finish one? Leave it for a friend and pick up a new one. We’re curating a mid week moment of calm just for you.

Give yourself a few moments of literary escape at our weekly Tuesday Night Book Swap. We’ve seeded a small library at the distillery to kick start this weekly event to benefit Swannanoa/Black Mountain valley teachers. Spread out in our garden or curl up on our patio with a cocktail and your favorite literary indulgence. In between books? Take one from our library. Finish one? Leave it for a friend and pick up a new one. We’re curating a mid week moment of calm just for you.

Sign-ups to share will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the event and fill up fast. We look forward to seeing you there!

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