Visit Downtown Waynesville, North Carolina for Art and Holiday Festivals

When I used to visit my parents in Haywood County, North Carolina, I always loved to hang out in downtown Waynesville. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this popular mountain village is a popular tourist spot with a rich variety of fine art studios and stores. Right now residents are preparing for several holiday festivities in downtown Waynesville..

If you're planning a trip to western North Carolina, you must include Waynesville in your travel plans. Located about 30 minutes west of Asheville, Waynesville is a quaint mountain village with a fascinating downtown filled with unique art studios. What's more, if you're visiting within the next week, you won't want to miss the art festival slated for November 2 in downtown Waynesville. "Art After Dark" will feature fine arts from the downtown Waynesville Art Studios and Galleries, and will remain open until 9 p.m. Entertainment, as well as refreshments and special showings will be featured.

Each art gallery will feature a different art form, with many of the Waynesville artists presenting live demonstrations of their craft.

I personally fell in love with the T.Pennington Studio years ago, as I love to draw in colored pencils and was impressed with artist Teresa Pennington's stunning colored pencil artwork. (See http://www.tpennington.com/).
A self-taught colored pencil artist, Ms. Pennington labors as much as four months just rendering one colored pencil drawing. She specializes in beautiful flora, landscaping, and landmarks of western North Carolina (particularly on the Blue Ridge Parkway.) Her detailed depictions of hummingbirds, chickadees, and flora (especially orchids) are equal to no other colored pencil artists I've ever seen.

Besides the colored pencil art of T. Pennington Studio, there are other art studios ranging from watercolors, woodwork, yarn shops, to medal art. The other downtown artists include...

Burr Studio and Gallery, Cedar Hill Studio, Deja View Gallery and Fine Yarn, Earthwork's Gallery, Gallery 86, Good Ol' Days Cigars, Hardwood Gallery, Ridge Runner Naturals, Sculpture Garden and Metal Art Gallery, Studio Thirty Three, Textures For the Finely Crafted Home, Twigs & Leaves, and Village Framer.

On November 18th, a "Holiday Open House" will be held on Main Street in downtown Waynesville. The event is slated from 12 noon-5 p.m. and will feature all the sights, scents, and sounds of the upcoming holiday season.

Holiday festivities continue the following weekend as on November 26th, the Waynesville Christmas Parade will make its way down Main Street, beginning at 4 p.m.

"A Night Before Christmas" will be held December 8th and 15th, again on Main Street in downtown Waynesville. Join in the festivities of caroling, a live Nativity, as well as have your children be photographed with Old Saint Nick. What's more, there'll be old-fashioned wagon rides, as well as storytelling, poetry, and much more. Again, shops and restaurants will remain open until 9 p.m. for holiday shopping.

Once you visit Waynesville, you'll want to come back soon. There's just something special about this charming mountain village nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains.