Events Calendar

Bring your littles to the front steps of M. Judson for our bi-weekly story time! Enjoy some wonderful picture books read aloud to the crowd by our very own booksellers, and children will even get a sweet treat to go.

Come and experience the joy and community spirit at the Friends of the Gorge Festival in 2024! Get ready to immerse yourself in a day full of live music, delicious food, and thrilling water activities at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.

You can also explore the artisan village, engage in kids’ nature demonstrations, and take advantage of special local paddling deals.

Don’t miss the chance to celebrate the best of the Upper Nantahala and Cascade water releases with fellow paddlers and nature enthusiasts.

Come and make unforgettable memories with us!

Eliada’s 2024 Fall Festival & Corn Maze will be open from Friday, September 20th through Sunday, October 27th on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Fridays: 3 pm – 7 pm | Saturdays: 10 am – 7 pm | Sundays: 10 am – 6 pm

Come out and bring the family, friends, and neighbors too. Come out to enjoy the following events and have a great time.

Corn Cannons
Spider Climber
Custom Corn Maze
Lawn Games
Hay Rides
Pumpkins for purchase of all shapes and sizes!
Food Trucks and so much MORE! See you there!

100% of the proceeds benefit the children at Eliada! Not only does your ticket purchase come with access to family-friendly fun, but it directly aids in the growth and success of Eliada’s kids!

Books Over Cookies is a cozy story time up in the M. Judson Gallery space! Come and hear the author and illustrator read and discuss their new book, and eat some delicious cookies from Camilla Kitchen as well. Individual and family tickets are available and include a copy of the book.

Wild Things of the Upstate is an A to Z illustrated children’s book guiding readers through 26 plants and animals that call this region of South Carolina their home. Written for ages 3–7, Wild ings o ers an easy pathway for young minds to discover the plants, animals, insects, and fungi found in Upstate outdoor spaces, public parks, and even our own backyards. From American toad to zebra swallowtail, the book aims to educate children about the native wildlife around them and to inspire a passion for making room for our natural neighbors.

ABBY MOORE KEITH is a writer based in the Blue Ridge foothills of South Carolina. She spends a lot of time exploring her own backyard and more with her husband Sam, two children, and dog named Gus. Her love for the natural world and the creatures that call it home inspires her work.

CARISSA GRACE has been creating art as long as she can remember. With a BA in Studio Art, she and her fellow artist husband run Victory Garden Studios. Over the years they have collaborated on many projects from murals and children’s book illustrations to posters and prints. She also fi nds inspiration in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains. She does her best to spend time outside taking in the beauty of the trails, lakes and waterfalls nearby.

Our In Conversation events are a wonderful way to find the next your next favorite author! These are free to the public, and feature fascinating discussion and a Q&A time, and also have books for sale and signing. Be sure to stop by!

Mountain Time: A Field Guide to Astonishment is an essay collection that explores the inner and outer natures of remarkable human and nonhuman beings. It is a book about paying attention—with the mind and with the heart. The essays confront the ethical and personal challenges Renata Golden faced in a harsh and isolated environment and examine the power of nature to influence her understanding of the human spirit.

“In Mountain Time, Renata Golden writes that mountains create a ‘constant hum’ connecting the very core of the earth to our own skin. She interweaves stories from her own life with riveting accounts about the Apache and Irish, yucca and Lehmann’s love grass, kangaroo rats and leopard frogs who have made a home somewhere and sometime in the complex topography of the southwestern borderland she loves. Golden’s gorgeous, instructive collection is the guidebook we need now.” – Camille T. Dungy, author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.

“In this luminous collection, Renata Golden offers us an un-easy love story: with birds and people, mountains and family, history and place. Elegantly researched and exquisitely crafted, these essays have a depth and range that will delight and, yes, astonish.” – Susan Fox Rogers, author of Learning the Birds and editor of When Birds Are Near.

RENATA GOLDEN has studied the natural world in Arizona and New Mexico for decades. Her writing appears in literary journals and anthologies, including Dawn Songs: A Birdwatcher’s Field Guide to the Poetics of Migration; First and Wildest: The Gila Wilderness at 100; and When Birds Are Near. Her essays have been finalists for the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Award, Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award, Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction, and Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University Award. Originally from the South Side of Chicago, she lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

Join us for Empower Hour, a one-hour program and facility tour where you will experience firsthand the YWCA’s work to bridge gaps in earning power, education, health & wellness and access to childcare.

Empower Hours take place twice a month on the first and third Tuesday at 11:30 am.
Lunch is served as part of our Empower Hour, so reservations are required.

To make a reservation: contact Elizabeth Alvandi, Advancement Assistant, at (828) 254-7206 ext. 103 or [email protected].

This Books Over Drinks is a little different than our usual events. Instead of the traditional author talk and Q&A, Rick Bryson will be runnining trivia, with the questions pulled from the pages of this awesome new book! Your ticket includes a copy of the book and a signature cocktail.

Have you ever wondered what a ticket stub from Rocky and Drago’s historic fight would look like? Do you remember who said “If you build it, he will come?” In Movies with Balls: The Greatest Sports Films of All Time, Analyzed and Illustrated, authors Kyle Bandujo and Rick Bryson dive deep into more than two dozen iconic sports movies, transporting readers into fictional arenas, stadiums, gyms, fields, and golf courses to relive the most climactic moments from their favorite sports flicks.

Rick Bryson has worked as an art director and graphic designer for more than twenty years. He lives in Greenville, South Carolina. This is his first book.

Calling all poets and authors! Hosted by the South Carolina Governor’s School, this monthly open mic night is a great way to showcase your latest writing project. Open to all, sign up at the event for a 5 minute timeslot!

Eliada’s 2024 Fall Festival & Corn Maze will be open from Friday, September 20th through Sunday, October 27th on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Fridays: 3 pm – 7 pm | Saturdays: 10 am – 7 pm | Sundays: 10 am – 6 pm

Come out and bring the family, friends, and neighbors too. Come out to enjoy the following events and have a great time.

Corn Cannons
Spider Climber
Custom Corn Maze
Lawn Games
Hay Rides
Pumpkins for purchase of all shapes and sizes!
Food Trucks and so much MORE! See you there!

100% of the proceeds benefit the children at Eliada! Not only does your ticket purchase come with access to family-friendly fun, but it directly aids in the growth and success of Eliada’s kids!

🍂 Join us for the South Pleasantburg Nursery Fall Family Fest! 🍂
🎉 Date: Saturday, October 5 | Time: 8 AM – 3 PM
📍 Location: South Pleasantburg Nursery 1135 S. Pleasantburg Drive Greenville, SC 29605
🌟 Free Admission! Bring the whole family for a day full of fun and festive activities, including:
🐐 Petting Zoo
🎨 Crafts
🍔 Delicious Food
🎉 Face Painting
🎁 Special Offers and More!
Don’t miss out on this charming fall event—celebrate the season with us! 🌻🎃 #FallFamilyFest #SouthPleasantburgNursery #FamilyFun #yeahthatgreenville #fallevent

Eliada’s 2024 Fall Festival & Corn Maze will be open from Friday, September 20th through Sunday, October 27th on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Fridays: 3 pm – 7 pm | Saturdays: 10 am – 7 pm | Sundays: 10 am – 6 pm

Come out and bring the family, friends, and neighbors too. Come out to enjoy the following events and have a great time.

Corn Cannons
Spider Climber
Custom Corn Maze
Lawn Games
Hay Rides
Pumpkins for purchase of all shapes and sizes!
Food Trucks and so much MORE! See you there!

100% of the proceeds benefit the children at Eliada! Not only does your ticket purchase come with access to family-friendly fun, but it directly aids in the growth and success of Eliada’s kids!

Eliada’s 2024 Fall Festival & Corn Maze will be open from Friday, September 20th through Sunday, October 27th on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Fridays: 3 pm – 7 pm | Saturdays: 10 am – 7 pm | Sundays: 10 am – 6 pm

Come out and bring the family, friends, and neighbors too. Come out to enjoy the following events and have a great time.

Corn Cannons
Spider Climber
Custom Corn Maze
Lawn Games
Hay Rides
Pumpkins for purchase of all shapes and sizes!
Food Trucks and so much MORE! See you there!

100% of the proceeds benefit the children at Eliada! Not only does your ticket purchase come with access to family-friendly fun, but it directly aids in the growth and success of Eliada’s kids!

Experience mouthwatering Southern baking—from humble home kitchens to innovative new Southern chefs. One of the world’s richest culinary traditions comes to life through this essential cookbook from bestselling author Anne Byrn. With 200 recipes from 14 states and more than 150 photos, Baking in the American South has the biscuits, cornbread, cakes, and rolls that will help you bake like a Southerner, even if you aren’t. Recipes can tell you volumes if you pay attention—the crops raised, languages spoken, family customs, old world flavors, and, often, religion. Did you know that where a mill was located affected the recipes handed down from that area? Or that baking and selling pound cakes directly impacted the Civil Rights Movement? These stories and recipes, developed from good times and bad, have been collected and perfected over years and are now accessible to us all. Anne’s expertise in assessing, modernizing, and developing well-written recipes makes this the definitive guide for bakers of all levels. From-scratch, Southern classic recipes include: Thomasville Cheese Biscuits Ouita Michel’s Sweet Potato Streusel Muffins Nina Cain’s Batty Cakes with Lacy Edges The Best Lemon Meringue Pie Georgia Gilmore’s Pound Cake This fascinating dive into the history of 14 Southern states—Texas, Florida, Kentucky, and more—features stories and beautifully photographed recipes from pre-Civil War times to today’s Southern kitchens. It’s about the places, the people, the products and the culture of the moment that influenced what people baked. It’s about African-American women and the monumental contributions they have made to the art of Southern baking, about home cooks and how they’ve kept traditions alive wherever they settle by baking family recipes each year for holidays and celebrations, and about the pastry chefs who have thoughtfully reimagined how the South bakes. Experience the recipes and the stories behind them that showcase the substantial contributions Southern baking has made to American baking at large. Food historians, bakers, foodies, and cookbook collectors from every corner of the country will want this cookbook in their collections.

ANNE BYRN is a New York Times bestselling food writer and author. She writes the weekly newsletter Between the Layers, one of the top 20 food and drink newsletters worldwide on Substack. She has authored several cookbooks. Her latest books are A New Take on Cake and Skillet Love, the latter exploring the history and modern uses for the cast-iron skillet. They followed American Cookie and American Cake, which NPR named one of the best cookbooks of 2016. The Cake Mix Doctor and sequels have more than 4 million copies in print, and USA Today called The Cake Mix Doctor the bestselling cookbook the year it debuted. Byrn’s career began as a food writer for The Atlanta Journal. Her food writing was named the Best Food Section by the Association of Food Journalists. She studied at La Varenne École de Cuisine in Paris and lived in England where she wrote about food and travel for a year. Anne is a contributor to Food52, Bon Appétit, and the Bitter Southerner. Byrn is a Nashville native and a fifth-generation Tennessean. For several years, she was the food writer for The Tennessean. Byrn has been featured in People magazine, The Washington Post, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Southern Living, Publishers Weekly, and many other publications. She has appeared on Good Morning America, Later Today, CNN, The Food Network, and QVC and has taught cooking classes across the country. She and her husband live in Nashville.

Drinks with author Kimberly Brock to celebrate her latest novel, The Fabled Earth! Your ticket includes entrance to the event, a copy of the book, and a signature cocktail (or mocktail).

Inspired by the little-known history of Cumberland Island, The Fabled Earth is a sweeping story of family lore and the power of finding your own voice as Southern mythology and personal reckoning collide with a changing world. 1932. Cumberland Island off the coast of Southern Georgia is a strange place to encounter the opulence of the Gilded Age, but the last vestiges of the famed philanthropic Carnegie family still take up brief seasonal residence in their grand mansions there. This year’s party at Plum Orchard is a lively group: young men from some of America’s finest families come to experience the area’s hunting beside a local guide; a beautiful debutante expecting to be engaged by the week’s end, and a promising female artist who believes she has meaningful ties to her wealthy hosts. But when temptations arise and passions flare, an evening of revelry and storytelling goes horribly awry. Lives are both lost and ruined. 1959. Reclusive painter Cleo Woodbine has lived alone for decades on Kingdom Come, a tiny strip of land once occupied by the servants for the great houses on nearby Cumberland. When she is visited by the man who saved her life nearly thirty years earlier, a tempest is unleashed as the stories of the past gather and begin to regain their strength. Frances Flood is a folklorist come to Cumberland Island seeking the source of a legend – and also information about her mother, who was among the guests at a long-ago hunting party. Audrey Howell, briefly a newlywed and now newly widowed, is running a local inn. When she develops an eerie double exposure photograph, some believe she’s raised a ghost–someone who hasn’t been seen since that fateful night in 1932.

Kimberly Brock is the award-winning author of The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare and The River Witch. She is the founder of Tinderbox Writers Workshop and has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and national writing workshops including at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. She lives near Atlanta with her husband and three children.