Deep Roots at Pisgah Brewing

On the afternoon of May 30, the shaded lawn and beer garden at Pisgah Brewing Co. will be organized not as a concert field but as a village of activity: a stage for roots and blues, a ring of workshops, a children’s zone, and a cluster of local vendors selling food, crafts and services. The event, billed as LEAF “Deep Roots,” is intended as a day to “plant ourselves again,” a phrase the organizers use to describe the slow business of reconnecting across generations and cultures.

The event is presented by LEAF Global Arts and Pisgah Brewing Company and is described as a community-driven fun-draiser for LEAF’s programming. Doors open at 1 p.m.; shows begin at 2 p.m. The address is 2948 US-70, Black Mountain, which places the gathering in the small-town atmosphere Pisgah has made part of its identity.

The lineup and programming

Musically, Deep Roots leans into acoustic and roots traditions without becoming a repertory exercise. The program lists Asheville’s River Whyless, blues musician Corey Harris, and Virginia folk trio Palmyra as featured performers. Those names sit alongside a mix of artists that suggest both global and local outlooks: Lotus Feet, Mama, Ashley Heath, Petah Iah & The Mind Renewers, Adama Dembele, and Nicholas Edward Williams.

The intention of the day is intergenerational; programming includes world-class live music and workshops. That means sets threaded with storytelling and hands-on sessions where music is a means of exchange rather than a product. Expect shorter sets interspersed with workshops and other activities rather than a single evening headliner cadence.

Vendors, healing arts and the family fold

Deep Roots dresses as much like a street fair as a festival. The vendor list reads like a map of community resources and small businesses: Spiral Intuitive, Gulla Geechee Family Foundation, New Moon Magic Studio, Trollbinde, Defiance Cafe, Franny’s Farmacy, Restring Appalachia, Building Bridges, Aravay, Night Dogs, Earth Fae Creations, Hand Over Heals, Arteries by Stina, The Hop, and Bears BBQ.

Alongside food and crafts, the event will host workshops, healing arts, and youth activities. LEAF explicitly frames this as family-friendly programming with “dedicated playful activities for children,” which positions Deep Roots as an option for families seeking cultural programming and a place where kids can be active participants.

The mix of vendors and arts suggests a day intended to be slow and porous: you drift from a blues set to a craft table to a healing-art session, then back to the beer garden. Pisgah’s setting — a taproom and outdoor spaces that have become habitual stops for travelers on US-70 — will make the transitions feel informal and local rather than corporate.

Practicalities and the point

Logistics are straightforward: the gathering runs on May 30, doors 1 p.m., shows at 2 p.m., at Pisgah Brewing Co., 2948 US-70, Black Mountain. The event is a one-day gathering; it is not framed as an overnight festival. LEAF calls it a celebration of connection and resilience, with the stated goal of grounding and reconnection for their “LEAF Family.”

This is also a fundraiser model with a community emphasis. The organizers describe Deep Roots as a fun-draiser to support LEAF Global Arts programming — that hybrid of public celebration and fundraising is common among community arts organizations that need both visibility and small-scale revenue to sustain workshops, residencies and youth work. If you’re inclined to volunteer, LEAF’s event page handles sign-ups and more details about roles and needs.

If you go, expect a day that privileges exchange over spectacle. There will be a beer garden, but the beer is part of the infrastructure rather than the narrative driver: a place to sit between sets, to meet neighbors and artists, to let a child paint on a provided canvas while a trio tunes up. The event’s name — Deep Roots — gestures toward a slower logic: that belonging and resilience are cultivated rather than announced.

For walkers and travelers between Asheville and Black Mountain, Deep Roots offers a compact, honest slice of what LEAF does when it leaves its festival footprint and convenes smaller, localized gatherings. It is designed to be visible to a range of ages and interests, and to return the benefits of that visibility directly into programming the nonprofit runs beyond a single day.

Tickets, volunteer information, and any updates will be available through LEAF Global Arts; Pisgah Brewing’s calendar will also list the event as part of its community programming.