The 18th Annual Asheville Orchid Festival will be Held at The North Carolina Arboretum in Conjunction with National Orchid Meeting.

One of Western North Carolina’s greatest annual plant shows will enjoy an unprecedented boost this April, thanks to a joint effort among The North Carolina Arboretum, the Western North Carolina Orchid Society (WNCOS) and the American Orchid Society (AOS).

The Asheville Orchid Festival, scheduled for April 15-17 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at The North Carolina Arboretum, will be held in conjunction with AOS’s 2016 national spring meeting. Nearly 10,000 visitors, including leading national and international orchid experts, are expected to attend the three-day event held inside the Arboretum’s Education Center.

World-class orchid growers and regional orchid societies will exhibit for the 18th annual show, with hundreds of orchids presented in carefully crafted displays, plus orchids for sale from 13 vendors. A full slate of experts is scheduled to present at the event, offering a daily repotting clinic, guided tours and a variety of lectures. Admission into the festival is $5 per person, which will be collected at the door. These admission fees will support WNCOS, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to promoting and sharing orchid growth and culture in western North Carolina.

“We look forward to hosting members of the American Orchid Society and the visiting public at the 2016 Asheville Orchid Festival,” said George Briggs, executive director of The North Carolina Arboretum. “Our long-standing partnership with the Western North Carolina Orchid Society has allowed us to grow the festival over the past 18 years and to provide visitors with the most sought-after, unique orchid displays. This year’s collaboration with the American Orchid Society will make one of our most popular weekends a true must-see event.”

At the beginning of the festival, a team of AOS judges will evaluate the orchids and accompanying displays. Orchids deemed exceptional are chosen for AOS judging, and the judges compare them to other orchids of that same variety that have been judged in the past. WNCOS will also award ribbons to winning recipients in more than 100 classes of orchids. As part of the spring meeting, AOS members and the public may also attend a variety of spe cialty classes and lectures at the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park (registration is required.)

“The Asheville Orchid Festival has been increasing in quality, attendance and economic impact to our region over its 17 year run at the Arboretum,” explained Brett Hopkins, president of WNCOS. “This unique opportunity provides our Society the ability to bring international orchid growers to the festival and raise the level of knowledge, education and enjoyment of all things orchid to our members. It is an honor to host the AOS spring meeting in coordination with our festival, and we are excited to partner with the Arboretum again to host this wonderful festival.”

Admittance to the Asheville Orchid Festival at The North Carolina Arboretum is $5 per person, which will be collected at the door. Children 12 and under are free. Members of The North Carolina Arboretum Society, WNCOS members, and AOS full pass holders are invited to attend a free festival preview event on April 14 at the Arboretum from 5 – 9 p.m. Festival attendees who are not Arboretum Society members are also required to pay the Arboretum’s standard $12 parking fee.

For more information on the festival and up-to-date news on the festival’s schedule and list of speakers, please visit www.wncos.org.