The Bascom hosts 16th Annual Dazzling Dahlia Festival

The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts will host the 16th Annual Dazzling Dahlia Festival from September 10–12, 2026. This community-centered program brings horticulture into dialogue with the visual arts through a weekend of public events, including a fall reception, floral installations, juried single bloom and photography competitions, studio pottery offerings, hands-on workshops, and educational presentations. In advance of the festival, The Bascom will present a free educational talk on The Terrace on Saturday, August 29, at 11:00 a.m., led by Festival Directors Peggy Boruchow Arnette, Libby Eustis, and Kim Daugherty. Designed for both new and experienced enthusiasts, the session will clarify what makes a bloom competition-ready and prepare participants to present their dahlias for judging in the Single Bloom Competition. The festival opens with The Bascom's complimentary Fall Reception on Thursday, September 10, at 5:00 p.m. The evening gathers the community around the fall season's exhibitions, which will be on view across The Bascom's galleries, and Michelle Radford as the winner of the 2026 Dahlia Poster Contest. Guests are invited to view the exhibitions, enjoy light refreshments, and preview the weekend's floral-themed programs. Petals and PerspectivesThroughout the weekend, visitors can experience Petals and Perspectives, a special floral design showcase on view September 10–12. Participating floral designers will create arrangements in direct response to works of art on view in The Bascom's galleries, fostering a thoughtful exchange between botanical design and visual art. Fall Exhibitions Three exhibitions will be on view across The Bascom's galleries during the festival weekend. Voices of Influence: Celebrating the Impact of Women in Art, a Community Call Exhibition, will be on view in Thompson Gallery through November 28. Jo Sandman/TRACES with Black Mountain College will be on view in Bunzl Gallery through January 9. Ceramic Artists of the Bascom Clay Symposium: Andrew Godfrey Shaw, Alexander Thierry, and Tiffany Thomas will be on view in Joel Gallery through November 16. Admission to all exhibitions is free. Single Bloom Competition The festival's signature event invites dahlia growers and floral designers of all ages and experience levels to enter. Competition categories include an open single bloom division, a novice division, a youth division, and an arranged division for those who wish to submit a floral arrangement rather than a single stem. The novice division is new this year, open to anyone who has never exhibited in the Dazzling Dahlia Festival's floral competition, as well as those who have exhibited in two or fewer previous years. Participants who have exhibited for three years or more compete in the open division. Thanks to the generosity of festival sponsors, there is no entry fee this year. The juried show will be on view Friday, September 11, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday, September 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Juried Dahlia Photography Exhibition New this year, the festival introduces a juried photography exhibition open to photographers of all ages and experience levels. A juror will award ribbons to a selection of the entries, and the photographs will be on view in the Eckerd Children's Gallery from September 10 through October 3. Admission is free. Studio Member Pottery Show Running concurrently on September 11 and 12 in The Bascom's Studio Barn, this sale features handcrafted wall pockets and vases created by Studio Members. Each work will be adorned with fresh dahlias and available for purchase. Workshops Workshop programming begins ahead of the festival and continues through the weeks that follow, offering hands-on options for adults of all skill levels across ceramics, floral design, mixed media, and painting. Advanced registration is required for all workshops and is available at thebascom.org. Beginning Tuesday, September 1, Colette Clark leads Floral Application, a multi-session ceramics workshop running through Tuesday, September 9, in the Dave Drake Studio. Participants craft a variety of clay flowers to adorn both a hand-built and a wheel-thrown vase, with a glazing session on the final day. No experience necessary. $200. On Saturday, September 5, Cath Connolly leads Saturday Sojourn with Paint: Big Bloom Energy, a full-day beginner painting workshop from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Using abstraction and expressive mark-making, participants will create a floral-inspired painting. No experience required. All materials included. $150. On Thursday, September 10, floral stylist and artist Christy Curcuru leads Arranging with Showpiece Flowers: Locally Grown Mountain Dahlias, a morning workshop from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Participants will work with locally farmed flowers and foraged greens to create a large dahlia-focused arrangement in a ceramic footed compote, with hands-on guidance throughout. All materials included. $200. On Saturday, September 12, Caryn Raming teaches Beginner Collage: Everything's Dahlias! from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Participants explore color, texture, and layering to build collages inspired by the forms of the dahlia. No experience required. All materials included. $75. The Dahlia Dialogue with Sonya Carpenter On Saturday, September 12, Highlands ecologist and garden designer Sonya Carpenter will present "Floral Fidelity and the Art of Attraction," a talk on how dahlias are perceived by the other species we share our gardens with. Her presentation considers whether the bright, showy forms of the dahlia draw wildlife to the garden, and what it takes to keep butterflies, birds, and pollinators nourished and present throughout the season. Drawing on her background in ecology, Carpenter will examine how color attracts pollinators and how gardeners on the Highlands Plateau can make intentional choices to create greater abundance, food, and shelter for the full community of species that inhabits our landscapes. The talk is free and open to all. 11 a.m. Carpenter studied ecology at the University of Florida and is co-owner of Canty Worley and Company, Inc., a Highlands-based landscape company. She also founded and leads Co-Habitate, a nonprofit dedicated to ecological education, stewardship, and habitat restoration on the Highlands Plateau. Emerging Designer Collaboration This year's festival collateral was developed in collaboration with Elena Rizek, a graphic design student at Western Carolina University and a participant in The Bascom's Emerging Designer Program. Rizek created the visual identity for the 2026 Dahlia Festival, including posters, educational signage, and promotional materials distributed across print and digital channels. The Dazzling Dahlia Festival is made possible by generous support from Bryson Grading & Paving, Visit Highlands, and the North Carolina Arts Council.

The Bascom hosts 16th Annual Dazzling Dahlia Festival

Contact Us