Home

“People are tired of produced-in-the-lab boy bands and genetically modified entertainment. They are ready to savor the flavor of organically grown entertainment and ripened-on-the-vine shows. Sure, you might get a little dirt in your teeth, but you know it’s good.” ~ Jester of England’s Muncaster Castle, Paolo Garbanzo

Six years of bringing the Vaudeville Revival to Asheville, ABSfest offers three days of inspiration, education, shopping, and entertainment that no lover of these arts can afford to miss. Thousands of people have reveled in the company of our satin, and sparkle, our chicken feathered starlets and our fish-eyed zombie boys.

Nominated for Best Show in the Mountain Xpress Readers Choice Awards, ABSfest has attracted renowned circus and burlesque artists from across the USA, as well as Scotland, Germany, and Japan. We promise fashion, contortion, trapeze, and tease!!

In a world now brimming with Burlesque Festivals, from Vegas to Amsterdam, ABSfest is embodies the true spirit of Vaudeville, offering driven artists a relaxed environment to network, and for a community that nurtures raw, boundary-pushing, creativity. The festival is one of several annual productions of Future of Tradition, a seminal force in the underground Asheville arts community since 1999. Executive Producer Lauren ‘Onça’ O’Leary lives here in the Paris of the South, and also tours the nation teaching and performing dance, music and stagecraft with the Mezmer Society and with the Accidental Circus.