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Celebrate Asheville’s local leaders at a downtown gala
Join the Rotary Club of Asheville for the People of Action Gala—an inspiring evening honoring community leaders, hosted at a downtown hotel.
Event details
The People of Action Gala returns for its third year on Thursday, February 26, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel, 31 Woodfin Street. What began as the “Heroes Hoorah Gala” in May 2024 at the Embassy Suites has evolved into the Rotary Club of Asheville’s signature fundraiser, a seated dinner with live music and auction that recognizes seven individuals whose work embodies Rotary’s “Service Above Self” philosophy.
Each honoree represents one of Rotary International’s seven focus areas: basic education and literacy, community economic development, peace-building, disease prevention, water sanitation, maternal and child health, and environmental stewardship. The 2026 class includes Cici Weston, founder of the Christine W. Avery Learning Center (education and literacy), and Stephanie Swepson-Twitty, CEO of Eagle Market Streets Development Corp. (economic development).
Tickets are $150 per person or $1,000 for a table of eight, available through February 16 at rotaryasheville.betterworld.org. Complimentary self-parking at the hotel. While the dress code isn’t explicitly stated, the format suggests semi-formal to business formal attire, dark suits or cocktail dresses appropriate. Proceeds support local scholarships, first responder recognition, French Broad watershed protection, and international humanitarian projects in Guatemala, Honduras, and Argentina.
Pre-gala dining: Cúrate Bar de Tapas (13 Biltmore Avenue), opened spring 2011 in a converted 1927 bus depot, earned the 2022 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Hospitality Award, chef Katie Button’s authentic Spanish tapas make it essential. For something older, The Market Place (20 Wall Street), founded June 9, 1979, pioneered farm-to-table dining in Asheville before the term existed; founder Mark Rosenstein made Food & Wine’s first Honor Roll of American Chefs in 1983. Zambra (85 W. Walnut Street), serving Spanish and North African tapas since the late 1990s, was voted “Most Romantic Restaurant in North Carolina” by USA Today.
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