Now in its third year, LEAF Downtown celebrates the community spirit in Asheville and beyond with a festival that invites you to "Turn It Up." Happening on Pack Square and the Roger McGuire Green on Friday, August 4th, and Saturday, August 5th it's an inclusive, family-friendly event that will bring the best in the arts to you—for free. Three stages will be jam-packed with music and performance acts, including headliners The Family Stone (celebrating 50 years together), the Easy Star All-Stars, and Rare Essence. Local Asheville acts will be out in full force, as well. The weekend will feature sets from The Digs, Nex Millen, The Paper Crowns, Free Planet Radio, and DJ Malinalli. There will also be performances from fire arts troupe Unifire Theater, a drag show from Blue Ridge Pride, a drum jam with Chief Shaka Zulu, Adama Dembele, Imhotep, and Darrell Rose, a Hood Huggers Community Talent Showcase, hip-hop dance demos, and a Moog Minifooger Pedal Play session. There's a lot more on the schedule that we just can't list here, so check it all out online.  It's a schedule packed with something for everyone, including the kids—Billy Jonas opens the Pack Stage on Saturday afternoon at 12:15. You can even sign up to run; the LEAF Art Dash returns on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.  Like its Lake Eden-based Fall and Spring components, LEAF Downtown also brings top arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, and craft beer (as well as other beverages) to the area that begins around Vance Memorial and stretches all the way to Splashville, making the weekend the perfect occasion to do a little bit of local shopping. The Easel Rider will also be back, inviting you and your loved ones to make some art of your very own.  LEAF will also highlight community and citizen engagement opportunities through panels, forums, and workshops at the BLOCK off Biltmore and the Voices of Asheville tent.  LEAF has big visions, and we're seeing some of them, including community organization and support with and for the arts, come to fruition right here in Asheville. If you're someone who can't wait for Fall LEAF, or if you haven't ever been to LEAF in any iteration, rest assured that this is going to rock your weekend, and put it on your calendar now. Source: theleaf.org/downtown