Arts and Culture in Highlands, NC: Theater, Music, Galleries and Museums

For a small mountain town, Highlands has a full arts calendar. It has a visual arts center, a performing arts center with professional theater and chamber music, a biological station with public gardens and a history museum. The best part for Fairview guests is that the Highlands Performing Arts Center sits right across 4½ Street from the house.

Highlands Performing Arts Center

The PAC at 507 Chestnut Street is a short walk across the street from Fairview House. It is home to several resident companies, and something is on stage most of the year.

• Mountain Theatre Company is the resident professional theater and has been part of Highlands for 88 seasons. Its main shows run in summer. Box office: 828-526-2695.
• Highlands Cashiers Players is the community theater. It stages three or four productions a year in the PAC’s Martin Lipscomb Theatre.
• Concert series. The 2026 lineup ran from bluegrass (Balsam Range, Nu-Blu) to Broadway-style vocal groups and holiday shows.
• Live broadcasts. From October to May, the PAC screens live HD broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera and other major companies.

Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival

The festival celebrated its 45th season in 2026, with concerts from July 5 through August 9. Performances are held at the PAC and at Lewis Hall on The Village Green in Cashiers, with a few gala events at other venues. If your stay falls in July, check the concert lineup when you book. Popular concerts sell out.

The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts

The Bascom is about five minutes from the house at 323 Franklin Road. It occupies six acres of a former horse farm, and you enter through an 87-foot covered bridge.

• Exhibitions are free. Three galleries host about ten shows a year by local, regional, national and international artists. Exhibitions and the shop are open Tuesday through Saturday.
• Classes and workshops for adults and kids cover painting, ceramics, felting and more. The ceramics studio is in a rebuilt barn.
• The Horst Winkler Nature and Sculpture Trail winds around the campus. It is a short, easy walk for all ages.
• Holiday Market. In late fall The Bascom runs a holiday market with special events. In 2026 those include a gingerbread house workshop for all ages over Thanksgiving weekend.

A one-day class is a good way to split a big group. The creative half of the family can paint or throw pots while the rest go hiking.

Highlands Biological Station

The station is about three blocks from Fairview House. It is a center of Western Carolina University focused on research, education and conservation in the southern Blue Ridge.

• Highlands Botanical Garden has 12 acres of native plants, trails and a pond. It is free and open year-round from dawn to dusk. The north entrance is at 111 Lower Lake Road.
• The Nature Center is closed for renovation. It closed on August 16, 2026, for structural repairs and new bird-friendly windows, and is expected to reopen in early 2027. The grounds stay open.
• Summer programs include the Zahner Conservation Lecture Series and youth and family nature programs. Check the station’s calendar for dates.

Highlands Historical Society

The Historical Society runs a small historic village at 524 N. 4th Street. It includes the Prince House, the Highlands Historical Museum and Archives, and the Bug Hill Cottage, a tent cottage from the town’s sanatorium era. Fairview House itself dates to 1910, so the museum gives good context for the house you are staying in. The Society also offers historic buildings tours and a downtown audio tour. Check the website for museum hours, which are limited to a few days a week.

Hudson Library

The Hudson Library at 554 Main Street is part of the Fontana Regional Library system. It has a quiet reading room, local history books and free programs. It is open Tuesday through Saturday. It is a good rainy-hour stop with kids.

Galleries and Main Street

Main Street and the blocks around it hold a mix of private galleries, craft shops and stores where local artists sell their work. Inventory and ownership change often. The easiest way to plan a gallery walk is to pick up the current arts brochure at the Highlands Visitor Center, 108 Main Street.

Arts by season

For the full year of festivals, see Highlands events by month. If you are planning a wedding weekend or reunion around a concert, our group trips guide covers the logistics. Fairview House is across the street from the PAC, which makes a stay at the house an easy fit for a festival week.