Downtown Ashvegas on a Saturday night

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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I hit downtown Ashvegas Saturday night and left, once again, marveling at the vitality of our little town.

Walking across town, I ran into street acts plying their trade on practically every corner. There were two girls doing the hum-and-strum at the Big Iron on the Urban Trail at the corner of Wall Street. Two dudes were doing the same down along Patton at the other Urban Trail stop that has the cast iron top hat and cane on the bench.

Rounding the corner onto Pack Square, another busker was playing to the masses feeding their faces outside along restaurant row there with the noodle shop and the Bistro and Cafe on the Square. Just down the hill, in front of the old Be Here Now location, another guy had a guitar and a sweet voice.

And I ran into all that after checking out one of the bands at the Bonfires for Peace gathering in Pritchard Park. Sunshine was the band I heard. They played some solid rock’n’roll – their original stuff was good, and they did some covers, such as U2′s “Beautiful Day,” for example.

A beautiful day in downtown Ashvegas, indeed.