Welcome to www.AshevilleLiveCam.com :: Enjoy Asheville's Unique Live Web Cameras: North Asheville, South Asheville, East Asheville, & West Asheville. From the top of downtown Asheville's tallest building, the centrally located BB&T Building,  Wilcox World Travel and Tours brings you real-time, live pictures of Pack Square, The Grove Park Inn, Westgate Bridge, The Asheville Tourists, Local Traffic, Pisgah Mountain and much more.

Well, events conspired against me and I didn’t get out to Bele Chere as much as I’d planned.  Then when I did get out there I had a bit of a camera malfunction, so I didn’t get as many pictures and videos as I’d hoped.  Overall, the festival seemed to be a pretty good one, and while I was out there I had lots of fun.  Here is a small gallery of the pix I was able to get and some that my boys took.  Some are from Friday and some are from Saturday:

The video below is one I caught while strolling around Bele Chere on Saturday evening.  These guys were very entertaining.  I didn’t catch their name, but they posted a response to the YouTube video and let me know they are “Forty Fingers and a Missing Tooth”, which is an awesome name guys! You rocked!

Here’s another short clip of them.  I caught this just as I was walking up.

I took a little stroll around the block this morning and took some pictures and even a video of some of the many people out there getting ready for Bele Chere 2010.  This year looks to be a great one for the festival and I can’t wait to get out there this evening after it really starts to get active.

As for this site, you can expect us to be bringing you live views of the whole thing.

We’ll be resetting the views on our cams to provide you with great shots of the action as it happens, so if you can’t be here for the festival, at least you’ll get to see some of it.

I’ll also be out and about with my camera shooting some more pix and videos that I will be posting throughout the weekend.

Below are some of the pix and a video that I shot this morning as people were getting ready.

Yesterday saw the return of our favorite cam, which we have dubbed SkyCam.  The camera is once again in its rightful place atop the roof of the BB&T building downtown.  If you look up at the southeast corner of the roof, you will see it hanging over the corner doing its thing.  The install is currently about halfway done.  We’ve got the camera hardware installed and configured, but the back-end infrastructure that allows us to stream it to you is not in place yet.

However, we do have a limited view that can’t handle a whole lot of concurrent connections.  This is using the built-in server on the camera, but unfortunately it isn’t up to the task of serving out live streams to a large number of users.  It also requires Quicktime, so if you have it installed, you can head over to the SkyCam page and see if you can grab the feed.  No promises for now, though.  We’re still working on getting the feed to you in a reliable manner.  While you’re there, you can check out a gallery of pics I took of the install as well as some great shots of the downtown area I got while I was up there.

Try out the SkyCam!

According to a recent report (Volunteering in America 2010) by the Corporation for National and Community Services, Asheville ranks 12th in the nation in volunteerism.  Based on my experience living in the area, I’m frankly surprised that it’s that low.  It seems like most of the people I know volunteer in some way.  There are many ways to volunteer these days, from United Way projects to church and community organizations.  No matter what your interests or views, there is bound to be some way you can help out.

From the Asheville Citizen-Times:

The report ranked Asheville 12th among 75 midsized cities based on figures compiled from 2007-09. Some 129,000 people volunteered in various ways, helping educate the populace, keep the place clean and its citizens safe and improve the community in countless ways.

More than 140 organizations offer volunteer opportunities at the United Way’s Hands On project. In these stressful economic times, there’s certainly no shortage of need for volunteers. Indeed, the services provided by volunteers are more essential than ever in a time when donations are down for many nonprofits. Trisha Lester, vice president at the N.C. Center for Nonprofits, says calls for help are “through the roof.”

Fortunately, so are the numbers of people heeding those calls. The number of volunteers stepping up to participate in monthly projects at local nonprofits was up 20 percent from 2008-09. The punch-drunk economy and the area’s demographics appear to be at least partially responsible for some of the uptick. Highly educated people are among those being marooned by the economic tide, but many still want to contribute.

I say 12th is not enough.  According to the report, Asheville has a 36.5% volunteer rate.  Number 1 on the list, Provo, Utah, has a 63.6% volunteer rate.  I challenge each of you, if you are not already volunteering a portion of your time in some way, to visit the United Way’s Hands On Asheville-Buncombe site, become a member and find out how you can help.

The Gulf Coast is on everybody’s mind these days, what with the oil spill still spreading. Asheville’s tourism partners want to help out in this time of need, and so they have pledged a dime for every visit to AshevilleTourismCares.com between now and July 2. It only takes a second to click through and every visit helps.  From PR Newswire:

The Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau is reaching out to the Gulf Coast in an effort to provide some support in the wake of the Gulf oil spill.A recent Washington Post article noted how challenging fundraising has been in the wake of the Gulf oil spill.  According to the article, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that $4 million has been raised so far to assist with efforts in the Gulf compared to more than $6 billion that went to the region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

As a strong outdoor and conservation-minded community, Asheville’s tourism community is deeply concerned about fellow tourism destinations along the Gulf Coast.  Many of the partners here have direct relationships with fellow tourism destinations in the Gulf region and want to help.

How Can You Help?

Thanks to the generosity of private tourism partners, every visit to AshevilleTourismCares.com will earn a pledge of 10 cents per visit – up to $10,000 – between now and July 2. Funds will be given to the National Audubon Society to assist in the short-term and long-term challenges of restoring the Gulf Coast ecosystem.

Related articles

• Talking Travel: The Oil Spill and the Gulf Coast (theworld.org)
• Oil Spill Takes Toll on Gulf Coast Tourism (abcnews.go.com)
• Gulf oil spill poses unique health challenges (newscientist.com)
• Canceling your Gulf Coast vacation? (money.cnn.com)
• Mix of fear, hope for Gulf Coast business owners (washingtontimes.com)

AmericanStyle Magazine’s readers have voted Asheville the top small city for art, beating out Sante Fe in a huge coup. From AmericanStyle.com:

Readers flew “the Land of the Sky” into the top spot in the Small Cities category for the first time this year. A walk along the streets of Asheville will prove why it deserves this honor, from the Art Deco buildings seen all over the city (including the town’s city hall) to the more than 50 galleries representing every medium. Reader Mark Flowers, of Alexander, N.C., explains, “Asheville’s creative scene runs from the visual art, the handmade craft arts, the music arts, down to the amazing small brewery arts. It’s a total package that brings me downtown whenever I am near.”

With two new public arts programs, Asheville is undergoing a downtown renaissance. In the city’s historical center, known as Pack Square, a new park opened this spring. Along with lush green space, Pack Square Park features an interactive water fountain (aptly named “Splashville”), an amphitheater decorated with handmade tiles, and original works of art by local artists.

Local artists also inspired the new Asheville signage program. More than 300 signs direct visitors and residents to almost 90 attractions, but what makes these signs special is in the details. The city’s artists were commissioned to create unique sign elements in the form of blown glass, bronze and wrought iron.