A few thousand fun-seekers, including Asheville Police Chief Bill Hogan, turned out for the first of this year’s Downtown After Five events on Friday. Battery Park was jammed with jabbering locals and tourists boogeying to the sound of Grinning Mob and Outformation. Proceeds from sales of wristband I.D.s for this edition went to the Asheville Downtown Association Foundation and the Arts2People Mural Project. An undetermined quantity of greasy food and beer was ingested by the upbeat and apparently well-behaved mob.
— Cecil Bothwell, staff writer