Bele Chere ran 1979-2013: Relive Asheville's free street festival with these fun photos

It's that time of the year not too many years ago that Asheville residents would look ahead to the weekend with excited anticipation, and in some cases, dread.

Beginning in 1979, downtown Asheville came alive on the last weekend of July with a new, free street festival, Bele Chere. Downtown Asheville had become barren in the 1970s, and Bele Chere was originally conceived to help with the revitalization of downtown and to bring business to merchants.

Bele Chere, which means beautiful living, was a three-day festival featuring arts and crafts, food, activities and, of course, live music. Lots and lots of live music, with stages set up on different streets downtown. The music ran the gamut from bluegrass to rock to jazz to country to blues and more. National touring artists as well as local musicians performed.

The crowds were large and often boisterous. Some locals would leave town for the weekend. Meanwhile, Asheville began regaining its footing, business downtown started booming, and the city once again became a major tourist destination. Bele Chere had run its course , and after 35 years, the 2013 edition was its last .

Todd Runkle is the Carolinas Connect editor and a content coach for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at trunkle@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Bele Chere ran 1979-2013: Relive Asheville's free street festival with these fun photos