CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte SHOUT! has returned to Uptown.
The annual arts and culture celebration is bringing over 200 installations, performances, events and more to Uptown Charlotte starting Friday, March 29, through Sunday, April 14.
The festival is produced by Charlotte Center City Partners and presented by Atrium Health and Bank of America. Last year, over 1.8 million people visited Uptown during the 17 days of the festival.
A number of fan-favorite Charlotte SHOUT! installations are returning to Uptown this year, including interactive seesaws and an amphitheater made from upcycled pianos at Grace on Brevard that's the first of its kind in the United States.
“We could not be more excited about this year’s Charlotte SHOUT!,” Robert Krumbine, chief creative officer of Charlotte Center City Partners said. “We’ve curated an incredible mix of local talent and returning favorites with brand-new, can’t miss experiences, all in a central, walkable area. We guarantee that one visit to Uptown will not be enough to see and do it all.”
Installations and events include:
e/motion: An interactive installation aimed at revisiting the childhood joy of seesaws. It was created by Olivier Landreville, in collaboration with Serge Maheu, produced by Init and is tour-produced by Creos.
Sonic Runway: A light-art installation converting audio into light patterns, created by Rob Jensen, Warren Trezevant and tour-produced by Creos.
Optik: An interactive installation encouraging people to play with synchronized sound and color. It was created by The Urban Conga, in collaboration with Serge Maheu, produced by Init and tour-produced by Creos.
Eggs on Parade: 13 (or a baker's dozen) massive designed Easter eggs, created by 13 artists.
Musical performances on two Uptown stages.
Charlotte StrEATs: From April 13-14, the Charlotte StrEATs festival-within-a-festival will celebrate Charlotte chefs and restaurants. On April 3, Charlotte StrEATs will have an Uncorked celebration of North Carolina wine on April 3.
The Charlotte Ideas Festival: From April 6-9, the Charlotte Center for the Humanities and Civic Imagination will bring another festival-within-a-festival featuring innovators like six-time Emmy winner David Pogue on “AI, Robotics, and Life in 2050."
There will also be surprise installations popping up in Uptown throughout the festival.
Local businesses also say sales this year are already through the roof.
“I say we’re up about 50-75% compared to last year,” said Amer Antrazi with Ruth’s Chris.
“This gives me a least a 35-40% boost every year. And it seems to only get bigger,” said Cliff Joyner, the owner of Polo’s Italian Ice. “This is a great boost. It helps that the weather’s here, great music, great crowd, this is a great boost to my business. This is one of the biggest events I do every year,” he continued.
Across the street from the park is the 7th Street Market, housing new businesses trying to get off the ground. They include Geno D’s Pizza, whose owner said the profit from this event every year is simply incomparable.
“This is the busiest time ever right now. Astronomically busy. When I say we have ticket lines down to the floor – I mean at 6 we’re just getting through, but we’re pushing. I know yesterday we hit record sales for the end of the month,” Gena Dipaolo, the owner of Geno D's.
Charlotte SHOUT! leaders say just based on these first few days, the numbers this year will far surpass last year.
“What we saw last year is that for every $1 spent, it put $6 back into the economy. It may not sound like a lot of money, but it’s a lot of money. I can promise you right now [it’s] going to be much bigger than last year,” said Krumbine.
Most of the festival's events are outdoors are free to the public with no required tickets.
