New Charlotte International Arts Festival Kicks off Fall Arts Season

ciaf charlotte

The festival lineup has been announced with the launch of a new website at charlotteartsfest.com. The festival's host, Blumenthal Performing Arts, says this year's festival has more than 200 events including art pieces, live performances and food in uptown Charlotte and Ballantyne that "bring together Charlotte's local and international communities with global artists in a cultural celebration." The Charlotte International Arts Festival is an annual celebration of imaginative visual and performing arts from the most creative international and local minds. Fun for everyone, from families to individuals, we invite you to stay awhile, play, and welcome curiosity, as we begin to see our city through new eyes.

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CIAF is proud to partner this year with two Charlotte community cultural fixtures, the Festival of India and the Latin American Festival. Originally commissioned for Dollywood’s Flower & Food Festival, the performance is inspired by the beautiful flowers of the Smoky Mountains in a celebration of the natural world. Performances will pop up September 16–18; September 22–25; and September 29–October 2.

Charlotte International Arts Festival 2023

Charlotte International Arts Festival's biggest events wcnc.com - WCNC.com

Charlotte International Arts Festival's biggest events wcnc.com.

Posted: Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Boris “Bluz” Rogers, director of creative engagement at Blumenthal Performing Arts, is excited about so many things that the competition brings to Charlotte. Two popular festivals — Festival of India and the Latin American Festival — will be part of CIAF. The events will be in various locations in Uptown Charlotte and Ballantyne. Guests can also make crafts, climb a rock wall, skate in an outdoor roller rink, dance along a glowing, light-up path reminiscent of a board game like Candyland, and encounter 100 tiny, smile-provoking art pieces on a nature trail.

Blumenthal's Charlotte International Arts Festival Completes Inaugural Run - Announces 2023 Dates

Applications are now open for four other programs that will showcase local talent across genres in various locations from Uptown to South Charlotte throughout the duration of the festival. More information and application links can be found at charlotteartsfest.com/get-involved-2023. Along with Man, the Luminarium installation will be located at Ballantyne’s Backyard, a former golf course turned green space located at N. Community House Road that, for the 17-day duration of CIAF, will be home to a number of visual and immersive art installations by international and local artists.

Also available is a smaller marketplace is a convenient grab-and-go snack bar. “As the city [Leon Levine] called home continues to grow, TLLF is dedicated to its development as a world-class cultural destination. We’re proud to support [BPA] as they bring the arts to unreached and underserved audiences through the Charlotte International Arts Festival,” says Tom Lawrence, the foundation’s president and CEO.

Keep an eye on Blumenthal’s website and social media for location and details. Ballantyne’s Backyard features over 100 acres of lush green space with miles of running and walking trails, rolling hills and catch-and-release ponds the whole family can enjoy. The community park offers unparalleled open space and is accessible to everyone. With it being the festival’s inaugural year, Blumenthal and BooneOakely are leaning in to the notion that people don’t know what CIAF is—yet.

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New this year, an international bazaar at Founders Hall will showcase multicultural artisans and vendors selling their custom wares to the public. CIAF is an annual celebration which magnifies the Queen City’s artistic soul for creation and innovation. The inspiring multi-week festival features curated artistic and immersive experiences from around the world and locally that celebrate diversity and culture. For more information about the events happening at Charlotte International Arts Festival and the participating artists, visit charlotteartsfest.com. Also, check out more arts events scheduled for the coming autumn in our 2022 Fall Arts Guide. Get ready for an expansive and interactive art experience, with the 3rd annual Charlotte International Arts Festival.

The Wells Fargo Stage will host free cultural events and concerts across musical genres, from Brazilian jazz to flamenco, R&B, hip hop, a cappella—and even MJ-themed lip sync battles. CIAF will have the honor of presenting the first major public performances at Ballantyne’s new outdoor venue, The Amp. The Concert on September 16, a powerful celebration of the eclectic energy of Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti, one of the world’s most celebrated music legends and the founding father of Afrobeat. September 29, Novant Health presents Disney Pixar’s Coco Live-to-Film Concert, featuring a screening of the complete film with Oscar and Grammy-winning composer Michael Giacchino’s musical score performed by Mexico’s 20-member Orquesta Folclórica Nacional de México. Fitness classes, presented by Brighthouse Financial, will take place on Saturdays and Sundays in various locations in Ballantyne’s Backyard and Levine Avenue of the Arts, against backdrops of inspiring CIAF art installations to spark thought and foster meditation.

CIAF will also include installations by over a dozen artists from Blumenthal’s Fellows Class of 2021, and hundreds of other performances and showcases big and small over the two weeks it’s here. For the third year, Blumenthal Arts is seeking a new class of Fellows who will represent the best in festival projects that Charlotte artists have to offer. This work will be presented alongside the national and international acts and projects that are brought in during CIAF to be visited by thousands of festival attendees. Some of the events are ticketed shows at Blumenthal Performing Arts venues, and some are indoor or outdoor installations or performances that you can enjoy for free. Many more cultural events, artists highlights, showcases and other creative happenings are set during the festival. The  International Bazaar, a collection of 75 local merchants, vendors and nonprofit organizations, is set for the last weekend of the festival, Sept. 29 – 30.

ciaf charlotte

This year’s featured acts include Architects of Air, out of Nottingham, UK, an immersive walk-through experience that invites visitors to a world apart from the normal and everyday through labyrinthian tunnels and cavernous domes of saturated color accompanied by a gentle sensory soundscape. The exhibit plays through the entirety of the festival, September 16–October 2 in Ballantyne’s Backyard. When Blumenthal was shut down in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it received a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) from the federal government. Much of that funding went toward the launch of the festival, with the aim of getting people back to work. With SVOG, Blumenthal was able to put more than half a million dollars toward the creative talent behind the festival, from projection artists to theatrical storytellers, dancers, technicians, and more.

We believe Black-owned media is vital to building healthy, Black communities. When you support the work of QCity Metro, you also support the communities we serve. In addition, the festival will offer a concert production of the Tony-award-winning “Fela!

Mentalgassi creates large-scale photographs, which they tape on outdoor objects. The photographs are comprised of people’s faces that take on an unexpected form. German street-artist trio Mentalgassi combines photography, sculpture, image manipulation, and street art for audiences to enjoy for free. Their artwork has been seen in many cities around the world, including London, Berlin, Brazil and Finland. From the Guggenheim in Spain to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Luminarium – Architects of Air by Alan Parkison is described as an immersive walk-through experience of light, color and sound.

In addition to these featured acts, CIAF will include installations by the 13 remaining artists from Blumenthal’s Fellows Class of 2021. Create playful large-scale photographs which they tape on outdoor objects to make passersby smile. The installation will be perched atop the Knight Theater throughout the run of the festival. Part surprise, part treasure hunt, 100 TINY THINGS are playful, curious, and delightfully disruptive installations that act as creative urban repair, a way to manipulate the mundane and to interpret serious architecture with a personified flair.

ciaf charlotte

“This competition will bring poets who are international world poetry slam champions, as well as national champions,” he told Queen City Nerve. Slightly crouching forward with legs criss-crossed to incite curiosity and self-reflection with its audience, the installation is part of the inaugural Charlotte International Arts Festival (CIAF), which is scheduled to run from Sept. 16-Oct. Musical acts will also happen at Levine Avenue of the Arts and Ballantyne’s Backyard as well as a stage on Wells Fargo Plaza and at new Ballantyne venue The Amp.

Check out 'GAIA' which is made from actual NASA imagery, sponsored by CIAF - WCNC.com

Check out 'GAIA' which is made from actual NASA imagery, sponsored by CIAF.

Posted: Tue, 26 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Visitors will get to see a giant sea squid, circus performers, big inflatable pillow people, giant airheads (not the candy), and interact with larger-than-life bird puppets, which proved a hit during the festival's launch in 2022. For the full festival lineup, keep an eye on charlotteartsfest.com and @cltartsfest for the most up-to-date information. Each selected artist will receive a 60-minute time slot for performing outdoors in either Uptown Charlotte or Ballantyne. Each selected artist or group will receive a stipend of $1,000 for a full-length performance or $250 for a pop-up performance. Wilson’s exhibit Heart and Sole CLT preserves the city’s soul and history and combines it with the present by using the Air Jordan 1 High OG — the iconic shoe of one of the city’s most famous residents, Michael Jordan — as the canvas. The exhibit will be on display at The Brooklyn Collective throughout the festival’s run.

The Charlotte International Arts Festival (CIAF), a Blumenthal Arts Original, uniquely brings together Charlotte's local and international communities with global artists in a cultural celebration filled with live performances, art installations, food from around the world and more. The more-than-two-weeks-long festival highlights local and international artists and brings them to Uptown Charlotte as well as Ballantyne for live performances, cultural expressions, art installations and food showcases. Locations from Uptown to Ballantyne will transform into a sensory playground for all ages with exceptional artists and entertainment from more than 10 countries, as well as a showcase of local international cultures and traditions. With many events free and open to the public, ticketed events and performances will range from $5 and up.

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