For the past 40 years, a plethora of local and regional artists gather in North Charleston to unveil their works at dozens of community events as spring begins. And this year is no different.
The 41st annual North Charleston Arts Festival takes place May 1-5, celebrating visual arts, theater, dance, literature and music with a variety of exhibits, performances and activities.
This year’s festival will hold more than 30 events across the city of North Charleston that are free to attend, including art demonstrations, kids’ programs and an Arty Block Party.
The Arty Block Party is a lively outdoor art market where partygoers can enjoy visual art, browse handmade goods and hear live music.
During the entire run of the festival, the Charleston Area Convention Center will host judged art and photography competitions such as the South Carolina Palmetto Hands craft competition, as well as various tri-county youth art and high school sculpture competitions and exhibits.
Patrons can wander through hundreds of art pieces on display while enjoying music and food during the festival’s opening celebration that starts at 6:30 p.m. May 1 in honor of this year’s award winners.
North Charleston City Hall will display the 17th annual African American Fiber Art Exhibition entitled “Celebrating Black Music,” which will remain on display after the festival until June 18.
Other visual art highlights include a solo exhibit at Park Circle Gallery featuring paintings by the festival’s poster design competition winner Jirah Perkins, as well as the 18th annual National Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition installed at North Charleston Riverfront Park.
The five-day North Charleston Arts Festival has plenty of opportunities for patrons to view exhibits ranging from fine arts to photography.
This year’s festival offers two events for the literary-minded, including a workshop hosted by award-winning author Maria S. Picone in which attendees will hear a reading and respond with prompts to spark creative writing.
Music performances, ranging from bossa nova and bluegrass to rock and reggae, will take place at a variety of venues, including libraries and businesses.
The festival’s world dance showcase will take place May 4 at the new Park Circle Community Building to spotlight modern dance along with traditional and folk dance forms from across the globe. This new venue will also host an art fair, two theater presentations and a matinee dance performance featuring local ensembles.
Every year, the North Charleston Arts Festival hosts a diverse range of music and dance performances.
The Colour of Music Festival, a national program founded in Charleston in 2013, will return again to The Eternal Father of the Sea Chapel to honor Black music heritage in all its glory. This year’s festival event will see the premiere of a piece by lauded composer Edmund Thorton Jenkins. Known as the father of Black classical music for the Lowcountry, Jenkins’ composition for violin and piano was arranged by his great-nephew Tufus Zimbabwe, a keyboardist for “Saturday Night Live.”
Standing with tradition, the Arty Block Party takes place 5-8 p.m. May 4 on East Montague Avenue. Artists and art lovers alike flood the street to enjoy live music and booths displaying visual art and handmade goods.
The exhibition encore, held at the Charleston Area Convention Center, serves as the festival’s closing reception from 2-5 p.m. May 5. Festivalgoers can appreciate an array of artwork on display spanning fine art to photography, as well as fiber art demos and live music.
Full details about the five-day festival are available at northcharlestonartsfest.com.
The North Charleston Arts Festival is a multimedia experience that celebrates the love of music and visual arts.
