Charlotte Shout brings music, art to Uptown

CHARLOTTE — The annual Charlotte Shout celebration is set to fill Uptown with art, music, and food from March 29 – April 14. The festival will feature more than 200 installations, performances, and events, with most free to attend.

Several festival favorites are set to return including the popular interactive seesaws at First Ward Park, “Eggs on Parade” at The Green, and “Pianodrome,” the country’s first amphitheater made entirely from upcycled pianos, at Grace A.M.E. Zion Church.

There will also be musical performances by national headliners and dozens of Charlotte- and North Carolina-based artists and bands at First Ward Park, as well as surprise installations and activations in secret alleys and popular public spaces.

“We could not be more excited about this year’s Charlotte Shout,” said Robert Krumbine with Charlotte Center City Partners in a news release. “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.

New things to see this year include:

e/motion — A playful, interactive installation that revisits our childhood seesaw and invites you to dive into the joys and sensations of surging water. As you ride the infinite wave, the glowing liquid acts like a living entity that responds to your ups and downs.

Sonic Runway — A light-art installation that converts audio signals into patterns of light that shoot down a spectacular corridor of arches at the speed of sound.

Optik — An interactive installation and platform where users freely manipulate and elevate their experience with synchronized sound and fun color.

Charlotte Shout also features two festivals within the festival.

The Charlotte StrEATs Festival will be held at Gateway Village on April 14 and feature some of the city’s top culinary vendors, cooking demonstrations, food trucks, and other entertainment. Leading up to the food festival, the StrEATs Uncorked event will celebrate North Carolina wine at Johnson & Wales on April 3, and the StrEATs Tasting Tour will be held at Gateway Village on April 13.

The Charlotte Ideas Festival, curated by The Charlotte Center for the Humanities and Civic Imagination, will take place April 3-5 and feature renowned thinkers and innovators exploring the most important topics of our times. Speakers will include six-time Emmy winner David Pogue on “AI, Robotics, and Life in 2050″ and four-time New York Times bestselling memoirist and interviewer Kelly Corrigan on “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast.”

Event organizers say more than 1.8 million people visited Uptown during Charlotte Shout last year.

For more information on Charlotte Shout events, go to charlotteshout.com.

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