Each fall, Blumenthal Arts throws open the doors of the city itself. The Charlotte International Arts Festival fills Uptown’s theaters, plazas and sidewalks with artists from around the world, and much of the wonder is completely free.
Since its debut, the festival has brought giant illuminated inflatables drifting over the streets, international dance and circus companies, living statues, pop-up performances and family spectacles that spill out of the Belk and Knight theaters into the open air. Ballantyne and other neighborhoods get their own share of the magic, so the whole county feels included.
It is a deliberately joyful idea: world-class art without the velvet rope. Office workers eat lunch beside street performers, children chase enormous glowing creatures down Trade Street, and the city’s stages host companies that tour the great festivals of Europe and beyond.
For a city that already loves Charlotte SHOUT! in spring, the fall festival doubles the celebration. Happy City News marks the dates every year: when the inflatables rise over Uptown, Charlotte is at its most playful.
