The world comes to the Queen City as the Charlotte International Arts Festival returns

From the sights, sounds, tastes and stories of Charlotte’s many diverse international communities to experiences that will send you into outer space, the Charlotte International Arts Festival returns this month for a packed third season. 

For 17 days between Sept. 13-29, Blumenthal Arts will team up with artists and performers from over 45 countries and the Carolinas to offer 130 free events, 40 art installations, 70 stage acts and an array of diverse cultural experiences. 

“It’s not just the most populous cities where you can find this stuff, it’s right here in Charlotte,” said Alana Graber, festival and special events producer for Blumenthal Arts, a new position that oversees the annual event. 

New experiences to try

New partnerships this year at CIAF include the Southern Guitar Festival and Competition, produced by Marina Alexandra. She’s a professor and Ukrainian-born classical guitarist who brings the festival and guitar competition to Stage Door Theater on Sept. 28-29. 

While Alexandra plays guitar, Angelina Galashenkova-Reed will play the traditional domra, a long-necked instrument akin to the lute. Onstage duo and tango dancers Matthew Seneca and Sarah Hayes Harkins join them on Sept. 29.

Another first at the fest is the Lowcountry Cultural Festival, a local effort led by QCity Metro to celebrate Gullah Geechee culture. 

It’s coming to Ballantyne’s Backyard Sept. 14. Sample she-crab soup, witness the art of basket weaving, hear live music and learn about Lowcountry history at this one-day event. 

“That’s something that hasn’t been represented before that we’re really excited to have this year,” Graber said. “When you’re hearing the music of a culture, you’re seeing the art and you’re tasting the food, it’s engaging all of your senses making for a really well-rounded experience.”

Having parts of the festival in areas outside of uptown, such as Ballantyne, continues to be an important element. “By moving out (of uptown), we are able to capture a completely different audience than we would have,” Graber said.

That’s also why Cirque Kalabanté will bring West African customs to locations throughout the city, Sept. 27-29. The circus school was created in 2007 by Yamoussa Bangoura, a Guinean artist who dreamed of founding a company focused on circus arts, African dance and West African music.

Graber discovered the troupe on a scouting visit to Scotland’s famed Edinburgh Festival Fringe and knew they had to be a part of Charlotte’s event. 

“You don’t see many Black circus performers,” she said. “So we want to show everyone that they could do anything... That’s the arts.” 

On Sept. 29, their performance, Afrique en Cirque, will share a colorful showing of African culture, music and circus stunts with a Knight Theater audience. 

They will also host free, outdoor African drumming workshops and a build-your-own-drum activity before their shows. 

From Sept. 26-29, CharlOz will celebrate and examine L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” and its legacy on our culture. Produced by UNC Charlotte’s own Oz expert, Dina Schiff Massachi, guest speakers include Gregory Maguire, author of “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” 

Returning favorites, some with a twist

Cultural festivals within the arts festival will continue too. 

That includes El Grito, a celebration of Mexican Independence Day, on Sept. 15, and the 34th Latin American Festival Sept. 21.

Festival of India, now in its 28th year, returns to two locations, Belk Theater and Ballantyne’s Backyard, on Sept. 14-15, with a finale collaboration with the Charlotte Symphony. This free concert will fuse Western and Indian music, with a quartet featuring guest Anjan Shah on the bansuri flute.

“This will be the first time that the three organizations are getting together to do something like this, and we’re really excited for the cultural collaboration,” said Graber.

Other favorites to expect again include the Netherlands’ Birdmen — massive, illuminated, beaked creatures that roam the streets — and Tablao Flamenco. They will transform Stage Door Theatre to a fiery dance club of southern Spain. 

The festival beer garden will also return in uptown. 

Lotty by Moradavaga, a huge, red squid sculpture from artists from Italy and Portugal, also will be back, this year to the Convention Center Plaza. And in various locations across the city, festival-goers can experience Of Earth and Sky, a poetry trail last brought to Charlotte in 2021 that turns locally written poems into public art. 

UK artist Luke Jerram’s Gaia — the massive, three-dimensional, lit-up globe created from NASA imagery that hung over Founders Hall last year — also returns, in conjunction with an out-of-this-world space exhibit, Space Explorers: The Infinite. 

Presented in Blume Studios, a new immersive experience warehouse from Blumenthal Arts in the new Iron District, the experience is inspired by NASA missions from the International Space Station.

Last seen in Charlotte in 2005, the Mystical Arts of Tibet will bring another fascinating experience, as robed Loseling monks create a live sand mandala. Over several days, these Tibetan monks will make an intricate sand painting.

“They will work for eight hours a day to complete it by the closing ceremony,” said Graber. On Sept. 21, the monks will present a stage performance at Knight Theater. 

“I’d love for audiences to come away knowing something new about Charlotte, about their neighbors, about the different cultures that all exist and thrive here,” Graber said. 

“For new immigrants and transfers, I hope that they find the community that they’re seeking,” she added, “and know that they’ll be celebrated here for who they are.”

Charlotte International Arts Festival

When: Sept. 13-29

Where: Various locations around Charlotte, including uptown and Ballantyne

More info: charlotteartsfest.com

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This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "The world comes to the Queen City as the Charlotte International Arts Festival returns."