Charlotte’s biggest festival is off for 2021
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We’ll have to wait another year for the return of Charlotte Shout.
Blumenthal Performing Arts and Charlotte Center City Partners announced today their decision to postpone the popular arts and culture festival to 2022.
Why it matters: Bringing Charlotte Shout back after a two-year hiatus was supposed to be a signal of Uptown’s and Charlotte’s comeback following a tumultuous year-plus of the pandemic. Now, its postponement is a signal that the pandemic lives on.
- When I spoke to Blumenthal president Tom Gabbard about the festival’s return in April this year, he told me the festival would be more than a celebration — it’d be about healing as a community.
“We had great plans for Charlotte SHOUT! 2021 that are just going to have to wait a little longer,” Gabbard says in a statement on Monday. “Charlotte is ready for a big regional festival that melds together local and international artists, thought leaders and loads of free activities to bring our community together. Count on us to be back when circumstances are right to safely host a great arts festival and community celebration.”
What to expect: When Charlotte Shout does return, expect hundreds of events from concerts featuring local musicians to speaker series with internationally known thought leaders to cooking demonstrations. Most of the events will be free and open to the public.
Background: The festival took a decade-long hiatus from 2009 to 2019, but after a strong return in 2019, Charlotte Shout was expected to be bigger than ever in 2021. TBD on how the festival will take shape come 2022.