Arts festival welcomes global cultures to Charlotte

BLUMENTHAL PERFORMING ARTS

Contortionists with Cirque Kalabanté-Afrique En Cirque, which is inspired by life in Guinea. The troupe is among the performers scheduled for the Charlotte International Arts Festival Sept. 13-29.

The lineup for next month’s Charlotte International Arts Festival is rounding into shape.

The Blumenthal Arts showcase, which runs Sept. 13–29, bridges the city’s communities together with global artists for live performances, art installations, and cultural exhibits. More than 200 events are scheduled, many of them free and open to the public, along with ticketed events that start at $5.  

“As we enter our third year hosting CIAF, we are proud of the festival’s growth, not only in attendance, but also in the number of international artists and organizations with whom we’re partnering in Charlotte,” Blumenthal Arts vice president of marketing Danny Knaub said in a statement. “Last year, we embraced the tagline ‘A Blumenthal Arts Original,’ and we continue to present a festival unlike anything Charlotte has seen. We’re expanding our footprint this year, transforming the Iron District with pop-up art installations, the return of Luke Jerram’s ‘Gaia,’ a giant inflatable of the earth, created from NASA imagery, and the regional premiere of ‘Space Explorers: The Infinite,’ a powerful, immersive experience inspired by NASA missions aboard the International Space Station, which will be the first tenant in Blume Studios, a part of the Iron District, former home to Charlotte Pipe and Foundry.”  

Several favorites will return, such as the colossal wandering Birdmen; the communal Festival Biergarten that features locally brewed craft beer.  

International highlights include Mystical Arts of Tibet, a showcase of mandala sand painting and sacred music and chants believed to generate healing around the globe; towering rainbow bubbles with a soundscape as part of Evanescent by Atelier Sisu by local artist Ryan Persaud; and Cirque Kalabanté – Afrique En Cirque, which is inspired by daily life in Guinea.  

CIAF is expanding its partnerships with established community events in 2024, which the showcase did for the first time last year by collaborating with the Festival of India and the Latin American Festival.

“Joining the 28th annual Festival of India and 34th annual Latin American Festival as part of CIAF are other Charlotte festival staples like Le Dîner en Blanc, Festival in the Park, and the UNC Charlotte International Festival, to name a few, as well as programs new to the area, such as Lowcountry Cultural Festival and Southern Guitar Festival and Competition,” Knaub said. “Most programs are free, including live music Uptown at Levine Avenue of the Arts and at Ballantyne’s Backyard, and we’ll again be serving up local craft beer at our Biergarten.”

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