Piccolo Spoleto starts this week!

Charleston’s annual celebratory arts infusion is about to begin!

The 2018 Piccolo Spoleto Festival opens on May 25 and runs through June 10, 2018. The festival program is available for digital download with online advance ticketing on www.piccolospoleto.com. Walk-up box office operations are underway at the Charleston Gaillard Center on 95 Calhoun Street.

Annually presenting more than 500 performing, literary, and visual arts events, the 17-day Piccolo Spoleto Festival transforms Charleston into a celebration of the cultural vitality and diversity of the South Carolina Lowcountry. With a focus on accessibility and community participation in the arts, Piccolo Spoleto is the official outreach arm of Spoleto Festival USA.

Commenting on Piccolo Spoleto, Mayor John J. Tecklenburg noted, “Piccolo Spoleto remains a labor of love that relies on the talents and dedicated hard work of artists and arts enthusiasts throughout our community. That’s why, decades later, Piccolo Spoleto continues to offer us all treasured moments of inspiration, reflection and beauty.”

Regarding this year’s Piccolo Spoleto line-up, the City’s Director of Cultural Affairs, Scott Watson, remarked, “For the 40th installment of Piccolo Spoleto, we are delighted that festival traditions, like Sunset Serenade with the CSO at the US Custom House and the Sundown Poetry Series at the Dock Street Theatre Courtyard, will complement new curatorial directions and new artistic voices.” Watson continued, “The founding spirit of Piccolo Spoleto remains our muse, and we look forward to sharing these diverse cultural programs and community events with all of Charleston as well as those who year after year visit the Lowcountry for these singular Festival experiences.”

Among the many highlights of this year’s line-up, festival-goers can look forward to the numerous admission-free festival traditions that occur each year including:

• Friday, May 25, 8 p.m. - Sunset Serenade at the US Custom House, the annual Piccolo Spoleto curtain raiser with a lively evening of music from the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Ken Lam and Principal Pops Conductor Yuriy Bekker

• Saturday, May 26, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Family Day at Marion Square, a perfect opportunity for younger Piccolo fans to get in on the act with hands-on activities and family-friendly performances, punctuated by the arrival of the Feed & Seed Marching Abominable.

• Saturday, June 9, 5 p.m. - Piccolo Spoleto Finale in Hampton Park, with a highly-danceable musical program featuring many of Charleston’s finest talents, with styles ranging from hip-hop to Americana to classic soul and R&B.

Piccolo is thrilled to collaborate with local theatres that produce and curate a variety of revivals and premieres, including partnerships with Footlight Players, which is producing and hosting musicals, dramas, dance and comedies; Threshold Repertory Company, whose intimate space is perfect for imaginative work by local theatre makers; PURE Theatre, which will stage topical and timely dramas while hosting visiting productions; The annual Stelle di Domani series at the College of Charleston featuring student work with support from alumni and faculty artists; and Piccolo Fringe at Theatre 99, including perennial audience favorites like “The Complete History of Charleston for Morons” and “One Man Star Wars.”

Visual arts and artisan crafts at the festival showcase a range of local talent across diverse media:

• City Gallery hosts the “A Dialogue in Black & White,” curated by Torreah “Cookie” Washington, assembling work by 66 invited artists addressing social topics;

• Exhibitions at partner institutions including the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art, Redux Contemporary Art Center, Saul Alexander Gallery/Charleston County Public Library, Cone 10 Studios;

• The signature Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition at Marion Square, which brings together dozens of local and regional artists exhibiting and selling their work throughout the Festival; and

• The Piccolo Spoleto Craft Exhibition at Wragg Square, this year on view for the four days of the opening holiday weekend, running May 25 to 28, with 40 participating craft artists.

Additional information, including the full program of ticketed and free admission festival events, may be viewed online at piccolospoleto.com. To access details on Charleston’s Spoleto USA Festival, now in its 42nd season, visit www.spoletousa.org.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

Breaking News Alerts

To sign up for breaking news email alerts, Click on the email address below and put "email alerts" in the subject line: sdetar@thedanielislandnews.com

Comment Here