Charlotte SHOUT! is a major event that will be the highlight of Charlotte’s year-long CLT250 celebration, marking the city’s 250th birthday. Charlotte SHOUT! will take place April 29th to May 11th, 2019, and will feature 75+ events, including music, art, food and ideas.
Many of the events are FREE. You can see all of the events on the Charlotte SHOUT! calendar, where you can filter by venue, type of event, and ticketed/non-ticketed.
Here on Charlotte on the Cheap we’re listing the FREE and very low-priced events, but you should definitely check out all of the events, because the ticketed events are going to be great, including:
- Opera Carolina: Eugene Onegin
- Anthony Hamilton
- L’homme Cirque: David Dimitir’s One Man Circus
- Umphrey’s McGee
- What Fresh Hell
- Con Brio
- The New Respects
- The Big Sing Mixtape
- The New Respects
- More
Here’s a description of the FREE events. You can scroll to the bottom of this page to see a day-by-day list of the free Charlotte SHOUT! events, which will make it easier to plan your days and nights.
Free events at Charlotte Jazz Festival 2019
Charlotte Jazz Festival is a big part of Charlotte SHOUT! and is a great way to get the celebration started.
Lunch Hour Jazz
Monday, April 29th, through Friday, May 3rd
11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Jazz Pavilion at Levine Center for the Arts
Late Night Jams
Friday, May 3rd, and Saturday, May 4th
11 p.m.
Knight Underground, underneath the Knight Theater
Join us for Late Night Jams in the Knight Underground, a speakeasy-themed hideaway located below the Knight Theater! Musicians performing as part of the Charlotte Jazz Festival keep the jazz going late into the night. These fan-favorite jam sessions are high-energy. totally improvised and the perfect nightcap. You never know who might show up…
Jazz at the Pavilion
Friday, May 3rd, at 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 4th, 1:30 p.m.
Jazz Pavilion at Levine Center for the Arts
Loonis McGlohon Young Jazz Artist Competition
Saturday, May 4th
2 p.m.
The Jazz Garden Tent at Romare Bearden Park
Tall Tales on the High Seas: free theatre, dance and circus performance
Experience a free performance of Australia’s Strange Fruit in a circus tent at First Ward Park, 301 E. 7th Street.
The performances take place from Thursday, May 9th, 2019, to Saturday, May 11th:
- May 9: 6 p.m.
- May 10: 2:30 p.m.
- May 10: 6 p.m.:
- May 11: 2:30 p.m.
- May 11: 6 p.m.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, Australia’s Strange Fruit performs atop fourteen foot flexible poles, bending and swaying to impossible angles while combining elements of theatre, dance, and circus.
With a repertoire that has a universal appeal and is accessible to all cultures and ages, Australia’s Strange Fruit has been presented in 50 countries at over 450 international festivals.
Art Installations at Charlotte SHOUT!
Impulse
Monday, April 29th, to Sunday, May 11th
All Hours
Levine Center for the Arts, 550 South Tryon Street
An interactive work comprising a series of 30 seesaws with light and sound that change when in motion. By playing on the seesaws you create a dynamic light and sound wave.
Intrude
Monday, April 29th, to Sunday, May 11th
All Hours
The Green, 435 South Tryon Street
Very large white rabbits, illuminated in stark white light.
Entre Les Rangs
Thursday, May 9th, to Saturday, May 11th
All hours
First Ward Park, 301 East 7th Street
Thousands of flexible stems that bend in the wind, with white reflectors scattering light from projectors. These stylized stalks of wheat dance and shimmer to a musical score.
Prismatica
Thursday, May 9th, to Saturday, May 11th
All hours
5th Street at 299 N. Tryon Street
Prismatica is an installation including 50 pivoting prisms more than two meters tall. They transform the street into a giant kaleidoscope.
Constellation: Special Paired Performance with Opera Carolina
Friday, May 10th, 2019
8 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
Trade & Tryon
Enjoy a beautiful light and music show at Convergence Plaza (Trade and Tryon.) Constellation is a star-shaped canopy of 5,400 LED modules. With a performance by Opera Carolina.
More free events at Charlotte SHOUT!
Gospel Shout!
Tuesday, May 7th, 2019
7:30 p.m.
United House of Prayer for All People
2321 Beatties Ford Road
Free
Annual concert by the trombone shout bands and gospel choirs of United House of Prayer for All People. This high-energy concert is not to be missed! Come early, around 6 p.m., for a soul food dinner (around $10) from the church’s kitchen.
Blue Lapis Light
Friday, May 10th, 9 p.m.
Saturday, May 11th, 9 p.m.
Government Center, 600 E. 4th Street
Dancers will bravely perform 15 stories high on the side of the Charlotte Government Center in a 30-minute show created just for Charlotte SHOUT!
Choir! Choir! Choir
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
7:30 p.m.
McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square, 345 N. College Street
Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman (AKA “DaBu”) started Choir! Choir! Choir! as a weekly drop-in singing event in February 2011. Equal parts singing, comedy, and community-building, the night unfolds like a dream: you get a lyric sheet at the door, DaBu teach you the vocal arrangement, and a video is recorded.
The Soap Bubble Circus
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
5 p.m.
First Ward Park, 301 East 7th Street
Interact with giant bubbles!
Orrman’s Cheese Shop Giveaway
Saturday, May 11th, 2019
2 p.m.
First Ward Park, 301 E. 7th Street
Free
Orrman’s Cheese Shop will be giving away 50 cheese plates in First Ward Park starting at 2 p.m.
Professor Whizzpop
Thursday, May 9th, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, May 10th, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 11th, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
First Ward Park
Join Professor Whizzpop throughout the festival for magical moments and mystical mayhem.
Big Fat Indian Wedding
Saturday, May 11th, 2019
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
4th and Tryon
Free
India Association of Charlotte is presenting a live wedding ceremony on center stage, with Indian music and dance performances and a Bollywood dance workshop, fashion shows, Henna tattoos and more.
- 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.: Welcome, dances, fashion show
- 2:05 p.m.: Bollywood dance workshop for Baarat
- 2:30 p.m.: Baarat–Groom’s procession
- 3 p.m.: Bride’s entry
- 3:15 p.m.: to 3:35 p.m.: Wedding Ceremony
- 3:35 p.m. to 4 pm.: Bidaai, DJ and dance
Susie Films
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
6 p.m.
Stage Door Theater, 155 N. College Street
Silent Disco
Thursday, May 9th, 9 p.m.
Friday, May 10th, 9 p.m.
Saturday, May 11th, 9 p.m.
Romare Bearden Park (Jazz Tent), 300 South Church Street
Put on a special pair of noise-canceling headphones and tune into one or multiple channels of sound and dance!
Lunch Hour Sound: Bakalao All-Stars
Monday, May 6th, 2019
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Levine Avenue Stage, 550 S. Tryon Street
Lunch Hour Sound: Velvet Caravan
Tuesday, May 7th, 2019
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Levine Avenue Stage, 550 S. Tryon Street
Lunch Hour Sound: Vadim Kolpakov
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Levine Avenue Stage, 550 S. Tryon Street
Lunch Hour Sound: Chocala
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Levine Avenue Stage, 550 S. Tryon Street
Chocala is a sonic amalgamation of Latin rhythms, rock and jazz, with a touch of tropical psychedelia.
Lunch Hour Sound: DrumSTRONG
Friday, May 10th, 2019
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Levine Avenue Stage, 550 S. Tryon Street
DrumSTRONG events raise awareness and funds in support of cancer survivorship, education, prevention and research, through uplifting, facilitated, interactive rhythm experiences.
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