Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you know that April 1 is the start of Charlotte SHOUT! Delayed by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, SHOUT! will offer 17 straight days of arts, food, ideas and music taking over the streets of Uptown Charlotte.

“Charlotte SHOUT! is a celebration of our city’s creativity, diversity, and resilience. It will be a time to unify and restore the heartbeat of our vibrant city,” said Robert Krumbine, Chief Creative Officer & Senior Vice President of Events at Charlotte Center City Partners (CCCP), organizers of Charlotte SHOUT!

A mixture of free and ticketed events, SHOUT! will feature national and international events and installations, punctuated by experiences provided by scores of local artists, musicians, thought leaders and creatives. For the full scope of SHOUT!, we recommend you consult their events calendar. But, here are some events we’re most excited to experience.

Charlotte Is Creative partnered with CCCP to assist with artist consultation, messaging and content development

Charlotte SHOUT! will offer several events that will be occurring the duration (or most of the duration) of the festival. Here are five events you can visit multiple times while enjoying SHOUT! From food and music, to public art and podcasts there is something for everyone.

ONE: Craig Walsh Monuments
April 1-17 from 8 to 11 p.m.
Old Settlers’ Cemetery

Check out this nightly outdoor illumination exhibit where Australian-based artist, Craig Walsh, projects faces onto trees in Old Settlers’ Cemetery creating public art out of nature. This unique approach to public art has been shown across the United States and was planned to visit in 2021. Finally, it’s on its way to Charlotte. MORE HERE.

TWO: Cafe 400
April 1-16, Various afternoon and evening hours
400 S. Tryon Street

Inspired by European cafes, Cafe 400 is a one-stop shop for snacks and live music from local artists. The cafe will be open April 1-16 during the afternoon and evening hours for your dining and listening pleasure. MORE HERE.

THREE: StreEATeries
Every Day
Installed at Parking lanes along the west side of Tryon Street, from 4th Street to 5th Street

Created by members of Charlotte’s talented architecture and design community, StrEATeries provides on-street dining areas for nearby restaurants. So after a full day of checking out the events, take a respite at one of the cafes. MORE HERE.

FOUR: Impulse (Pictured above.)
Every day from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Levine Avenue of the Arts

Impulse is an interactive activation of 15 seesaws that give off light and sound when in use. The public can create endless compositions during the 17 days of SHOUT! MORE HERE.

FIVE: Queen City Podcast Network
Recording at various times every day
Discovery Place

Queen City Podcast Network will be hosting two to three hours of live and pre-recorded digital content every day of Charlotte SHOUT! MORE HERE.

Charlotte SHOUT! is already well-known for its large, immersive installations that invite you to surround yourself and interact with both the art … and the artists as they create. Here are four we can’t wait to see.

ONE: Easter Eggs on Parade
Every Day
Installed at Romare Bearden Park

The giant bunnies won’t be back for SHOUT! this year, but they’re apparently sending a big surprise to Romare Bearden Park — 12 giant Easter eggs. Each one has been designed by a different local artist. When the call was sent out for submissions, the response was impressive and diverse. The designs on these eggs are said to run the gamut. These eggs are sure to be the runaway hit of SHOUT! … and one of the hottest selfie spots. MORE HERE.

TWO: Snails
Every Day
Installed at Romare Bearden Park

Easter Eggs on Parade won’t be the only unusual objects taking over Romare Bearden Park during Charlotte SHOUT! They’ll be joined by 100 small, hand-painted eggs hidden throughout the park by Charlotte artist Elle Walsh and 300 snail shells ranging in size from 6- to 12 inches that light up at dusk. Designed by local creative, Meredith Connelly, the snails were 3-D printed by Making Things CLT using filament from recycled water bottles. MORE HERE.

THREE: Spray Jam – Live Painting
April 8-10 & 15-17
11 a.m. – 6 p.m. ⁣
Victoria Yards

It’s one thing to see amazing art … it’s another to see artists at work creating the amazing art. Charlotte SHOUT! will provide many opportunities to watch artists create and gain insights into their process. One place is the ArtPop Street Gallery Lounge, where live painting from local artists is planned every weekend. Another is Spray Jam at Victoria Yards on N. College Street. Over the course of the second and third weekends of SHOUT!, 12 artists will create spray-painted masterpieces while you watch. MORE HERE.

FOUR: The Queen’s Greens Putt-Putt Course
Sunday-Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday Noon to 10 p.m.
Wells Fargo Plaza

Nine local artists, organized by Upcycle Arts and Charlotte Is Creative (publishers of The Biscuit), have created putt-putt golf obstacles out of recycled materials. And, each obstacle is designed to portray iconic landmarks and public art in Charlotte.⁣ A round of putt-putt will cost $3 per person. All proceeds will go toward a local charity. ⁣MORE HERE.

Over the course of 17 days, Charlotte SHOUT! will entertain and thrill us with arts, food and music, but it will also challenge us to widen our perspective, think big and discover new ideas shared by thought leaders from Charlotte and across the country.

Of SHOUT! Ideas events, Mark Peres, executive director and founder of The Charlotte Center said: “Ideas create the world. The Charlotte Center Festival of Ideas invites participants to create a better city for all.”

Here are three events that will help you dive deeply into just what Peres describes:

The Forum featuring Eric Liu
April 8 at 7 p.m.
Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
Free with registration.

As an author, TED speaker, CEO of Citizen University and self-declared civic evangelist, Liu will deliver “A Clarion Call to Citizenship” that aims to bring us back to the essence of who we are: humans who are hard-wired for connection, happiest when we are part of a group with a common purpose.

The Lecture featuring Sam Chaltain
April 9 at 4:00 p.m.
Wells Fargo Auditorium at Knight Theater
Free with registration.

Educator, designer and author Sam Chaltain will speak on “The Future of Learning,” providing a framework for remaking our schools, workspaces and social structures in ways that align with the design principles of the natural world. The format will invite questions from the audience and engagement of ideas.

In the Light and Under the Skin
April 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art 
Free with registration.

This immersive art exhibit by artist/curator Brett Phares will explore the concepts of inherited trauma and the transformative power of light. Meditation instructor Angela Gala will facilitate a lively conversation alongside Charlotte therapist Justin Perry and physicist Joel Bonasera.

If you’ve been searching for your new favorite local band or solo musician, chances are you’ll find them at SHOUT! Plenty of national acts are headed to Charlotte during the festival, but the team behind Music Everywhere has arranged for an incredible array of local talent to take the stage … er, stages.

“More than 60 Charlotte musical artists and bands across all genres will perform at SHOUT!, at four Uptown locations,” said Rick Thurmond of Music Everywhere. “Over two weeks, Charlotte SHOUT! will tell the story of Charlotte music. This is an unprecedented opportunity for audiences to sample and discover the local music scene.”

Music Showcase Stage
April 1-3 and 10 – Various times throughout the Day
Victoria Yards

Victoria Yards will be alive with music all 17 days of the festival, but the biggest of all is the Music Showcase Stage presented by Music Everywhere and AvidXchange.  More than 20 local musicians are taking part in this portion of SHOUT! A particular highlight is a special production of “Sam on Sunday” to close out the first weekend of SHOUT! This ongoing series was established as a weekly livestream by Sam Taloe of Time Sawyer during COVID-19 and has grown into one of the city’s most beloved music events since. MORE HERE.

Inaugural Queen City Jam Clash
April 9 from 4 to 9 p.m.⁣
Gateway Village Promenade
⁣
“Which decade produced the greatest R&B and hip-hop music? It’s the question that has challenged generations. Now, local event organizer, Applesauce Group, is pitting local bands against one another the second Saturday of Charlotte SHOUT! to answer that very mystery.

Of the event, Applesauce’s Winston Robinson said, “Four incredibly talented bands will build a set of songs representing a decade of R&B and hip-hop music – the ‘80s, ‘90s, early 2000s and 2010s. Each band will have a 25-minute performance time to convince a panel of judges and a live audience just how jamming their era of music is.⁣ The winning band will receive a trophy, cash prize and the esteemed title: Queen City Jam Clash Champion!”⁣ MORE HERE.

You are going to get hungry riding all the seesaws and playing all that mini-golf over at Queens Greens, but have no fear, Charlotte SHOUT! has you covered in the food department and will definitely put a smile on your face and keep your belly full while you are taking in all that public art and music.

Charlotte StrEATs Festival
April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m.
April 16 from Noon to 6 p.m.
Limited tickets for restaurant tasting portion of the event.
Gateway Village

This two-day culinary delight features chefs from some of the most iconic local restaurants. April 15 kicks off with a family-friendly event featuring cooking demonstrations, dessert and food trucks. On April 16, get your tickets for the restaurant tasting portion, or hang out for free demos and live music. Tickets are limited so get yours quickly. MORE HERE.

This email was sponsored by Charlotte SHOUT!