International and Local Arts Take Over Charleston

From May 26 through June 11, two interconnected festivals will fill the city with rich and diverse experiences – the Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto.

The 2023 Spoleto Festival welcomes more than 300 internationally-renowned artists in opera, dance, music and theater in Charleston’s most exquisite venues.

This season’s highlights include The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s seminal play about persecution and power and Tony Award winner Denis O’Hare during a one-man tour-de-force adaptation of Homer’s Iliad. A boundary-breaking Brit will transform the Cistern Yard into a high-fashion, punk-meets-disco extravaganza and Omar star Jamez McCorkle will perform an Elton John-esque fever dream of a romantic song cycle amid phantasmic stagecraft. Experience a heartbreaking, yet hopeful story of the Rwandan genocide and a Grammy-Award-winning opera countertenor that revels in the coexistence of contrasts. See the full schedule at https://spoletousa.org/.

 The official companion festival to Spoleto Festival USA, Piccolo Spoleto, is operated by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs and celebrates local and regional artist performing classical music, jazz, dance, theater, and choral music, cultural events and community celebrations, poetry readings, children’s activities, craft shows and film screenings.

Take an evening stroll to the US Custom House to enjoy a free sunset serenade, catch a daily comedy show at Theatre 99, join a street party on King Street or attend one of the many musical performances around town. See the daily schedule and more at http://www.piccolospoleto.com/