Welcome to the 42nd Annual North Charleston Arts Fest!

A multi-venue, multi-disciplinary arts festival for every resident & visitor of North Charleston

The North Charleston Arts Fest features five days of events highlighting regional and local artists and performers in the areas of Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Literature. Residents and visitors are invited to experience a diverse array of free performances, exhibitions, and activities in a variety of venues, including libraries, businesses, community centers, and parks. The festival schedule offers something for everyone, including concerts, theatre presentations, dance performances, children’s programs, demonstrations, exhibitions, and more.

Schedule

May 2, 2025

Children’s Theatre Performance – The 3 Little Circus Pigs

10:30-11:30am

Dorchester Road Regional Library - 6325 Dorchester Road, North Charleston, SC 29418

Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth invites one and all to step right up to the big top in this interactive adaptation of The Three Little Pigs where the Big Bad Wolf might just turn out to be the hero of the story. Best suited for grades K-5.

Puppet Show – Hobey Ford’s Golden Rod Puppets

3:30-4:30pm

Northwoods Park Community Center - 8348 Greenridge Road, North Charleston, SC 29406

Hobey Ford is internationally renowned in the puppetry field as an award-winning performer and a Kennedy Center Partner in Education teaching artist. He designs and constructs all his Golden Rod Puppets as well as the beautiful sets that surround them in his performances, which incorporate a variety of puppetry styles like Bunraku, rod, marionettes, “Foamies,” and shadow puppetry. Hobey adapts folk tales from various cultures for many of his shows and always adds a special “Golden Rod” twist.

Jazz Concert

6:00-9:00pm

Park Circle Community Building - 4800 Park Circle, North Charleston, SC 29405

Atlanta singer/guitarist Grant Green Jr., the son of Blue Note Recording artist Grant Green, is a legend of Jazz in his own right. His band, The Grant Green Jr. Group, has delighted fans at events like the New Orleans JazzFest, High Sierra Fest, Savannah Jazz Festival, Rio Das Ostras Jazz & Blues, North Sea Jazz Festival, and the Detroit Jazz Festival. His 2022 tribute album, Thank You Mr. Bacharach, features Susan Tedeschi on the lead single What the World Needs Now. The making of the album has been made into a documentary now available on Amazon Prime. Join us for an evening of Jazz classics, featuring Grant’s classic and melodic jazz styling of originals as well as hits from Herbie Hancock, Django Reinhart, Santana, George Benson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Johnny Cash. Chanel’s Gullah Cuisine will be on site serving up some tasty dinner options.

Pop-Up Opera

6:00-8:00pm

COAST Brewing Company

1250 Second Street, North Charleston, SC 29405

A varied selection of craft brews, cocktails, delicious bites, and Nomadic Vocal Drama with Small Opera (SMOP) are a match made in heaven! SMOP seeks to make the timeless art form of opera fun, fresh, and accessible to all with interactive audience games and a variety of beautiful music, both operatic and non. In this presentation, SMOP’s singers will perform an assortment of opera, musical theater, and standard favorites.

World Music Café

7:00-8:00pm

Fox Music House - 4248 Dorchester Road, North Charleston, SC 29405 

World Music Café, now in its 9th year, presents ethnic music performers from all over the world in an intimate, listening room atmosphere. This Arts Fest edition features Free Planet Radio, an Asheville, NC, based duo performing an exciting and innovative blend of world, jazz, and classical music. Consisting of River Guerguerian on an extensive array of global percussion instruments (Middle Eastern frame drums and doumbek, the Indian kanjira, African djembe, and Western drum set) and Chris Rosser exploring melody on guitar, piano, melodica, seventeen-stringed Indian dotar, Turkish çümbüs, and oud, the pair “explore the infinite and seamless relationships between musical cultures through the universal language of sound.” World Music Café creator Peter Kfoury, aka, The Oud Dude, will sit in as a guest for a few tunes.

Hip Hop/Soul/New Age Concert

8:00-9:30pm

Burgundy Lounge at The Starlight Motor Inn

3245 Rivers Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405

Philadelphia-based duo, Küf Knotz & Christine Elise, present a high energy, uplifting live show featuring Küf’s soothing landscape of boom bap inspired sound and story-filled lyrics and Christine’s harp and ethereal vocals. Their unique blend of hip-hop, soul, and classical traditions takes audiences on an era fusing, genre bending journey. And, you can dance to it!

Date: April 30 - May 5, 2025