Recent News

Charlotte’s 2024 BOOM festival promises dance, poetry and weird, wonderful art Here’s an excerpt:

Hula hoops, youth poets, psychedelic performance art, and dance troupes representing cultures around the world. These are a few of the sights and sounds that will fill Camp North End this weekend at the seventh annual BOOM festival.

The three-day event, which kicks off Friday, celebrates contemporary and experimental art on the fringes of pop culture. The festival’s founder, Manoj Kesavan, joined…

Queen City Nerve announces 2024 BOOM Festival. Here’s an excerpt:

Queen City Nerve selected 10 artists to recommend checking out April 26-28 at Camp North End during BOOM.

What started as a small arts festival in the heart of Plaza Midwood has in eight years bloomed — or boomed, one might say — into a year-round art initiative that brings art to those who lack access to Charlotte’s larger art scene.

This weekend marks the seventh annual celebration of that initiative…

The City of Charlotte reports: Experience Arts & Culture at BOOM Charlotte. Here’s an excerpt:

The Charlotte Arts & Culture Plan is doing an installation at BOOM Charlotte April 26-28.

The City of Charlotte is also excited to share that this year we are launching our 10-year plan to support arts and culture in Charlotte, Show & Tell: Celebrating Our Community’s New Arts and Culture Plan. The partnership with BOOM will feature several exciting activities including…

QNotes Carolinas shares an interview with Charlotte-based poet LuvLeeh. Here’s an excerpt:

Charlotte-based poet, Luvleeh, speaks with Q Notes Carolinas about her life as she gets ready for her BOOM Charlotte performance April 26-28.

About four decades ago a music teacher and a substance abuse counselor had a lovely baby girl. Today, she’s all grown up and goes by the name Luvleeh, though her parents named her Leandrea Juanita Hill.

Hill adopted a new name, a hybrid of her birth name. Initially, the change came about as a result of her need to create an email account with a sign-on name that hadn’t yet been taken. But it was bigger than that.…

Queen City Nerve says: BOOM Charlotte Arts Festival Returns for Three-Day Run. Here’s an excerpt:

BOOM Charlotte will return to Camp North End this weekend for a three-day festival of free outdoor performances, installations and activities highlighting Charlotte fringe and experimental artists, as well as ticketed indoor art performances.

Launched by Manoj Kesavan in 2016, the festival relocated from its usual Plaza Midwood location to Camp North End in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. This year, BOOM is returning to its pre-COVID three-day run, in comparison to last year’s two days, with hopes of drawing in a larger audience…

QNotes Carolinas says: BOOM Charlotte returns to Camp North End for three-day festival. Here’s an excerpt:

BOOM Charlotte, the eclectic arts festival created by artists to showcase innovative work and emerging artists is back at it again, this year at Camp North End (1824 Statesville Ave.) for a three-day run beginning Friday, April 21 (5pm to 10pm), continuing Saturday, April 22, (12pm to 10pm) and wrapping up Sunday, April 23, 12pm to 8pm

Last year BOOM relocated to Camp North End from the Plaza Midwood neighborhood…

Charlotte Ledger says: BOOM Charlotte has created space for local artists. Here’s an excerpt:

When the Democratic National Convention came to Charlotte in 2012 to nominate President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for re-election, the host committee had no plans to highlight local or regional art. Manoj Kesavan decided to take matters into his own hands.

Kesavan and his informal artist collective designed a showcase of over 80 street performances including spoken word, theater and musical performances that received international…

QCity Metro says BOOM Festival seeks diverse talent for 2023 return in Charlotte. Here’s an excerpt:

BOOM Festival seeks diverse talent for 2023[/caption] BOOM is strongly centric on showcasing artists of color, as evident by previous events. The last festival showcased talent that was mostly made up of Black artists.

BOOM Charlotte will return to its full scale after a two-year hiatus next spring. The festival currently has an open call for local talent to participate in the 2023 experience.

WBTV says ‘A Poet Named Superman,’ is “Charlotte is Creative’s” new best friend! Here’s an excerpt:

Greg Murray is a poet/spoken-word artist and goes by the stage name ‘A Poet Named Superman.’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QC Life) – Today, we’re getting to know a little bit about Greg Murray, Charlotte is Creative’s new best friend! Murray is a poet/spoken-word artist and goes by the stage name ‘A Poet Named Superman.’
He’s set to perform Friday night at the BOOM Charlotte festival.

Charlotte is Creative says BOOM Fringe Festival Claps Back in Real Life. Here’s an excerpt:

On Friday, April 22 at Camp North End, the BOOM Fringe festival returns after a two-year hiatus brought on by COVID-19.

That’s not to say the folks at Que-OS, the local nonprofit that produces BOOM, have been idle. Among other things, they have executed neighborhood arts events, helped create a comic book

The Queen City Nerve provides A Quick Guide to BOOM Charlotte’s In-Person Return. Here’s an excerpt:

After two years of online showcases and limited capacity performances, BOOM Charlotte will return on April 22 for two days of fringe arts, breaking away from its original Plaza Midwood locale to arrive at Camp North End in 2022.

The annual BOOM Charlotte festival features art of all types — with a focus on the unusual or avant-garde — including theatre and film, music and dance, spoken-word and showcases that blend genres or defy them altogether.

The Charlotte Observer reports BOOM Charlotte art festival adds to diverse lineup Here’s an excerpt:

The fifth annual BOOM Charlotte returns this week after a two-year hiatus because of COVID. And it has an expanded lineup of diverse performers and artists at a new location.

“Even though we set off to do a smaller festival, it has ballooned into one with 60-plus shows,” festival co-founder and executive director Manoj Kesavan told The Charlotte Observer Tuesday. “It’s still one of the largest local arts gathering in Charlotte.”