Spoleto Festival Charleston

History Hotel Event & Schedule

The Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina is a famed arts festival that spans 17 glorious days each year. When is the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.? The festival begins each spring/early summer in late-May to early-June. Taking its name from the ancient city of Spoleto, Italy in the foothills of the Apennines in the Perugia province of Umbria, the festival is dedicated to promoting the performing arts of theater, classical music, jazz music and dance. Known around the world, the Spoleto Festival draws between 70,000 and 80,000 people each year to Charleston, South Carolina to celebrate the performing arts in their many glorious forms.

Spoleto Festival History. The history of the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina dates back to its founding by Italian Gian Carlo Menotti and American Christopher Keene as a sister festival to the Festival dei Due Mondi, which is translated into English as the "Festival of Two Worlds," and is held in Spoleto, Italy. The American version of the festival simply borrows the name of the city where the festival takes place that served as its inspiration.  [Top]

Spoleto Festival Events. Charleston, South Carolina was selected to be the site for the Spoleto Festival because of its many performing arts venues. Each year at the Spoleto Festival, Charleston theaters and performance spaces host more than 100 performing arts events from artists from around the world-from opera, classical music, dance, jazz to plays from Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Leading artists who have performed at the Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina include cellist Yo-Yo Ma, opera soprano Renée Fleming, plus Joshua Bell, Emanuel Ax and Joanna Simon.

Spoleto Festival Schedule of Events. To learn more about the dazzling schedule of performing arts events at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, visit www.spoletousa.org.  [Top]