Spoleto Festival USA
Everything cultured travelers desire

When I was a college student a friend of mine put up posters around campus announcing an upcoming party at his house. He named the party “The Great Chockahoola Swamp Massacree,” clearly implying that his party would be one memorable, pull-out-the-stops blast.

I remember little from that night except that the party was aptly named. Years later, a lot of us still talk about it.

Our featured festival this month may well be Chockahoola 2: The annual spring Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, is about as good as any arts festival in the U.S. gets. Now entering its 17th year as the American companion to a namesake festival in Italy, Spoleto features17 days of dance, theater, musical theater, chamber music, symphonic music, jazz, choirs and the visual arts. Venues range from the outdoor gardens and an island to Charleston’s historic churches and theaters.

This year’s festival will run from May 22 through June 8. Among the featured performers will be the National Ballet of Canada, the Westminster Choir, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Brazilian jazz artist Monica Salmaso, and flamenco dancing sensations Maria Pagés and Farruquito

Spoleto is a cultured traveler’s delight. Besides its musical and theatrical offerings, its setting, the Southern port city of Charleston, is one of the most romantic in America. Charleston has not only preserved its significant collection of antebellum houses and commercial buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, it has integrated them into daily life, avoiding the overly gentrified recycling that often turns revived historical areas into cutesy boutique collections.

Spoleto’s beautifully rendered web site at www.spoletousa.org/ does a fine job of describing this year’s offerings as well as the festival’s rich history. There’s also helpful links to restaurant, accommodations and local attractions.

By the way, there’s a lagniappe: The Spoleto Festival and Charleston co-sponsor the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, a parallel city-wide 17-day event offering free pops, blues and jazz concerts, dance, film and theater performances designed to people of all social and economic circumstances, and with a special fondness for children. Its web site can be accessed at www.piccolospoleto.com/

By Patrick Totty