Join the Spoleto Festival USA in 2026 for an eclectic array of performances that span comedy, music, dance, and more. Beginning with Alton Brown's comedic flair on April 21st, the festival unfolds in a series of vibrant events across stunning venues. Highlights include Ali Wong's stand-up, the Opening Gala, and captivating performances from artists like Renée Fleming and Mali Obomsawin. Set against the backdrop of Charleston's historic charm, this festival promises an unforgettable celebration of art and culture. Secure your tickets now for a journey through creativity, expression, and innovation.

Dive into Creativity: The Spoleto Festival USA 2026

Megan Moore

Patrick Dupré Quigley

Maya Mor Mitrani

Aya Hamada

Leroy Yoshuro Davis

Amanda Quist

Libby McDonnell

Yaron Lifschitz

Matthew Marshall

Spoleto Festival USA Chorus

Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra

Spoleto Festival USA

This cornerstone Festival series promises a captivating journey through the world of classical music in one of its most intimate and accessible forms. Curated by Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director of Chamber Music Paul Wiancko, the series offers 11 unique programs each performed three times at the Dock Street Theatre. Don’t miss this chance to be moved and inspired by the beauty of chamber music!

Bank of America Chamber Music

Dock Street Theatre

Spoleto Festival USA presents Opera Queensland’s production of Dido and Aeneas in association with Circa.

Heart-stopping acrobatics and Henry Purcell’s masterful score for Dido and Aeneas—rich, haunting, and unforgettable—soar to new heights in a visionary collaboration with the internationally acclaimed physical theater ensemble Circa. This is opera transformed: soaring voices, awe-inspiring physical artistry, and striking design collide in a riot of color, motion, and sound.

Dido and Aeneas

College of Charleston

Two women. Two crowns. One story. The US premiere of Scottish Ballet’s newest creation, Mary, Queen of Scots, is a sweeping dance-theater work exploring power, identity, and the reverberations of the Reformation amid Europe’s dynastic conflicts—England rise toward global supremacy. As Elizabeth I nears death, she is haunted by memories—real and imagined—of her cousin, Mary, the Queen of Scotland. Two queens who never met, locked in a fatal dance of sex, jealousy, political intrigue, and religious warfare. 

This major new production from Scottish Ballet’s choreographer-in-residence Sophie Laplane and co-creator James Bonas draws on the complex, combustible relationship between Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England — two women whose rivalry defined an era. Laplane’s bold choreography blends classical technique with contemporary edge, reshaping their story with powerful originality. 

Soutra Gilmour’s striking, contemporary set is complemented by gritty and glamorous costumes that capture the grandeur of the Tudor era, with nods to haute couture and subversive street style. Guest Artist Charlotta Öfverholm, as the older Elizabeth, brings her rich storytelling expertise to the company’s acclaimed ensemble. 

A longtime Festival favorite since its American debut at Spoleto in 1986, Scottish Ballet returns with this bold new work blending history, movement, and music in a vivid reflection on ambition and legacy. Celebrated for its contemporary interpretations and groundbreaking collaborations, this is an iconic story unconventionally told: where Renaissance meets punk, where classical ballet meets visceral theatre, and where history becomes urgent, immediate, and unmissable.

Scottish Ballet: Mary, Queen of Scots

Gaillard Center

The world premiere of George + George brings Festival favorites Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson back to Charleston for their third Spoleto collaboration. A comedic romp through the American Revolution, this inventive new work unfolds as a lively staged reading.  

Set at Valley Forge in 1778, George Washington rallies his ragtag troops by staging a British play about the fight for the Roman Republic, Addison’s Cato. There’s just one small problem: the play is forbidden! In fact, all theatre has been banned by the colonies. But seeing it as necessary to boost morale, George Washington commandeers his own troops to put on a show. They hold auditions. One by one the soldiers come in and vie for the juicy parts; and even though he’s not a very good actor, his men talk George into taking on the title role of Cato. After all, he’s fighting a tyrant in real life, certainly he can pretend to fight off the tyranny of Julius Caesar!

Meanwhile, there’s still a war to fight so these rehearsals are a bit of a challenge. Then, a bombshell. Someone (could it be Benedict Arnold?!) has blabbed to King George III that the rebels are performing Cato – only HIS favorite play – only the play in which he appeared as a 12 year old back in London! So KG3 decides he’s going to come incognito to catch the performance.  He also wants to meet this other George – to see what he’s made of – maybe they can sit down and talk things out – put all this nasty war business to bed.   

With sharp humor and theatrical flair, George + George playfully reimagines the founding era and the enduring ideals of democracy.

Join co-creators Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson for a talkback immediately following each performance of George + George.

George + George

Emmett Robinson Theatre at College of Charleston

Deep within the underworld, two skeleton friends, a Dodo and a boy, tirelessly dig for fresh bones. Their ancient skeletal forms are deteriorating and without them they will disappear completely. One day something peculiar happens: The Dodo miraculously sprouts feathers!  A wave of transformation begins, shattering the established order of the dead.  

As the Dodo continues to grow flesh, fear and chaos erupt. The two friends must flee, fighting to stay together as they are drawn into the heart of an epic battle between life and death. With dazzling puppetry, original music, and jaw-dropping visuals, Dead as a Dodo is a mesmerizing musical odyssey— sparking a darkly funny, life-affirming tale of friendship, transformation, and survival.

Dead as a Dodo

Festival Hall Charleston

Charleston native and Grammy-winning drummer-composer Quentin E. Baxter joins Brazilian guitar virtuoso Chico Pinheiro in a celebration of Moacir Santos—the visionary Brazilian composer whose album Ouro Negro (Black Gold) reshaped the sound of jazz across the Americas. Baxter, a founding member of Ranky Tanky and a steward of the Gullah musical tradition, and Pinheiro, who was born and raised in São Paulo, infuse their performances with personal histories and improvisational flair. Together with their ensemble, they reinterpret Santos’ music in a transcendent evening of rhythm, melody, and cross-cultural dialogue. This rare collaboration is a vibrant celebration of innovation, heritage, and artistry—not to be missed.

Black Gold: Quentin E. Baxter Celebrates Moacir Santos featuring Chico Pinheiro

Charleston Music Hall

In 2005, the New Yorker called the Mountain Goats leader John Darnielle “America’s best non-hip-hop lyricist.” During the last 20 years, Darnielle has repeatedly confirmed that sobriquet, releasing a dauntless string of albums that have championed outcasts in songs so rich they feel like short stories and film scripts. In the early ’90s, Darnielle launched the Mountain Goats by recording to cassette on a boombox, but the band has since expanded into the lush, imaginative folk-rock ensemble he brings to Spoleto. William Tyler and Yasmin Williams, two of the country’s most acclaimed guitarists, open in a new duo.

Mountain Goats with William Tyler and Yasmin Williams

Celebrate the richness of American music with the Festival Orchestra, under the dynamic direction of Music Director Timothy Myers, in the stunning, historic St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church. This program brings to life the charm, lyricism, and storytelling that define America’s musical heritage. Featuring Aaron Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring Suite and its powerful setting of the Shaker tune “Simple Gifts,” the program also includes Samuel Barber’s luscious Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and Jessie Montgomery’s poignant Banner.

Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra: Appalachian Spring and American Classics

St. Matthew's Lutheran Church

Step into the world of Duke Ellington, one of the defining figures of American music, as experienced through the vision of Jason Moran, one of jazz’s most celebrated pianists, composers, and cultural curators. A Harlem-based visual artist as well, Moran blends inventive piano interpretations with bench-side storytelling and a striking video presentation of Gordon Parks’ iconic images of Ellington and Harlem. Moran transforms the concert into an experience that is immersive, bold, playful, and unforgettable. With music, stories, and imagery, this is more than a concert—it’s a declaration of independence for 2026.

Jason Moran: Ellington in Focus

Like R.E.M., the Allman Brothers Band, or OutKast, the Indigo Girls are one of many boundary-breaking acts to emerge from Georgia and help rewrite the rules of popular music. Starting in the late ’80s, they began issuing a string of folk-rock masterpieces where the harmonies suggested family ties and the songs offered anthems of enduring hope. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers helped kick open the door for queer women in music, a door that they continue to hold with albums of unabashed attitude and concerts that feel as intimate and charged as a Sunday service in a country church. Their Spoleto debut is one of the Indigo Girls’ very few shows this year.

Indigo Girls

Grammy-winning percussionist Pedrito Martinez returns for a third appearance at Spoleto, where he’s thrilled audiences with his electrifying rhythms, powerful vocals, and infectious energy. The greatest living Afro-Cuban percussionist—he’s played with the likes of Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and Wynton Marsalis—Martinez transforms every performance into a celebration of dance, heritage, and improvisation. His ensemble turns rhythm into pure joy, making it impossible to sit still. A Festival favorite, this is an evening of unforgettable music, irresistible grooves, and sheer celebration—one of Spoleto’s most thrilling acts.

Pedrito Martinez Group

Dubbed “The villain of Broadway” by Playbill, Patrick Page has never shied away from exploring his dark side. Now, with this tour de force show, he turns his attention to the twisted motivation and hidden humanity at the heart of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. Moving swiftly through the Shakespeare canon, Page illuminates the playwright’s ever-evolving conception of evil by delving into more than a dozen of his most wicked creations. Thrilling, biting, hilarious, and enlightening, what Page delivers is a masterclass on the most terrifying subject of them all: human nature.  

Created and performed by Patrick Page and directed by Simon Godwin, the fullness of Shakespeare is brought to life in this dynamic, contemporary, and accessible take on Shakespeare’s villains. An evening of mesmerizing artistry, powerful storytelling, and a rare intimacy that will redefine your perception of Shakespeare’s infamous characters.

Dido and Aeneas

Articles & News