After spending multiple years in its second home, Camp North End, BOOM Charlotte will be moving to a new location in 2025, settling down in the University Area, north of the city.
The festival will take place at the University City lakefront April 25-27. The move is part of a new partnership with University City Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging growth in the University area.
“Partnerships and collaboration are at the heart of everything we do, and we’re thrilled to join forces with University City Partners for the 8th Annual BOOM Festival,” Manoj Kesavan, founder and executive director of BOOM Charlotte, said. “Hosting this iconic event in University City not only allows us to engage with new audiences but also opens up exciting opportunities to further support and elevate Charlotte’s vibrant creative community.”
Over the last few decades, the University area has seen a rise and fall in traffic. During the 2000s and early 2010s, the plazas were the home of big department stores, multiple boutiques, and a lively nightlife scene that catered to the college crowd in Charlotte. Later in the 2010s, many of those centers of commerce had moved out of the store fronts, leaving the area somewhat bare.
As the following decade progressed and into the 2020s, the area has seen a revitalization, with many of the old buildings demolished and rebuilt, providing new generations other ways to enjoy the surroundings. According to the press release, the University area had seen more than three million guests by the end of 2024. With that statistic in mind, the move to University City has the potential to grow the festival and put local artists’ work in front of more eyes.
“This is definitely the most scenic place we’ve ever done the festival in,” Kesavan said. “It’s a very diverse community there, a lot of people from all over the world, so we think we’ll be reaching a new audience.”
The three-day event is an array of artistic experiences and installments, including dance, poetry, visual art, film, music and other performances. Guests will have the opportunity to experience two components of the festival: BOOM Fringe and BOOM Intersection in University City.
BOOM Fringe features ticketed indoor experimental art performances, while BOOM Intersection offers free, family-friendly performances in an outdoor environment. Specific details regarding vendors, performers, and artists will be announced closer to the event date.
