Crescendo Starts this Week

The entire community is invited to kick-off our month long celebration with live music and performances, refreshments, action painting, door prizes, ticket giveaways and "Crescendo Encore" Poster Signing by artist Amiri Farris.

Opening Night Celebration
October 10, 2019, 5-7 PM
Shelter Cove Community Park
FREE

Meet Chantelle Rytter

by Luana M. Graves Sellers

If you haven’t experienced a lantern parade, then you’re in for a real treat! Held in the evening, it’s an awesome sight to behold as various colors and shapes light up an evening sky. Known as a traditionally Asian custom, only recently have lantern parades become more common in the United States. “Parades are magical,” says Chantelle Ryder, who’s bringing the first lantern parade to Hilton Head on November 9th.  Lantern parades bring communities together and “give people the chance to be outside in a public place,” and “to see themselves.”  She goes on to say that what’s also great is that they “remind us that we have the capacity for collective joy. And we need that right now.”

Growing in popularity, small parades can have as few as 400 participants and as many as a 1,000.  The beauty of a lantern parade is that it’s open to any age and allows each individual’s creativity to be displayed. You can be as creative as you would like or simply cut holes in a cardboard box and light it from the inside.  “To participate, make a lantern and show up.”

Fascinated by the beauty of the parades, and seeing that they were happening around the world and not very popular in the US, Ryder started her own Krewe whose tagline is “advocating grown up playtime.”

November will be Ryder’s first lantern parade in Hilton Head and the beauty of our island inspired designs that will connect directly with our island. During her visit, she fell in love with the story from Mitchelville’s Freedom Park and is excited to be creating lanterns based on the buildings. “I’ve never done house lanterns before.”   Of course, no parade would be complete on Hilton Head without including sea turtle lanterns as well, but she says that “the blue herons are her favorites.” If you are interested in making a lantern, Ryder will be holding a workshops on the Island from November 2 - 9th with many different community partners including BO Art, Art League of Hilton Head Island, Coastal Discovery Museum, Mitchelville Preservation Project, and the Beach House Resort. You can register for any of these workshops online here.

More Info about the Hilton Head Island Lantern Parade can be found online here including workshop schedules and information for room discounts from our host hotel,The Beach House.

Thanks to all of our event sponsors! Register Online Here to receive up-to-date info about the Lantern Parade like information about parking,workshops and more!

Photos courtesy of Steve Eberhardt Photography

Join Culture HHI Tomorrow @ the Market

Join Culture HHI at Tuesday’s Hilton Head Island Farmers Market for a Lantern Making Workshop in preparation for the first Hilton Head Island Lantern Parade on November 9th! The Office of Cultural Affairs will be making small globe lanterns with the first 25 people to stop by the table.

The Market opens at 9 AM. See you there!

1st Soundwaves Recital of the Season

The first recital of the 2019-2020 HHIPC Recital Series at SoundWaves is featuring Ray Ushikubo. The 2017 Hilton Head International Piano Competition First Prize Winner Ray Ushikubo appears in a recital that will include both piano and violin. 

He will be playing works by Bach, Schubert, Chopin, Kreisler, Williams and Vitali.

October 10, 2019 @ 7:00 pm

More Info & Tickets Online Here

8th Annual Latin Music Festival

Join Culture HHI @ the 8th annual Estrella Jalisco Latin Music Fest this Sunday!

This festival highlights, honors, and celebrates the beautiful Latino culture that surrounds us in the Lowcountry. A celebration highlighting the Latino community through music, dance, and food and also to keep their tradition alive with an authentic flavor.

Sunday, October 13th from 11 AM - 9 PM
Shelter Cove Community Park

More Info Online Here

"Murder on the Orient Express"

 "Murder on the Orient Express" captures all the suspense that you expect from well-known crime novelist Agatha Christie.

A lavish trip through Europe quickly unfolds into a race against time to solve a murder aboard a train. When an avalanche stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks, the world's greatest detective -- Hercule Poirot -- arrives to interrogate all passengers and search for clues before the killer can strike again. With a locomotive full of suspects and an alibi for each one, "Murder on the Orient Express" is the perfect mystery full of twists and turns.

Now - October 27th
Arts Center of Coastal Carolina

Click Here for More Info & Tickets

"Eloquent Light" at the Art League

Art League Gallery will host Eloquent Light, a collection of landscape photography by local artist Bill Bogle, Jr., this October. The exhibit includes familiar lowcountry scenes of Spanish moss-draped live oaks and oceanfront dunes, the vibrant red rock formations of the American west, and solemn views along the New England coast. Bogle’s passion and success lie in recording moments when the light reveals his subjects at their most meaningful.

He has been displaying and selling his photographs for the past 15 years. His work can be seen in local galleries such as the Society of Bluffton Artists and the Beaufort Art Association.

Now - October 26th
Walter Greer Gallery @ the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina

Click Here for More Info

Tony Award Winning Best Play

"The Humans" by Stephen Karam

2016 Tony Award & Drama Desk Winner for Best Play. 

Brigid and Richard have moved into a shabby two-floor apartment in New York’s Chinatown just in time for Thanksgiving, and her family – mom, dad, sister and grandma – arrives from Scranton, PA to laugh, argue, and eat around the table. But also dished up are fears, real and imagined.

October 17-27, 2019
HHP's Main Street Theatre

For More Info & Tickets Click Here

4th Annual Gullah Food Festival

The Gullah Museum of Hilton Head presents its 4th Annual Gullah Food Festival. The event, which is free to attend, will be a full day of music and family entertainment for everyone to come out and enjoy. 

Come as vendors serve up their best pot and recipes of Shrimp and Grits, Seafood Gumbo, Devil Crabs and Stew Chicken, and more. All are invited to come out and celebrate the heritage and the tradition of the Island. 

October 19. 2019, 11 AM - 5 PM
12 Georgianna Drive Hilton Head Island, SC

Click Here for More Info & Tickets

Ghosts & Myths of Hilton Head Island

Come Out & Make a Lantern

Today is the Final Day to Book Discounted Rooms

Our hotel partner for the lantern parade is offering a Lantern Parade Package. The package includes discounted room rate for two nights, breakfast, and a lantern making workshop the morning of 11/9 - so no need to travel with your lantern!

More Info & Booking Here

And big thanks to the Beach House for hosting the official after party at the Tiki Hut featuring local band favorite Pretty Darn!

Community Create Applications Online Now

We want to hear your ideas! 

Two of the greatest resources that our community has is its people and their creativity. The Office of Cultural Affairs is seeking ideas from our community visual artists, performing artists, musicians, lecturers, and art professionals at every stage of their careers to submit proposals for our Community Creates Initiatives.

Full guidelines and criteria can be found online. Applications can be submitted year round and projects will be selected as time and budget allows. 

Check it out online here