Spoleto Festival USA Named The South's Best Festival By Southern Living

Southern Living announced today the winners of its 2018 South's Best Awards, including Spoleto Festival USA. The 17-day performing arts celebration, held each year in Charleston, SC, was voted by Southern Living readers as the "South's Best Festival," a new category for 2018. The feature-found in Southern Living's April issue, on newsstands and online at southernliving.com-was compiled after editors "pored through more than 32,000 responses" to a digitally crowd-sourced survey surrounding favorite towns, beaches, barbecues, festivals, restaurants, breweries, and accommodations.

"Spoleto Festival USA is proud to be the first festival honored in this way by Southern Living," says Festival General Director Nigel Redden. "We feel the program, which spans opera, jazz, dance, chamber music, theater, and more, is certainly unique in the South-and unique in the nation. We want to thank the Southern Living readers and our audience members who have recognized us as such."

Charleston, SC, was also voted the "South's Best City" for the second time in a row; Southern Living established its "South's Best" Awards in 2017. "Charleston provides an experience unlike any other community in the South," says Linn Lesesne, Chair of Explore Charleston and Vice President of Sales and Public Relations of Charming Inns. "The hospitable people and culture, illustrious accommodations, celebrated cuisine, and historic landmarks are what makes the Charleston area quintessentially Southern." Other recognized festivals include Charleston Wine + Food and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Southern Living, a Meredith Corporation publication serving more than 23 million people each month, celebrates the essence of life in the South, covering the best in Southern food, home, travel, and style.

Founded in 1977, Spoleto Festival USA is an annual 17-day performing arts festival that presents renowned artists as well as emerging performers in classical and popular music, jazz, dance, and theater. The 2018 season (May 25 - June 10) includes more than 150 ticketed events in a dozen locations on the downtown peninsula, including the historic Dock Street Theatre, the grand Charleston Gaillard Center, and the picturesque College of Charleston Cistern Yard. Visit spoletousa.org for more information or to request a 2018 season brochure.

Tickets to Spoleto Festival USA can be purchased anytime at spoletousa.org or by calling the Festival box office at 843.579.3100 from 10:00am to 6:00pm Monday through Friday and 10:00am to 2:00pm on Saturdays. Beginning May 1, tickets will be available at a box office at the Charleston Gaillard Center, open daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

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