Live Events

48-Hour Theatre Festival

The Hickory Playground 48-Hour Theatre Festival celebrates the diversity and talent of the Catawba County theatrical community every summer by bringing together eight playwrights, 25-30 actors and actresses, and 5-10 theatre technicians. Beginning on a Thursday, the actors and playwrights are assigned (via hat draw) to each other and the race to Saturday begins. At 7PM that Saturday, the 10 minute original plays debut in front of a live audience.

The 48-Hour Theatre Festival is the premiere event by Hickory Playground. The inaugural event took place from July 21 to 23, 2016; through that event, we were able to raise enough to donate $6,000 to Arts Departments in public schools in Catawba County, NC. In July 2017, we were able to donate $7,000. In 2018, we were able to increase our donation yet again to $12,085, and in 2019, we were able to increase our donations even more and give $15,000 to local public school Art Departments.

In 2020, Hickory Playground’s staff, with unanimous agreement from our Board of Directors, decided to cancel both the regularly scheduled show and the back-up film we had hoped to record, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to make anything short of diligent social distancing a dangerous decision.

In 2021, with social distancing and masks strongly encouraged, Hickory Playground was able to put on the 5th Annual Hickory Playground. Another $15,000 was able to be raised and given to the local community. Stay tuned for March-April of 2022, as more information about grant winners is announced.

Annual Art Party

Hickory Playground’s Inaugural Gala for the Arts was on June 2nd, 2018. We brought together 20 visual artists (painters, photographers, mixed-media artists, and potters) and several musicians and we threw a party. The artists interfaced with the party-goers and sold their wares, donating 30% to Hickory Playground’s fundraising goals. The musicians kept us all energized, the food and drink from our wonderful sponsors kept us all happy, and everyone had a good time.

In June 2019, the Second Annual Gala for the Arts took place and once again served as a great way for visual and musical artists to hang out and interface with all sorts of guests from the Hickory Metro, the broader region, and all around the country.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had no choice but to postpone the newly renamed Third Annual Art Party until further notice. Stay tuned for more information!