As frequent visitors to Carowinds, there's one thing we've discovered every year during our visits to the park. That's because Carowinds traditionally offers some of the best live entertainment of any park in North America. From talented musicians to full stage productions, Carowinds' live entertainment team continues to create a summer full of entertainment that provides the perfect respite from the roller coasters and thrill rides found on both sides of the state line. The summer of 2024 is no exception. Carowinds has not only announced its 2024 summer music festival with 10 featured artists starting in July, but has also added two more talented music acts around the park and welcomed the return of a world-renowned illusionist for the summer. Magic and music abound as the Carolina family gathers.
During our recent visit to the park, we had the opportunity to check out two new musical performances in the park. domestically produced and Yacht LocusIt also comes with a magical style preview. brad rossreturns to Carowinds for a second season in a row and heads to Carowinds' iconic Palladium. Carowinds Summer Music Festival says Ryan Allen, Director of Live Entertainment at Carowinds.
home grown
The first show we got to experience was “HomeGrown”, an acoustic duo who perform at the Crossroads Gazebo several times a day, 6 days a week (no shows on Tuesdays!). According to Carowinds, guests can “enjoy upbeat live performances by the talented Carolina duo HomeGrown. This dynamic duo performs classic acoustic country, your favorite bluegrass songs, and more. All of this will transport your heart and soul to the open road with the top down in a convertible.”
Talented musicians present a combination of piano and guitar and impressive vocals. The music mix includes the aforementioned acoustic country, but also includes songs like John Mayer's “Why's Georgia,” Amy Winehouse's “Valerie” and Justin Timberlake's “Can't Stop The Feeling.”
While the high heat index cut short the experience, we were able to hear a few songs from “HomeGrown” and felt that the intimate gazebo setting surrounded by shady trees around “Boo Blasters” actually really matched the vibe of Homegrown. Overall show. I hope to return to Carowinds later this season to see the entire show!
Listen to ‘Valerie’ from ‘Homegrown’ below!
Yacht Locus
The Yacht Rockers performing atop a shipping container bar on the Carolina Boardwalk was the next show we experienced. Considering the Carolinas' affinity for beach music, the Yacht Rockers might just be my favorite rockin' band. According to Carowinds, with a mix of the latest hits and the classics you know, The Yacht Rockers is the perfect combination of live entertainment and casual family fun.
The Yacht Rockers, a talented quartet comprised of guitar, bassist, drummer and keys, stayed true to their description and played a little bit of everything, including A-ha's iconic “Take on Me” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” It is a song by Whitney Houston, and the lyrics of “Don't Go Breakin' My Heart” were also adapted into “Don't Go Sinking My Yacht.” Overall, it was a very entertaining and toe-tapping performance. As evidenced by the show's audio technician, who, despite having seen the show dozens of times at this point, is still shaking his head and tapping his feet along with the Yacht Rockers. )
In our experience, this is one of the first musical acts to take up a residency on the Carolina Boardwalk and takes advantage of a little-used corner of that area of the park. It's flanked by Adirondack chairs and picnic tables (and the occasional Carolina Cyclone train passing the first loop in the background!). This is an area I would like to see more music performances utilized at Carowinds.
Yacht Rockers “I Wanted to Dance with Someone” – Watch below!
Illusionist Brad Ross
To celebrate the park's 50th anniversary in 2023, Carowinds brought in magician Brad Ross to pay tribute to the park's first performance at the Carowinds Theater in 1973. 2024 Ross returns to Carowinds this summer with a fun-filled magic show. This show will have park guests thinking, “How did he do that?” Probably more than they want to admit.
During the 40-minute performance, the talented Ross performs several illusions, talks about his lifelong interest in magic, and even engages the audience at several points throughout the show. There's classic magician tropes like dexterity, levitation, and even cutting a woman in half. Of note, if you visit Carowinds in 2023 and have seen him perform, this year's show will feature illusions that Ross first performed at Six Flags Great Adventure 20 years ago, during his first year as a theme park magician. The thing is that there are a few new tricks, including:
Brad Ross has three performances a day (3pm, 5pm and 7pm) on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday, with an additional 1pm performance on Saturday. (As an added perk, Carowinds theaters are consistently much cooler than outdoor temperatures thanks to pumped air conditioning. Brad Ross is the perfect way to beat the heat.)
Carowinds Summer Music Festival
The final stop on our entertainment tour at Carowinds was a tour of the Paladium Amphitheater, home of the Summer Music Fest's featured acts. The 13,000-seat amphitheater, which first opened in 1975, doesn't host concerts as often as it used to, but the Carowinds team is looking forward to music returning to the park this summer. The best news of all is that every concert Included Park admission included.
The park is in the process of making the venue “show ready,” including a “refurbishment” of the former out-of-town concert building, including merchandise, food and beverage facilities and restrooms. Carowinds noted that the food menu for the concert series will be fairly limited, including pretzels, popcorn, hot dogs, french fries and barbecue sandwiches. It was built around the Palladium.
Seating for music festival concerts at the Palladium is divided into three groups: The first group of seats closest to the stage will be required to wear wristbands from park opening on the day of the concert. Wristbands are not assigned to your seat and allow you to enter the area, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The remaining two areas do not require wristbands and are first-come, first-served.
As of this writing, most Summer Music Fest concert plans are for the Palladium gates to open at 5 p.m., with an opening act starting at 7 p.m. and lasting approximately 45 minutes, followed by the headliner with a 90-minute set. 8:30 PM. (Please refer to the Carowinds website for detailed schedule and reservation procedures!)
Carowinds Summer Music Festival Schedule:
July 5: LeAnn Rimes (Opener: Johnnyswim)
July 6th: Bret Michaels Part Gra Tour 2024 (feat. Dee Snider, Steve Augeri, Great White & Slaughter)
July 19: Carly Pierce (Opener: Nico Moon & Hannah Ellis)
July 20th: Toby Mack (Opener: 10th Street North)
July 26: Brett Young (Opener: Restless Road)
July 27: Brantley Gilbert (opener: Lauren Alaina)
August 2nd: Frying pan (opener: 10 years)
August 3: Sugar Ray (Opener: Better Than Ezra & Tonic)
August 9: Flo Rida (Opener: Blanco Brown)
August 10th: Russell Dickerson (Opener: Tyler Ritchie)
For up-to-date information on the park's Summer Entertainment (including show schedules!), visit the Carowinds website and follow Carowinds on social media. Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram