Saturday, Oct. 29 started out grey with lingering wet on the ground. However, very quickly, a beautiful fall Carolina day blew in, and we were left with crisp, breezy air, along with sprays of contrasting yellows, reds and orange leaves against that perfect blue sky. The sound of dry leaves rustling and the palpable excitement about Wells Fargo’s Community Celebration followed everyone — young and old — into uptown Charlotte for a day filled with free arts and cultural experiences for all.

The Community Celebration was generously supported by Wells Fargo, in alliance with Arts & Science Council (a Knight Arts grantee) and the Charlotte Center City Partners. Of course, Charlotte is known for its arts and culture, but as Kendall Alley, Wells Fargo regional president for Charlotte, said: “The beauty of the arts is that it represents our common thoughts and dreams, gives us an opportunity to talk to each other in different ways. It enhances the diversity of our community.”

There was free admission to many uptown cultural facilities (almost all of which are Knight Arts grantees), including the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, along with Discovery Place, Levine Museum of the New South, McColl Center for Visual Art, North Carolina Dance Theatre, The Light Factory, ImaginOn and more. Numerous specially scheduled and ongoing activities were all over the place throughout the day, from a chalk competition to different artists performing, as well as many, many interactive opportunities for all ages. (There was so much happening that, literally, if one stayed all day, they’d still be unable to enjoy everything being offered.)

Although Charlotte has always had arts festivals, Saturday’s was the first of this magnitude, which spanned most of uptown. There were pockets of activity throughout the Center City, but the concentration was at the Levine Center for the Arts, where streets were actually blocked off.

There were too many amazing experiences to list, but it was exciting to see so many uptown areas teeming with music, motion, ideas and activities inspiring discovery and imagination.

The absolute best part of the day was seeing the diversity of our community in one place. This ability to interact and celebrate our differences is what makes Charlotte special: our arts and culture is right up there with our citizens. There were so many people of different ages, colors, backgrounds and stories, yet they were talking to each other, smiling and engaging one another, focusing on our differences in a positive way.

One of the highlights was being able to see all of the Romare Bearden works in Uptown free of charge. Sept. 2 marked the artist’s centennial birthday and the beginning of a citywide celebration of this Charlotte native’s work. At the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture (another Knight Arts grantee), one could take in many Bearden original works on paper, as well as Frank Stewart’s black-and-white photos that give us a glimpse into a significant time in history. (It was very cool to hear a young lady telling her family about the significance of Bearden and his art. This was one of many conversations about the art and culture I overheard between adults and young people, who are our future.)

Saturday, Oct. 29 was a glorious day for a community celebration focused on our city’s arts and cultural heritage. Thank you, Wells Fargo, and all the other sponsors and volunteers who made this event possible.