The High Water Festival will return to North Charleston’s Riverfront Park on April 26-27 with a lineup that will include headliners like Arcade Fire and Lord Huron, alongside Mt. Joy, Counting Crows, and The Backseat Lovers.
Missing will be former local curator Shovels & Rope. In fact, the rock n’ roll group Easy Honey represents the only local act on the lineup.
Earlier this year, the festival, which started in 2017, brought out more than 15,000 attendees per day. The 2024 iteration of High Water received criticism for parking and traffic issues that left people waiting in hours-long lines, issues with liquor sales, potential theft, and no contingency plan for bad weather. Others critiqued the tiered ticketing and the lack of local acts.
Chris Huber of local music publication Extra Chill pointed out in August that High Water, despite its successes in bringing big acts to town and raising funds for local nonprofits, (the 2025 beneficiaries are still-to-be-announced) “could do more for Charleston.” He points to a lack of diversity on the lineup, a missed opportunity to show more local acts, and price gouging on artist merch and food and drink.
“High Water Festival is a staple of the music industry in Charleston, but it also stands as a stark reminder of corporate influence,” Huber writes. “By infusing more of Charleston to the festival, and taking steps towards greater appreciation of the city’s culture, High Water has the potential to become a beloved event that is embraced by the city of Charleston as a whole, not just those who can afford to buy a ticket.”
On Instagram, @highwaterfest posted about traffic and parking improvements, among other promises for this year’s festival: “Festival organizers are working with the city of North Charleston to re-work traffic plans, utilizing an experienced expert to develop appropriately timed road closures to facilitate more available lanes for ingress and egress, provide better pedestrian path management, a more robust rideshare plan to prevent congestion, and improve parking lot staffing operations.”
Presale tickets are available now for the two-day experience at North Charleston’s Riverfront Park. You can choose between one-day and two-day tickets including options for General Admission (starting at $125 one-day, $225 two-day), GA+ ($275, $400), Stono Stage Bleacher Ticket/GA+ with bleacher seating ($325, $475), VIP ($410, $695) and Platinum ($925, $1,750).
The High Water presale will run from 10 Nov. 14 at the lowest possible ticket price before an increase at 11 a.m. Remaining tickets will then be available to the public starting at noon on Nov. 14 at highwaterfest.com.
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