Charleroi may host virtual Community Days concerts

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, a longstanding tradition in Charleroi may have an opportunity to reach its largest audience yet.
Each year, Charleroi’s Community Days summer festival attracts thousands of people to the borough for the two-day event.
With current restrictions due to COVID-19, the event may take a virtual approach this year.
During an agenda meeting Wednesday, Council President Mark Alterici said he and a few local guys, musicians Dave Barbe and Mark Smith, began brainstorming.
Smith is the president of the Mon Valley Academy for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that provides arts and cultural programs throughout the area.
Alterici said the plan would be to host a virtual Community Days concert the weekend of Oct. 16 – on the unused third floor of the borough building.
If approved by council next week, Barbe’s band would perform Friday and Smith and members of the Twin Coaches Orchestra Project would perform on Saturday.
Both concerts would be live streamed through the MVAA’s Facebook page.
The organization has taken a virtual approach during the pandemic and has successfully held multiple virtual events with some concerts attracting more than 26,000 viewers from across the globe over the summer.
“We don’t want to have crowds and this could be a chance to promote businesses in town,” Alterici said. “It would be like a PBS telethon.
“I’m really excited about it if you couldn’t tell.”
Aterici said he thinks the virtual event would spark interest in the space.
In the past, the space served as the “Cougar Canteen.”

Watch video from Wednesday’s council meeting at www.monvalleyindependent.com.

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