First Magic City Saturday to take place in Charleroi
The event was created by a newly formed recreation group.
The event was created by a newly formed recreation group.
A new annual event in Charleroi aims to showcase the magic that has found its way back to the Magic City.
The event is organized by a new borough recreation group comprised of local officials, businesses owners and nonprofit leaders, with help from the Charleroi Park Trustees and Greater Charleroi Community Development Corporation. About 12 members have banded together to focus on recreation, events and opportunities for fun.
Their first event, Magic City Saturday, is set for 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. June 29.
Council President Kristin Hopkins-Calcek said it will be an annual event held on the Saturday before the Fourth of July.
Festivities, including food and artisan vendors, will be set up on Fifth Street between Fallowfield Avenue and the railroad tracks. More vendors and acts will set up shop in the empty lot on Sixth Street.
Children’s activities, including an obstacle course, bounce house, Kona Ice and more, sponsored by cfsbank, will be located at the Market House.
Dave Barbe Sr., owner of Fourth Street Foods, sponsored all the entertainment, stage, lighting and sound equipment for the event.
The Main Stage on Fifth Street will have entertainment all day, starting at 11 a.m with a performance from the Mon Valley Academy for the Arts Regimental Fife and Drum Unit.
Other MVAA groups will take the stage, starting at 11:30 a.m. Turner & Black will perform at 1 p.m., followed by Knob Road at 4 p.m. and the headliner, Kemical Kemileon at 7 p.m. Fireworks, sponsored by the borough, begin at dusk.
The event will be held rain or shine, but in case of bad weather, fireworks will be moved to Sunday.
A Haitian band will perform throughout the day on Sixth Street, and other community performances will take place on Fifth Street between sets.
Vendors will be set up throughout both event locations. More than 10 food vendors and more than a dozen artisans are already signed up.
“They are still rolling in,” Hopkins-Calcek said. “We are full on food, but we would love to have more artisan vendors, if anyone would like to set up that day.”
Artisans looking to sell their goods can contact the borough by calling 724-483-6011 or emailing bcso@charleroiboro.org. Vendors can also contact GCCDC President Adele Hopkins at 412-849-2837.
Hopkins-Calcek said planning was smooth because so many people were involved. “We have so much community involvement,” she said, “the heads of nonprofits and business owners in town, as well as some council members, the Charleroi Park Trustees, the GCCDC, we have all come together in a way that is really advantageous.”
She said Magic City Saturday is different from community events the borough has held in the past.
“This is the first Magic City Saturday of all time,” she said. “We are taking a different approach than we have in the past, which is to showcase borough businesses and nonprofits and create activities for the citizens as well as kids to be involved with.”
There will also be a toucha- truck, ambulance and police car area for children to incorporate the borough’s first responders into the day.
“We are reintroducing the magic back to Charleroi,” she said. “We have changes happening in town and they are all really exciting and positive. We want to showcase that.”
The new group will handle the organization of Magic City Saturday and other events in town.
“This group we think is necessary because it is not being handled by council directly, therefore it is not in politically influenced,” she said. “When council changes in two or four years, this group will be established and these events will be able to continue without having to worry.”