Six Capital Region venues for live entertainment will join more than 1,000 theaters and arenas nationwide Tuesday night in illuminating their facades in red to call attention to the dire financial circumstances faced by people who work in the industry as a result of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
The campaign, called #RedAlertRESTART, is also an appeal for congressional action on the RESTART Act, an economic-relief bill for small business, and for the federal government to extend and expand pandemic-related programs providing unemployment assistance including compensation and insurance.
Participating local venues are the Times Union Center and Palace Theatre in Albany, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, Proctors in Schenectady and the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy. They will be lit in red from 9 p.m. to midnight Tuesday.
“The live-events industry is on the brink of collapse. Without financial relief, many businesses stand to permanently close, and families risk bankruptcy and homelessness,” said Brad Nelms, director of WeMakeEvents.org North America. The organization, which is organizing #RedAlertRESTART, describes itself as "an international movement for visibility for the live events industry during the COVID-19 global pandemic." It held a similar event in the United Kingdom on Aug. 11 that saw more than 700 venues illuminated in red.
Among the famous buildings across America that are said to be participating Tuesday night are Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall in New York City, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles, Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
According to figures provided by WeMakeEvents, the live-events industry in North America directly employs approximately 12 million people and includes hundreds of thousands of businesses with a combined economic impact of $1 trillion. Since March, 77 percent of people in the industry have lost 100 percent of their income, 96 percent of companies have cut staff and 97 percent of the industry's contract workers have lost their jobs, WeMakeEvents said.
September 01, 2020 at 09:08PM
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Venues-to-be-lit-in-red-tonight-to-call-attention-15530033.php
Venues to be lit in red tonight to call attention to plight - Times Union
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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