Written by Bradley Bommarito
Next month, RC students, staff, and faculty as well as local community members will have the opportunity to get food and listen to live music while supporting a worthy cause. The Salem Riverfest Concert and Fundraiser will be held from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. on the Maroon Athletic Quad on Saturday, April 13.
“The event is for the purpose of raising money for the Clean Valley Council (CVC) to help them continue their mission of providing outreach and education for Southwest VA about litter prevention, recycling, and preventing stormwater pollution, as well as sponsoring several litter cleanup events each year,” said junior Aidan Medina, Head Riverfest Manager with the RC Campus Activities Board (CAB).
According to Medina, the main inspiration for the event came when senior Zachary Caveness came forward to propose an event to help promote the health of the James and Roanoke rivers, which have been suffering from pollution and litter as of late.
“We’re receiving aid from various student organizations that have signed up to participate in the event, but we’re partnered with the CVC to reach our goals. Beyond raising awareness and promoting the cause with our event, they’re the ones that we’re trying to help to protect the local ecosystem and continue educating people about how to better serve as stewards for the environment,” said Medina.
Riverfest is Spring 2019’s premier CAB event. It will be bigger in scale than previous events.
“Riverfest is going to be similar to past Springfest events but on a larger scale than we’ve ever done in the past. We’re going to be having three separate bands playing: Kendall Street Company, Audacity Brass Band, and Orange Culture,” said Medina.
In addition to the array of music choices, Riverfest will boast of a variety of options for food and fun.
“We’re going to be having food trucks and a beer garden that we’re sure everyone will enjoy (assuming they’re of legal age). There will be several other attractions, like a bounce castle, a mechanical bull, a climbing wall, and more that people will be able to enjoy,” said Medina.
If all that isn’t enough to pique your interest, you may wish to attend simply because that’s where Commons will be served that evening.
“Dining Services will be serving dinner on the MAQ that evening, and admittance is free to students, faculty and staff, with a suggested donation of five dollars,” said Medina.
Medina encourages people to check out the event if they’re interested in supporting the local environment, or just want to enjoy a Saturday evening with live music, good food, and a beer.
“The cause itself is the environment that we all share. Beyond the fun and the entertainment and the food, we wanted to organize this event in order to help promote the health of the land that we live in. Roanoke College CAB has always had a strong commitment to helping the environment and reducing our impact on the area as much as possible, and we were overjoyed to have a venue that we could use to achieve that while having a good time, raising awareness, and putting on an event that we hope the community will enjoy and remember,” said Medina.
