Image / Courtesy, Walton Arts Center

It’s been a tough few months for a lot of local businesses, but it’s hard to find an industry more impacted by COVID-19 than music venues, performance arts centers, concert halls, and others in the entertainment industry.

On Tuesday, Sept. 1, several businesses in the Fayetteville downtown area will light their buildings up with red lights to draw attention to the issues the entertainment industry is facing as a result the pandemic.

The lights will be in place from 9 p.m. until midnight that evening “to emphasize our plight and give us an opportunity to build more advocates in the community.”

Walton Arts Center, one of the local businesses participating, summed up the event in a post on Monday.

The live event industry was the first to shut down amidst the pandemic and will be the last to return at full scale. 96% of live event companies have had to cut staff and/or wages. We are joining our colleagues in supporting the RESTART act and the extension of unemployment assistance for displaced workers.

For more information, visit wemakeevents.org.