A huge crowd took advantage of the weather Friday to attend Bradford’s Festa Italiana. The “Italian Fest”, as it is commonly known, has been a tradition for years, with Italian cuisine and entertainment. The games, music, food, and beer spell a three day party with plenty to do for the entire family. The celebration culminates with a fireworks display at dark on Saturday night.
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Festa Italiana begins Thursday and will continue through Saturday. The traditional Bradford celebration means food and friends, music, memories, and fun. The weather cooperated Thursday night and the crowd was great. Here are a few shots:
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First there was a wrap-up party at the Bank Street Community Garden. The party marks the end of the garden’s design and construction. It was also intended to thank Kara Smith and Rachel Ence, the interns who contributed so much to make the project a reality. See our previous post with video. After the wrap-up party, Bradford held it’s first celebration of National Night Out in the Family Video parking lot on West Washington Street. The City of Bradford Police Department provided children’s fingerprinting ID kits, safety information, and gave tours of the City’s Emergency Response Team van. The local D.A.R.T. (Diving And Recovery Team) were also there to explain their operations. McKean County CARE for Children was on hand with safety information and SAFE Kids McKean County handouts. Project Pride Manager Linda Campongiani explains the concept behind Bradford’s National Night Out: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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Bradford residents were treated to a spectacular fireworks display Friday night as part of W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery’s “Case Collector Appreciation Weekend“. Read the Bradford Era article about Case Collector Appreciation Weekend here. The fireworks were staged from Mt. Raub and were visible all over Bradford, including the downtown. Case knife collectors from all over the world are attending this weekend’s festivities. With over 850 pre-registrations, collectors and their families flooding into Bradford were treated to near perfect weather. If you missed the fireworks, or just want to see them again, the Bradford-Online.com Action Team captured them on video for you. Who are we kidding? From our back porch we didn’t even have to get out of the chair. The display lasted about 12 minutes, this has been shortened to fit YouTube.com’s guidelines. For other area events check Bradford-Online.com’s Community Calendar. | ||
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The Bradford-Online.com Community Calendar Of Events has been updated. If your organization would like to list their events you can, using our contact form. | ||
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Lights, camera, action! Little Chicago will stay in Bradford. Legislators today extended the Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit. Under legislation signed by the governor, a production intended for a national audience that spends 60% of its budget in Pennsylvania draws a 25% transferable tax credit on qualified expenses. A spokesperson at the “Little Chicago” offices confirmed that this tax credit will allow the movie to continue filming in Pennsylvania. Failure to pass the extension of the credit could have forced the filming to other other states that already offer film tax credits. New York State offers a 30% tax credit. Mayor Tom Riel stated this will ensure a $3 Million tax credit to the producers of the movie “Little Chicago”. He recently spoke at a conference in Harrisburg about the importance of the tax credit to the State’s small and rural communities. Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan has also expressed interest in Bradford as a possible location for filming. Shyamalan is already known for shooting major productions in PA, mostly in the Philadelphia area. His film credits include “The Sixth Sense” and “The Village”. At a post-conference dinner Mayor Riel had the chance to chat with some of the conference speakers. He was seated next to Mr. Shymalan, giving them the chance to talk about movies and to talk about Bradford. M. Night Shyamalan’s Next Movie In Bradford? (MP3 Audio) According to Variety magazine, part of Pennsylvania’s push to establish a movie infrastructure in the state includes a deal to construct a major movie studio in the Delaware valley. It will include six 24,000-square-foot, high-ceilinged soundstages. Related Links:
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We recently received this from our friends at the Little Chicago offices. Little Chicago The Movie is centered around the Bradford, PA and Olean, NY area. The plot is based on characters from the area during prohibition. While the movie is still in production, the movie’s production office is located at 75 Foreman Street and is open to the public. Official movie products are available there and from the movie’s website. | ||
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April is going to bring more than showers to Bradford this year. The Generations Guitar Workshop will be bringing together area musicians for a day filled with learning, jamming, even an instrument exchange. It is scheduled for Saturday, April 19, 2008, at Fretz Middle School in the large instruction room. The highlight of the workshop and evening performance will be Dan Peters and The West Side Winders from Chicago.
Dan Peters has been named “Chicago’s Hottest Guitarist”. He will be teaching the Workshop’s Master Class, “Swingin’ Surfabilly Guitar Playin’: Know Your Roots!!” Dan will take students into a detailed analysis of several original compositions and how he developed his own unique musical voice through an appreciation of many different genres. Rockabilly, surf, blues, jazz, country and heavy metal all figure prominently in Dan’s self-proclaimed “Surfabilly” sound and he encourages all students to do their homework and “know your roots!!” Some of the influences Dan names are Brian Setzer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Wes Montgomery, Joe Satriani, Dick Dale, Johnny Cash, Steve Vai, Jimmy Bryant and, of course, William Shatner. Read the rest of this entry » | ||
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The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford College/Community Choir will begin practicing Tuesday, Jan. 8, for its spring performances. New members are welcome.
Rehearsals are held from 7 to 9 p.m. each Tuesday in the Webb/Bradford Forest Rehearsal Hall in Blaisdell Hall. Membership is free and open without audition to students, faculty, staff and all interested singers in the area. “The choir is always on the lookout for new singers,” says Dr. Lee Spear, director of the music program. “Our goal is to bring choral music of acknowledged greatness to the area, and to expand the depth and breadth of musical life for listeners and performers alike.” This term the choir will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Vespers de Dominica, K. 321, and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Nelson Mass. The choir will perform jointly with the choruses of Alfred University at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the Bromeley Family Theater and Sunday, March 29, at St. Ann Church in Hornell, N.Y. For more information, contact Spear at (814)362-0257 or lss@pitt.edu. | ||
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First Night Bradford 2008 was really a lot of fun. Venues all over Bradford featured live acts from local bands to professional entertainers. Here is some footage from a few of them. Local Fretzican Idol Emily Marshall, Juggler Jeff Bach, and The Amazing Amos, The Amish Magician. | ||
First Night is a community celebration of the New Year through the arts. It is an alcohol-free, public festival with both local and regional talent. There are events and fun filled entertainment for all ages. Best of all, it is accessible and affordable for everyone. Check the First Night Bradford web site for complete details and this year’s schedule. There will be events at locations all over Bradford the entire evening. There is so much going on, it’s difficult to take in everything. Fortunately, for $5.00 you can get a First Night Bradford button that gives you admission to everything. This helps defray the cost of the celebration including several professional entertainers. The celebration culminates at midnight on the Town Square with the 10th annual ball-drop and fireworks grande finale. Here are some of this year’s featured entertainers: | ||
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We recently received a message from John Siepierski, a guitarist and the fiddler for a new local band called ‘DANK’. DANK plays several different genres of music including alternative rock, indie, and New England traditional dance music. DANK has been scheduled to play First Night Bradford. As a late addition to the First Night line-up, they won’t appear on the printed schedule. They’re scheduled to perform at Emery Towers at 10:30 pm. DANK will be playing traditional Irish and French-Canadian music on fiddle, guitar, electric bass, and various percussion. The band brings modern and main stream influences into a traditional performances. DANK’s members are all local to Bradford. They include John Siepierski on fiddle, Brian Thompson on guitar and vocals, and Jay Ervin on percussion. You can find more information at the band’s web site: http://www.dank-music.com |
