Berks Jazz Fest’s Encore Online continues Friday and Saturday
Berks Jazz Fest Encore Online continues this weekend with streams of concerts by Incognito with Maysa from the 2019 festival on Friday at 8 p.m., and Fourplay from the 2018 festival on Saturday at 8 p.m. Both concerts will be shown in their entirety on the Berks Jazz Fest Facebook page and will then be archived on the festival’s Vimeo channel.
John Ernesto, festival general manager, said since April 2, when the online concert series began, fans have spent 330,000 minutes (5,500 hours) viewing the 20 full-length concerts that have been presented. Berks Jazz Fest Facebook page followers have increased by 1,400, raising the total to over 21,000.
Encore Online concerts have raised $5,200 in donations to presenter the Berks Arts Council to offset costs related to the postponement of this year’s festival. Donations are being accepted at the Berks Arts Council website, berks arts.org, where the “donate $30 and get a free BJF2020 T-shirt” offer will continue this weekend.
Ernesto also announced that Entertainment Cruise Productions will honor its financial commitment to the festival and continue its partnership through the rescheduled 2021 30th anniversary celebration. As part of the agreement, ECP is being recognized as the sponsor of the Berks Jazz Fest Encore Online concert series.
Berks Jazz Fest videographer Andrew Lepley coordinated and prepared all the videos from selected festival concerts over the past three years. Mike Anderson, who produces the festival television and video promotions, created the promo video and logo for Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest Encore Online. Philadelphia bassist Gerald Veasley serves as host for each concert.