Craft Aid Virtual Concerts To Support North Fork Breweries

The hospitality industry has been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. To aid North Fork breweries that were forced to close their doors for an extended prior of time this spring, and may now only offer curbside pickup for the time being, Diane Tucci of Main Street Productions, in association with Dominic Esposito of Deville Films, are co-producing Craft Aid, a series of virtual benefit concerts and chats.

“Main Street Productions is thrilled to be producing an innovative virtual concert experience that supports live music and our local breweries at the same time,” Tucci noted. “Craft Aid is a unique hybrid event that allows viewers to enjoy all the makings of a great concert – specialty beers, cool merchandise and great live music – all from the safety of their own homes.”

The series will commence on Thursday, June 18 with Bands and Brews – Zoom Happy Hours. Another Bands and Brews will be held on Thursday, June 25. Both sessions will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Long Ireland Beer Co. will host and the evenings will delve into the importance of live music and supporting Craft breweries.

The main event – Craft Aid – will take place on Thursday, July 2 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday, July 3 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Broadcast from Jamesport Farm Brewery, virtual attendees will enjoy live music from 70’s Rock Parade, Jan Hanna Band, Who Are Those Guys, Shephard the Breeze, Barbados Slim, and Slingshot.

“It’s going to be some time before communities are able to experience the joy of live music in local tasting rooms again; being able to record performances safety and broadcast them gives musicians a medium to perform and gives the public the ability to help keep breweries open for all of us to come back to,” Tucci added.

The series will support Long Ireland Beer Co., Moustache Brewing Co., Greenport Harbor Brewing, Tradewinds Brewery, Eastern Front Brewing, North Fork Brewery and Twin Fork Beer Co. Donations, which can be made via Craft Aid’s GoFundMe page, will be dispersed to the participating breweries.

Events will stream on Craft Aid’s YouTube Live, Facebook and website – with audio courtesy of Old Main Road Recording Studio.

To celebrate the event and champion the breweries, there will be special limited edition Craft Aid merchandise, including tanks, tees, and hats, available on Craft Aid’s website. Additionally, participating breweries will be releasing an exclusive Craft Aid beer. Beer “passports” will also be available and once customers have enjoyed brews from each brewery, patrons will be rewarded with a commemorative Craft Aid pin.

For more information, visit www.craftaid.org.