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Tuscaloosa's original brewery, the Druid City Brewing Company will host a 20-act live-streamed concert fundraiser to keep its hopes for an expansion into a bigger space alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The iconic brewery announced in December 2019 that after seven years in the same small space, DCBC was mergining with Huntsville’s Straight to Ale Brewing and looking to relocate into a larger space and taproom.

Obviously, their plans have been significantly slowed by the pandemic and the mandatory closures and new restrictions it has necessitated.

Druid City Brewing Company Owner Bo Hicks said that 26 musical acts will perform during the marathon fundraiser Friday night and the event will be live-streamed on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday.

"One of the things that we were so proud of at Druid City Brewing was bringing original music to Tuscaloosa and being a part of that scene," Hicks said. "Obviously through the COVID-19 pandemic, it's something we have been unable to do."

Hicks said that the business ran a series where they were paying artists to take over their social media accounts while it waits to receive approval for the expansion.

"We contacted a lot of the different artists that we've had the joy to work with in the past, to see if they wanted to donate a little of their time and do some songs," Hicks said. "I feel really honored that we had a bunch of really badass musicians to want to play and help us out."

The business hosted a smaller fundraiser for Halloween titled the "QQuaraween Spooktacular" where eight bands performed on a livestream. Jacob Richards, the producer of "DCBC 2020 Nightcap Livestream" said that these virtual events are a way for people that have been impacted by the brewing company to stay connected.

"It's kind of an interesting revitalization for a lot of us and a lot of people have met each other who would have never met each other before really because we're either not there or we were [at Druid City Brewing Company] at different times," Richards said. "The live stream aspect has  given us that ability to kind of keep our friendships [and] make new friendships like you would in normal times."

Tuscaloosa artists Lee Bains, III, and Ham Bagby are two of the 26 artists that will be performing Friday. Patrons and fans will also be able to watch the event on the patio at Druid City Brewing Company. Hicks said that the livestream will be projected on the side of the building to ensure that guests can social distance.

Donations can be made through Venmo, at DCBC_moving, or through CashApp and Paypal at DCBCMoving. For more information on the event, check out Druid City Brewing Company on their website or on Facebook and Twitter.

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