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By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter

PELHAM – Though the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many festive seasonal events to be canceled or radically changed, the city of Pelham created a unique outdoor Christmas concert event to help kick off the season in a safe socially distanced way.

The ‘Christmas Concert in the Park’ will take place on Sunday, Dec. 6 from 1-3 p.m., and will be held at the youth football field at Pelham City Park.

According to city of Pelham Communications Manager Ainsley Allison, the city had to get creative in addressing the concerns of the pandemic, while still balancing the desire to come together during the holiday season.

“We wanted to still be able to do something Christmas related. With most cities canceling the major events earlier this year, we wanted to be able to feel like we were still doing something,” Allison said. “Our Christmas event is usually an indoor event, like a tree lighting at the civic complex, or free ice skating and other things, but with COVID-19 we are not able to do that with capacity limitations and the schools usually participate. They are not really doing events like that this year.

Birmingham-based band Act of Congress will be providing a wide range of music that will help bring holiday cheer for guests of the event. They will play for two hours with a variety of familiar tunes for the holiday.

While the event is outdoors, the city is encouraging guests to wear masks since there is a good chance you might come within 6 feet of another person. However, the concert will be a socially-distanced event that everyone can enjoy.

The city is not planning on having food vendors at this time with the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

“We still wanted to be able to do something where people could get out and have a good time,” Allison said. “We are encouraging people to come out and enjoy the two hour Christmas concert.”

The event will be free to enter, and more information can be found by visiting the city of Pelham Facebook page or by visiting Pelhamalabama.gov.