Berglund Center Coliseum

FREE EVENT

The City of Roanoke Stormwater Utility, Emergency Management, and public safety partners are hosting Roanoke’s 2023 Prepareathon, an initiative with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that encourages local organizations and individuals to be prepared for flooding and other natural disasters that affect our local area. Prepareathon will be held on Saturday, September 16, 2023, from 10 AM - 2 PM at the Berglund Center Coliseum and will focus on aspects of emergency preparedness and response.

This free, family-friendly event provides participants knowledge about risks of local hazards, opportunities to practice preparedness actions, the confidence to help everyone stay safe during a disaster, and access to FEMA preparedness resources. This event will be both fun and informative, so residents can connect to the resources before a disaster happens. We want everyone in Roanoke to be prepared in case of disaster. Disasters don’t plan, but you can!

Here are several fun things coming to Prepareathon:

● Meet your local rescue team

● Take pictures with and explore state of the art rescue equipment and vehicles

● Learn about your local hazards

● Build confidence in and connection with local resources

● Enter chance to win preparedness kits and other prizes

● Food and ice cream

Residents of the City of Roanoke, Roanoke County, Vinton and all surrounding areas are invited to attend and participate.

Please contact Rachel Pence, Environmental Specialist, Stormwater Utility at rachel.pence@roanokeva.gov or (540) 853-5915 if you would like to apply to be a vendor at this event to showcase your offerings, services, or products as they relate to emergency preparedness and recovery.

For updates, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, or the Event Website.

For media inquiries please contact communityengagement@roanokeva.gov.

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BERGLUND CENTER COLISEUM

Tickets: $14-26 (Adult), $12-24 (Kids 2-12)

Parking: $10 or Free Shuttle

Doors Open - 6:00 PM, Game Start Time 7:05

Represent the Roanoke Valley on 540 Night! Roanoke faces the Fayetteville Marksmen in a night all about the 540. Sponsored by Haley Toyota of Roanoke. Puck drops at 7:05 P.M. We'll see ya there!

Berglund Performing Arts Theatre

SHOWTIME: 7:00 PM

Suggested 16 +

*Yondr Fan Advisory

This event will be a phone-free experience. Use of cellphones, smart watches, smart accessories, cameras, or recording devices will not be permitted in the performance space.

Upon arrival at the venue, all phones, smart watches, and accessories will be secured in Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event. Guests maintain possession of their belongings at all times and can access their phones throughout the event at designated Phone Use Areas in the venue. All phones will be re-secured in Yondr pouches before returning to the event space.

Anyone seen using a non-permitted device during the performance will be escorted out of the venue. Guests are encouraged to bring a credit card for purchases inside the venue. We appreciate your cooperation in creating a phone-free viewing experience.

Crowned by Vulture as “stand-up comedy’s most prolific storyteller,” Ali Siddiq has built a dedicated massive fanbase clamoring to attend his live shows and watch his masterful independently produced and released specials. He premiered his four-part stand-up series The Domino Effect 1-4 in 2022-2024 which has amassed over 47 million views. The storytelling saga cemented Ali’s reputation as a master craftsman of narrative comedy. Each chapter became a cultural event, landing Ali among the top-viewed comedians on YouTube year after year.

Also during that time, Ali released the special Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover (2023) which has amassed 6 million views. In 2025 alone he released 3 more hour standup specials, My Two Sons (12M+ views), Rugged (7M+ views) and Mondays (3M+ views). Deadline included Ali in their list of “Comics Who Won 2025” and My Two Sons earned Siddiq a 2026 NAACP Nomination for “Outstanding Variety Series or Special.” He will be releasing 3 more new hour specials in 2026 that have already been filmed. An emerging comedy mogul, Ali also executive-produces and distributes multiple specials for other comedians including Malik S. and Ryan Davis, with a 2^nd special from Marcus D. Wiley coming up on February 1.

From Houston, TX, Ali developed his unmistakable voice in one of the most unlikely places — behind the walls of incarceration, where storytelling was survival, currency, and community. Comedy Central would later sent him back inside a Texas jail to film It’s Bigger Than These Bars (4M+ views). Today, that same voice has made him one of the most watched, respected, and consistently viral comedians in the world.

For more information - www.AliSiddiq.com