This region has always showcased the arts through events and performances. Several wonderful, exciting, and new initiatives are on the horizon and will add to the quality of life available to our residents as well as visitors. Additional cultural opportunities can be found less than an hour away in Philadelphia.

Pottstown Symphony Orchestra
Under the brilliant leadership of its Music Director, Rosalind Erwin, the Pottstown Symphony Orchestra has become recognized as one of the finest orchestras in its class in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Pottstown Symphony, a musical institution for the past 44 years, presents a variety of programming which includes 3 masterworks concerts, a chamber music series, master classes by national and international soloists, a crossover concert and a highly successful Educational Outreach program reaching over 10,000 children in the Tri-County region.

The soloists who have performed with the Pottstown Symphony include some of the great names of music and the orchestra has become a regular feature on Philadelphia’s NPR radio station, WHYY.

The Pottstown Symphony is a cultural treasure, right in your own backyard. Come and experience great music and music making.

Village Productions / Tri-County Performing Arts Center
Village Productions is a non-profit performing arts organization founded in 2001 to create new and accessible performing arts opportunities for the community. Village Productions has presented numerous productions in the Tri-County Region and offer performing arts educational opportunities for all ages. Village Productions will open the Tri-County Performing Arts Center at 245 High St. in Pottstown in 2008. The new center will have a main stage black box theater with seating for 200, a lobby, offices, studios, rehearsal and classroom spaces, dressing rooms, costume shop, and prop and scene storage. Village Productions is working on completion of a capital campaign in support of the performing arts center, with international musician Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates) as the Honorary Chairperson, and international pop artist Romero Britto as the Honorary Co-Chairperson. Mr. Britto also is donating the interior lobby mural for the performing arts center as well as an outdoor sculpture for the Pottstown community.

Carousel at Pottstown Expo Center
The Carousel at Pottstown was created as a catalyst for the revitalization of Pottstown’s downtown area through the establishment of an historic, non-profit, and financially self-sustaining carousel that hosts a variety of community functions. The Carousel will be located at 30 W. King St. in Pottstown. In addition to the Derek Scott Saylor Memorial Carousel, the facility will include a kitchen to host caterers, a game arcade, and a snack bar. The facility will also be available for weddings, art shows, business meetings, and even large events such as the Pottstown Home Show.

The Carousel organization intends to duplicate the success of carousels around the country that have been used similarly to revitalize downtown areas. Carousels in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Oregon have been used to draw visitors to struggling downtown areas, some attracting as many as 225,000 visitors. The Carousel’s business plan indicates Pottstown’s Carousel may also draw a large population of visitors within the 10-mile radius of downtown Pottstown. When completed, the Carousel will be one of less than 150 all-wood grand carousels in North America and will hold 50 new and antique carved, solid wood figures recreated by local students, artists, and artisans. Currently, the Carousel organization sponsors annual events such as Casino Night and their Carousel of Flavor to raise money for the project.

Additional Cultural Features

The Schuylkill Valley Regional Dance Company is a local 501 (c) 3 organization that utilizes the talents of both professional and student dancers. They perform a minimum of three full length concerts per year under the tutelage of Artistic Director and international artist Michelle Jones Wurtz. The company is recognized and financially supported by the PA Council on the Arts and has been cited for its excellence.

Dance One Studios offers all varieties of dance for all ages in a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility. Its main focus is providing students with a credible program that focuses on dance as an art form as its foundation; an education that goes beyond steps on the dance floor.  It has a comprehensive curriculum that includes creative kids, technique classes and adult classes.

Montgomery County Community College’s Blue Bell and Pottstown sites, The Hill School Center for the Arts on The Hill School’s campus in Pottstown, and the Sovereign Center  in Reading offer many opportunities for the community to view a variety of concerts, dance, and theater performances for people of all ages.

The Pottstown Artists’ Guild meets monthly. Youth programs are provided by the Amity Children’s Theater. They provide children, ages 4 to 17, the opportunity to gain experience in all aspects of the performing arts. The Colonial Theatre is located in Phoenixville. It is owned and operated by the Association for the Colonial Theatre (ACT), a nonprofit corporation; ACT is committed to the full restoration of the Colonial as a cultural arts center. The Colonial reopened in 1999, showing art and independent films seven nights a week as well as classic films, children’s programs and live concerts.

Self guided architectural, mural and historic walking tour brochures of the Pottstown area are available in the Chamber Office.

Multiple museums are available for education and recreation in our region. The Phillip & Muriel Berman Museum of Art is located at Ursinus College, Main St., Collegeville. The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, located at 85 S. Walnut St. in Boyertown, also provides changing exhibits and educational programs. Historical sites include the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County and Montgomery County Parks and Heritage Services Department featuring Pottsgrove Manor. The National Centre for Padre Pio is visited by thousands paying tribute to Padre Pio.
There are many great art galleries, sites of interest, historic sites, and museums in the Tri-County Area.  Information about all of these cultural and historic sites can be found on the What To Do page. 

You may also contact the Convention & Visitors Bureaus listed below:

Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau
400 Exton Square Parkway
Exton, PA 19341
Jesse Walters, Director
610.280.6145
www.brandywinevalley.com

Reading and Berks County Visitors Bureau
352 Penn Street
Reading, PA 19602
Crystal Seitz, Director
800.443.6610 / 610.375.4085
www.readingberkspa.com

Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ltd.
600 W. Germantown Pike
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Paul Decker, President
610.834.1550
www.valleyforge.org