On Saturday, June 10, Abingdon’s Barter Theatre marks its 90th Birthday with its annual Barter Day celebration, inviting audiences to barter for admission with shelf-stable food donations to benefit the Feeding Southwest Virginia food pantry. Food City, headquartered in Abingdon, will donate $1,800 worth of Food City Gift Cards to the cause as Barter’s one and only 2023 Premier Sponsor. This is the equivalent of feeding 90 local families in Southwest Virginia. Theatergoers can barter for their tickets to the 2pm performance of Footloose at Barter’s Gilliam Stage and 10am performance of Robin Hood at Barter’s Smith Theatre with The Barter Players.

Major turnout is expected on Saturday from town locals, longtime patrons, and fans of the theatre’s from throughout the region, all eager to participate in the event’s nostalgic nod to the historic theatre’s unique origin story: Founded in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression, the price for admission for a show at Barter Theatre was 40 cents, or the equivalent in produce and livestock. Four out of five theatergoers bartered goods from their farms. Actors and playwrights were paid for their work in food. Today Barter Theatre is an economic engine of its town; for every $1 spent by Barter Theatre, $3.99 is injected into Abingdon’s economy.

Event Schedule + Photo/Interview Opps:

• 9:00 am - Feeding SWVA Truck Arrives (Smith Theatre) 

• 10:00 am - Barter Day Performance of Robin Hood (Smith Theatre)

• 11:00 am - Youth Birthday Party / Robin Hood Meet & Greet (Smith Theatre)

• 12:30 pm - Feeding SWVA Truck Outside of Gilliam

• 2:00 pm - Barter Day Performance of Footloose (Gilliam Stage)

• 5:00 pm - Presentation of Food City Gift Card to Feeding SWVA 

About Barter Theatre:

Barter Theatre, the nation’s longest running professional theatre, is located in Abingdon, Virginia. The theatre opened in 1933 during the Great Depression. Founder Robert Porterfield offered patrons admission to the theatre by bartering food and livestock. Barter Theatre was designated as the State Theatre of Virginia in 1946. It exists today as one of the last year-round professional resident repertory theaters remaining in the United States. Barter Theatre is funded in part by The Virginia Commission for the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts.

About Food City

Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 151 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia, and Alabama.