The Salem Civic Center is a 6,820-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combine ...

. It was built in 1967 and is part of the James E. Taliaferro Sports and Entertainment Complex (named after a former mayor of Salem), which also includes Salem Stadium and the Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. The Salem Civic Center was originally known as the Salem-Roanoke Valley Civic Center, but the county withdrew its financial backing in the 1980s. The civic center was home to the Salem Rebels and

Salem Raiders The Salem Raiders were a professional hockey team that played in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) and Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL). They were originally the Utica Mohawks from 1978 to 1980 then became the Salem Raiders for the 1980–81 sea ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

teams in the 1960s and 1970s. The NCAA

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

men's college basketball championship was held at the civic center for many years.

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

, rodeos, and high school basketball games are typical events. In addition to sporting events, the Salem Civic Center also hosts

concerts A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

circuses A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyc ...

, conventions and trade shows. The annual Roanoke Valley Horse Show and Salem Fair are held at the civic center and the adjacent grounds. It is also currently the largest convention facility in the

Roanoke Valley The Roanoke Valley ( ) in southwest Virginia is an area adjacent to and including the Roanoke River between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Appalachian Plateau to the west. The valley includes much of Roanoke County, as well as the ...

; there is a total of of space in the main arena, the community room (which can be divided into three smaller rooms) and three other rooms.

Use in ''Borat''

The center was infamously used for a scene in the 2006 mockumentary movie ''

Borat ''Borat'' (also known as ''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'') is a 2006 mockumentary directed by Larry Charles, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional Kazakhs, Kazakh jou ...

'', which includes the

titular character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

singing a made-up (and humorously insulting) version of the Kazakhstan national anthem to the tune of "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

" to a jeering Virginian crowd who were not aware of the mockumentary being made.

External links

Official Website
Ice hockey venues in Virginia Convention centers in Virginia Sports venues in Salem, Virginia College basketball venues in Virginia Rodeo venues in the United States 1967 establishments in Virginia Sports venues completed in 1967 {{Rodeo-stub