Arts & Culture

1970s and 1980s hitmakers Heart and Cheap Trick will headline Allentown Fair grandstand this summer.

ArtsQuest Communications Director Jennifer LoConte confirmed in an email that the festival will be two days — a Friday/Saturday lineup — free to the public and presented outdoors at SteelStacks.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

As the North American Music Merchant's yearly show kicks off in California, music lovers in Nazareth can check out C.F. Martin's newest lineup at their local headquarters.

Jeff Dunham will headline the Allentown Fair's grandstand stage at 7 p.m. Sept. 1. The comic ventriloquist has sold more tickets at the fair than any other comedy artist.

Pentatonix, the five-member group whose self-titled album in 2015 and the follow up “A Pentatonix Christmas” in 2016 both hit No. 1, will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 31.

An Arab-American comedy exploring the breakdown of a marriage and the its ripple effect on a family will play at the Zoellner Arts Center.

Brad Paisley will headline Allentown Fair for the third time. He performed there in 2009, and in 2007 had Taylor Swift as his opening act.

.38 Special, best known for the 1981 hit “Hold on Loosely” and 1982’s “Caught Up in You,” will perform Aug. 16 as part of the series at Univest Performance Center.

The Black Crowes, best known for its No. 1 hits "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels" will perform at 8 p.m. on May 3 at Wind Creek.

The classic & antique car festival is expected to bring thousands of visitors and hundreds of cars to the park, dating back to the early 1900s.

The Musikfest show will be the first day — and second stop — in Allman’s See It All American Tour with Donovan Frankenreiter. The tour will be an attempt by Allman and Frankenreiter to set the official world record by playing 50 shows in 50 states in 49 days.

Philadelphia psyche-pop master Kurt Vile and The Violators, who topped the Adult Album Alternative charts with the 2015 song “Pretty Pimpin’” and have had three albums in the overall Top 50, will headline a concert with the late jazz great Sun Ra’s band The Sun Ra Arkestra at Allentown’s Miller Symphony Hall.

The opening acts for Musikfest's main stage headliners have been announced. They include several Lehigh Valley favorites.

Municipalities across the Lehigh Valley hosted National Night Out events, which are meant to bring police and community members together.

A completely dry stretch of weather is almost unheard of this time of year, said meteorologist Bobby Martrich of EPAWA Weather Consulting, the official forecaster of Musikfest.

The first celebration featured an array of talent with an emphasis on local artists.

With around 1 million people expected to attend Musikfest this year, health and safety take top priority for organizers. Everything from cooling misters to medical tents will be on site.

The Lower Macungie Township Historical Society is set to raise money for and produce a historical docudrama film focused on the 1799 Fries Rebellion, which led to a federal crackdown in the Macungie area during the John Adams administration.

ArtsQuest announced Monday that the Old World Wine Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Fowler Blast Furnace Room on the second floor of the ArtsQuest Center. And the two-session Fall Winefest & Market will be on Oct. 29 at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem.

As Musikfest kicks off next week, some notable figures in its history shared their perspectives on the humble beginnings and what it's become. Join in the action in Bethlehem from Aug. 3-13.

Local police departments are celebrating National Night Out Tuesday, a nationwide initiative to bring cops and community members together.