Arts & Culture

The 40th Musikfest drew to a successful close on Sunday night in Bethlehem. The nation's largest open-gate free music festival delivered more than 500 free performances, plus paid-ticket headliners. Organizers believe a record of roughly 1.25 million attended the 11-day event. An official count is expected to be announced Tuesday.

The Grammy-winning band closed out the 11-day spread with a 90-minute set of their biggest hits and covers of The Eagles and Journey.

Giuseppe Iatarola, 11, of Hellertown, is a widely known gearhead looking to make a mark on the automotive industry with his YouTube channel and MotorWeek segment.

In a stripped down production that felt custom-made for the Musikfest stage, Morris capped a 17-song set with three songs that put a rush of energy into the crowd as the skies opened up over Bethlehem.

Musikfest attracts tens of thousands of people to the city each day during its 10-day run. Officials said they’re continuously working to lessen the event’s impact on the environment.

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.

Here are the Musikfest acts and more you should see today, Saturday, Aug. 12.

The final weekend of Musikfest is upon us, and while the festival is perhaps its best-know attractions, its "spectacles" — as Musikfest calls them — and street performers have become important to the environment of the ‘Fest.

Recently retired Parkland art teacher Linda La Due said her students were her greatest masterpieces.

Alt-rock band Wheatus, known for its 2000 hit "Teenage Dirtbag, will play Musikfest's Americaplatz stage at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 11

The 241-year-old structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places will be completely renovated. It will become a hands-on interpretation and demonstration space for visitors to learn about colonial industrial trades and crafts.

Blast Furnace Blues Festival will celebrate its 10th year when it returns to ArtsQuest’s SteelStacks campus July 21-23, it was announced Friday.

Salsa bands and Latin Rock will take over for the festival that celebrates Hispanic culture June 23 - 25 at SteelStacks.

The “Traitors” and “Schmigadoon!” star performs at ArtsQuest on Thursday, April 20.

The festival features free outdoor concerts on Fridays and a special presentation of Bach's Mass in B Minor on Saturdays.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms fans painted the ice Tuesday night at the PPL Center in Allentown, leaving good luck messages for the team ahead of its first playoff game.

Joshua Rifkin will be in residence at Lafayette College for the 2023-24 academic year to help mark the 40th anniversary of Williams Center for the Arts.

The brand-new Strawberry Festival joins The Peach Festival and Harvest Festival that began last year, and includes a ribbon cutting for the historical barn as an events center.

Phillies superstar Bryce Harper, who sent Allentown into a frenzy with a rehab appearance last summer, might skip a trip to the Lehigh Valley this time around as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

'Steelwalker’ archive tours, led by former steelworkers, are back for the season.

ArtsQuest hosted this year's first Cars and Coffee car show Sunday, drawing thousands of automobile enthusiasts from across the region to see everything from new Lamborghinis and Ferraris to a vintage tractor.

The tour celebrates Jackson’s 50th anniversary in the music industry and will feature songs from her albums “The Velvet Rope” and “Janet.”