Arts & Culture

Lehigh Valley's 'Spooktacular' Hot Air Balloon festival is on Friday through Sunday and there's a lot more going on than just balloons

This year, people seeking Halloween thrills have a real selection of places to go and things to see: Have a butterbeer, a ride in a spooky hot air balloon or scream your lungs out. Your choice.

LehighValleyNews.com newsroom has handpicked 3 Valley events for you to enjoy this weekend. This week we feature Autumn Splendor Fall Foliage Train Ride, Eerie Easton Walking Tours and a very Lit performance at Musikfest Cafe.

Alternative rock band Lit, which became famous in the '90s with their hit song "My Own Worst Enemy," will be playing at 7 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 16. at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

A Bethlehem Township family is going all out for their haunted garage, but other nearby community attractions will be dark this Halloween. One of them has spooked its last visitor.

Imagine the Bidens singing and celebrating this holiday season around a tree from the Evergreen Acres farm this Chrismas.

Moravian history and spooky anecdotes from the past are given a spotlight on this hour-and-a-half walk through Emmaus' past and present to usher in the Halloween season

The 10th annual Luncheon with the Authors, a fundraiser of Society of the Arts – the nonprofit organization supporting the Allentown Art Museum, was held Thursday at Lehigh Country Club in Lower Macungie Township.

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites will host the Lehigh Valley Antique Treasure Show on Saturday at the Moravian Museum. Visitors can come watch the appraisal process or bring their own treasures for experts from area auction houses to evaluate.

About 900 feet above sea level, the nearly 100-foot-high beacon atop South Mountain sports 238 brand-new LEDs and a jump in wattage from 5.5 to 7 per lamp, according to Bethlehem Electrical Bureau Chief Greg Cryder.

Celebrate the start of summer with traditional folk dance and son jarocho music at the Charles A. Brown Ice House on Saturday, June 21.

ArtsQuest's new Movie Trivia Mayhem, a tournament-style movie trivia showdown, is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 16 at Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas in ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.

The Smashing Pumpkins founder and frontman Billy Corgan played a two-hour, 22-song set with his new band The Machines of God before a near-sellout crowd of perhaps 1,500 at Allentown's Archer Music Hall.

A cappella group Straight No Chaser, best known for its viral internet video of “Twelve Days of Christmas” mashed with Toto’s “Africa,” will perform at the theater Dec. 7. And Wizards of Winter, the popular rock-music-holiday show, will return at 3 p.m. Dec. 21.

The five-story cultural hub, which will replace the Banana Factory, will house a recording studio, a 125-seat theater, STEAM classes, a glass studio and programming in English and Spanish.

Crumb has started a short tour that brings it later this week to Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $41.80 for general admission standing, with pop band Kassie Krut as opening, remain available for the Thursday show.

The fair said Monday that Ace Frehley, former guitarist for KISS, and 1980s hard rockers Quiet Riot and Great White will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 30.

"Rooted: A Story of Artists Embracing Place" debuted on Sunday at Zoellner Arts Center. It is produced by Doug Roysdon, Dave Fry, Bill George, and Bridget George. The riveting film features interviews with Bethlehem's community leaders, directors, and arts advocates.

Night at the Drive-In: On Tuesday, June 17, Shankweiler's will host Brad Klein and Marty McGuire for Watching the Skies' first live event. And they will screen (also for the first time) a presentation by Bethlehem’s "Backyard Astronomer" about his favorite planet, Mars.

Juneteenth Lehigh Valley celebrated its fifth year — a wet one — on the SteelStacks campus.

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts graduate is reuniting with her fellow "The Voice" contestants and will release a new single in the fall.