Arts & Culture

Skateboarders and rollerbladers were enjoying the skatepark at Jordan Park on Wednesday, just before the Allentown City Council approved funding for the second phase of the park's construction.

Lehigh Valley Pride will be free this year. It will be on Sunday, August 20, from 2 to 8:30 p.m. at the SteelStacks campus.

Vanessa Collier, a saxophonist/singer, will open this year's season of free concerts at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 19.

The students will present their original scripts for the first time at a performance at Zoellner Arts Center on Friday, May 19.

Get ready for a mouthwatering fiesta at the annual Taco Fest in Easton, featuring delicious tacos from local food trucks, and refreshing beverages from breweries and bars.

A new ArtsQuest festival that will bring three days of family-friendly music, games, food and amusements to Upper Macungie Township, announced in February as a paid-ticket event, now will be free, organizers announced.

Three exhibits examine the impact of silk in the Lehigh Valley, from its early years to its end in the mid-1900s.

Artists at the 58th annual Fine Art & Craft Show took some time to share their stories, passions and inspirations behind their efforts. The two-day show organized by the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission continues Sunday.

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

Local bands will perform at a series of concerts scheduled Sunday from May 21 through June 11 at the Harmony Pavilion on the South Bethlehem Greenway.

Arrival From Sweden: The Music of ABBA will perform July 18 at the venue, 301 W. Mill St., Quakertown, as part of the Sounds of Summer Concert Series.

Hollywood Undead, best known for the 2008 hit "Undead" and 2009's "Everywhere I Go," will perform a paid-ticket concert at the venue at 7 p.m. May 13, it was announced. The show also will feature gold-selling rock band Set It Off and charting rap-rocker Zero 9:36.

Attendees will receive a piece of artwork during the benefit, which takes place Friday at the JuxtaHub.

The 26th annual Lehigh Valley Auto Show will be held March 20-23 at Lehigh University. More than 400 vehicles, domestic and imported, will be on display.

Sting, who topped the charts with such songs as "Every Breath You Take" as bassist and vocalist of The Police, then with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" as a solo artist, will perform Nov. 20-21.

Live Nation head of club programming Molly Warren said the Archer is viewed as a resource being built where there's already a "thriving community" for music — the Lehigh Valley — that embraces artists of many genres.

A punk band that started at Nazareth Area High School will perform at 7 p.m. April 12 in the venue's The Arrow room. And Emo Night Brooklyn, which started as parties in the 2010s that captured the youthful, Do It Yourself milieu of the genre, will perform at 8 p.m. March 22, also in The Arrow.

Lisa VanArsdale, a local podcaster and comedian, will perform her one-woman show on Sunday, Feb. 23.

James Arthur, who won the ninth series of "The X Factor" in Britian 2012 and is best known for the 2016 hit "Say You Won't Let Go," will perform at the event center at 7:30 p.m. July 3.

Three chart-topping reggae-based bands will perform at 8 p.m. June 11 at the Musikfest Cafe. Joining Tropidelic will be reggae-rock band Ballyhoo! and Reggae-punk band Authority Zero.

Who needs hearts when you have Hambone? The beloved IronPigs 'Pork Racers' are teaming up to deliver goodies to sweethearts across the Lehigh Valley.

Fresh off a Super Bowl victory, Eagles star Saquon Barkley gave a nod to Coplay and Whitehall as helping to shape him as a football player and a person. Barkley was interviewed on "The Howard Stern Show" on SiriusXM.