Arts & Culture

The arts and music extravaganza will run from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 24, and Sunday, May 25. New attractions this year include a drone show on Sunday night.

Nazareth Area High School's production won five Freddy Awards — including Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical — at the ceremony Thursday night at Easton's State Theatre.

The ninth annual Good Neighbor Awards recipients were Darian Colbert and Yolanda Colbert, Ilene Hochberg Wood and Judith A. Harris. The ceremony was held at the Univest Public Media Center, home to Lehigh Valley Public Media, which consists of PBS39, 91.3 WLVR Radio and LehighValleyNews.com.

ArtsQuest has announced the lineup for its free festival that celebrates the musical genre founded in Jamaica, which will return to the SteelStacks campus for a fourth year, from noon to midnight July 5.

Jerry Cantrell, who founded the band Alice in Chains, will perform a solo concert at 7 p.m. Sept. 2 at Archer Music Hall.

ArtsQuest, in partnership with the city, announced ArtsQuest’s Friday Concerts at Union Terrace Amphitheater.

The fair on Monday announced the free-with-admission lineup for its 173rd edition, which will run Aug. 27 through Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1, at Allentown Fairgrounds.

Kameron Marlow, best known for his 2021 platinum hit "Giving You Up" and 2022's gold "Steady Heart," will open the show at 7 p.m. Aug. 29, it was announced.

The celebration will take over Hamilton Street from 9th Street to 11th Street from 1 to 7 p.m., Sunday, May 18.

Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks will open the 2025 season — its 15th at the foot of the blast furnaces — with Boston indie pop-funk band Couch.

For the 172nd fair, which kicks off Aug. 28 and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 2, fair President Daryl Urmy has challenged concessionaires to come up with new treats at their stands. Eighteen concessions have responded, hoping fair-goers will belly up to their counters and try something new.

The Allentown Repertory Dance Theatre and Allentown Symphony Orchestra are seeking dancers for its celebrated annual production of The Nutcracker. Auditions for the performance are scheduled for Aug. 25 at Repertory Ballet Academy, 6426 Memorial Road, Allentown.

Jonny Craig, the singer who led indie bands Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa and Slaves, will perform at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at Northampton's Gin Mill & Grille.

The Pen Argyl restaurant was brought into the limelight by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy several months ago. Now it'll join Portnoy for his one-day One Bite Pizza Festival.

Allentown Rescue Mission began its art therapy program during the pandemic. It has since become one of the favorite classes among the men who temporarily reside at the shelter.

Gov. Josh Shapiro recently signed House Bill 829 and Senate Bill 688 into law. Both expand on the state's unusual and complex liquor laws, including an increase in happy hour and combo meal opportunities.

Dorney Park's Halloween Haunt, which features haunted mazes, elaborate scare zones and more, will return, the park announced.

Musikfest, the largest non-gated music festival in the country, said it still had record crowds for its headline Steel Stage, and the most sold-out headline shows in its history.

State Sen. Nick Miller said he hopes the federal funds drive more people to Miller Symphony Hall.

If you missed the fireworks display that brought Musikfest 2024 to a close, you can catch a time-lapse of it here, recorded from the Univest Public Media Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. The 11-day festival ended Sunday night.

Rod Stewart, who in his 55-year recording career has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States alone and had nearly 30 Top 25 hits, will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23.

While memories still are fresh, the reviewers at LehighValleyNews.com have ranked their favorites of Musikfest's 11 headline shows this year.