BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A country music singer whose 2023 debut album sold double-platinum and who last year was nominated for the Country Music Association New Artist of the Year is the first headliner announced for Musikfest 2026.
Bailey Zimmerman, best known for his multi-platinum hits "Fall in Love," "Rock and a Hard Place" and "Religiously," will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 6, ArtsQuest revealed Monday.
Tickets, the prices of which were not immediately announced, go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday at the ArtsQuest Center box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, at the ArtsQuest website and 610-332-3378.ArtsQuest release
Tickets, the prices of which were not immediately announced, go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday at the ArtsQuest Center box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, at the ArtsQuest website and 610-332-3378.
For its 43rd year, Musikfest will run July 31-Aug. 9. It has not been announced whether there will be a preview night on July 30.
Zimmerman shot to fame with the viral success of his debut single, “Fall in Love,” in 2022, becoming the fastest debut country artist in over a decade to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
The song is now quadruple platinum.
Early-career standout
Zimmerman's 2023 debut album "Religiously. The Album," released in 2023, made history with the biggest streaming debut for a country album ever.
It featured four consecutive No. 1 singles — “Fall in Love”; the five-times-platinum, six-week No. 1 “Rock And A Hard Place”; the four-times platinum "Religiously"; and the platinum "Where It Ends."
Zimmerman released his sophomore album, "Different Night Same Rodeo" in August and continued his rapid rise with 2024 singles “Holy Smokes,” “Holding On” and “New To Country.”
Zimmerman has performed on "Good Morning America," "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and the American Country Music Awards.
Early announcement for headliner
The announcement of the festival's first headliner comes early, but not as early as the first headliner announced for this year's festival, country singer Riley Green, which was revealed Nov. 11.
That was the second-earliest ever. The earliest concert announcement was the Nov. 9, 2018, announcement of Train and Goo Goo Dolls.
The first 2024 headliner was announced on Nov. 27, 2023, and the first for 2023 was announced Dec. 5, 2022.
Musikfest said 1,449,000 people attended in 2025 — up 429,000 or 42% over the previous year and almost 9% over the previous high of 1,330,000 in 2023.ArtsQuest
Musikfest said 1,449,000 people attended in 2025 — up 429,000 or 42% over the previous year and almost 9% over the previous high of 1,330,000 in 2023.
Also, Musikfest aid it sold 60,800 tickets to its 11 headline concerts — the most ever, and eclipsing by 6,000 tickets, or 10%, the previous best of 54,786 last year.
Musikfest had four sold-out headline shows at its main Steel Stage, and all were country music artists: Megan Moroney, Riley Green, Darius Rucker and Jordan Davis on Aug. 9.
The festival featured more than 500 free performances across 16 stages on Bethlehem's North Side and the SteelStacks campus in South Bethlehem.
