BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A comedian who was a writer on "Saturday Night Live" and went on to win three Emmy Awards will headline Musikfest's main Steel Stage on Aug. 1, it was announced Tuesday.
John Mulaney, who for six years was a writer on “Saturday Night Live” and starred in the short-lived FOX-TV series “Mulaney,” will perform at 7 p.m., it was announced by ArtsQuest, the nonprofit that produces Musikfest.
Tickets, the prices of which were not immediately announced, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 21 at the ArtsQuest website and the box office at the ArtsQuest Center at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.ArtsQuest
Tickets, the prices of which were not immediately announced, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 21 at the ArtsQuest website and the box office at the ArtsQuest Center at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.
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.
Mulaney is the third headliner announced for the festival, held in downtown and South Side Bethlehem.
On Monday, ArtsQuest announced fast-rising country music star Bailey Zimmerman will perform Aug. 6, and iconic comedy musician Weird Al Yankovicwill perform on Aug. 4.
Tickets for both of those acts also will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
Emmy-winning TV appearances
While with “Saturday Night Live,” Mulaney occasionally appeared on the show’s Weekend Update segment, and with show star Bill Hader created the recurring character Stefon, who gave emo reports on New York nightlife.
Mulaney was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series with the “Saturday Night Live” staff from 2009-2012.
He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2011 for a skit with Justin Timberlake, Seth Meyers and Katreese Barnes.
Most recently, Mulaney is host, writer and executive producer of his Netflix talk show "Everybody's Live with John Mulvaney."ArtsQuest release
He also had stand-up comedy specials on the Comedy Central channel in 2009 and 2012, and another, “New in Town,” on Netflix.
Mulaney also won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special in 2019 for the Netflix special "John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City" and in 2023 for the Netflix special "John Mulaney: Baby J."
Most recently, Mulaney is host, writer and executive producer of his Netflix talk show "Everybody's Live with John Mulvaney."
The show serves as the continuation of the series "Everybody's in LA." It features monologues, guests, pre-taped sketches, musical segments and more.
In December 2024, Mulaney starred in the Broadway play “All In: Comedy About Love,” alongside a cast including Fred Armisen, Richard Kind and Renee Elise Goldsberry.
Mulaney next will appear in the Amazon MGM Studios film, "Madden," an upcoming American biographical sports drama.
Mulaney performed at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem in 2025.
Mulaney and Pete Davidson were scheduled to appear at Easton’s State Theatre in 2020, but the show was canceled.
Early headliner announcements continue
The announcement of three of the festival's headliners is especially early for Musikfest. The festival for 2024 didn't announce even one headliner until Nov. 27, and not until Dec. 5 for 2022.
The early sale of tickets for the headline shows makes them obvious purchases for Christmas gifts.
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 said 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.
