Arts & Culture

Kutztown University's jazz ensemble was recognized by DownBeat magazine for Outstanding Performance in its Student Music Awards. It's the 10th win for Kutztown's commercial music program but the first for the jazz ensemble.

The annual Freddy Awards will take place at the State Theatre in Easton on May 23. Bangor Area High School's "Mean Girls: the High School Version," leads in nominations this year. Find a full list of the nominees here.

Tickets for both shows will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10, at ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, or at www.SteelStacks.org.

Months after the Da Vinci Science Center at PPL Pavilion opens with Dinos Alive, another interactive dinosaur event will move into Allentown as the Agri-Plex plays host to Jurassic Quest.

The Bereaved Mother's Day dinner was held at the Blendery at Seven Sirens Brewery in Easton. It offered a sentimental moment for mother's to honor their loved ones and lend support to one another.

The nine-man Straight No Chaser will perform at 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 7, the theater said in a release. Tickets, at $39.50-$74.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10, on the State Theatre website.

The Emmaus Memorial Triangle could get a major facelift. A veterans group seeks to build a new memorial complex there and rename it.

Malina Moye, who combines influences of hip hop, rock, funk and soul and whose 2018 album “Bad As I Wanna Be” topped the Blue Albums chart, will perform at the free festival.

The 116th Bethlehem Bach Festival takes place Fridays, May 10 and 17 and Saturdays, May 11 and 18 at the Zoellner Center for the Arts, Packer Memorial Church, Moravian University and Incarnation of our Lord Church.

Student identification cards, photographs from the 1800s and a fossil were found during renovations of the Clayton University Center at Packer Hall.

The festival, scheduled Oct. 21-22, will feature 5K and 10K races on Saturday and half marathon and half marathon relay races on Sunday. A half marathon relay also allows for a three-person team to run two five-mile legs and one 5K leg.

"Heart is the Hero" makes for the band's eighth studio album. The group will be sharing selections from that and more during the incoming fall tour, with shows throughout the Midwest, East Coast and Europe.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we have rounded up some of the best Latin eats in the Lehigh Valley.

Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity hosted a children's storytime hour sponsored by the Northampton chapter of conservative group Moms for Liberty.

The entire movie — all 2 hours and 48 minutes of it (more about that later) — is footage of a performance of Swift's Eras Tour concert filmed at the tour's last U.S. dates at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in early August.

Rainy weekends have put a damper on attendance at fall festivals in the Lehigh Valley.

A large crowd of Muslim and pro-Palestinian activists gathered in Center City Allentown to decry officials' full support of Israel in the wake of humanitarian concerns in Gaza. Many continue to mourn as thousands have been killed in both Gaza and Israel since last weekend's attack.

Barktoberfest at Grange Park will be held this Sunday after the forecast predicted rain all afternoon Saturday.

The initiative aspires to tell a "more complete" version of the state's history that includes Indigenous stories, something the DCED acknowledges has been lacking. Friday's announcement included a grant to help fund the project.

The two-day fun presents puppy-related events, sipping and shopping, and more.

On Thursday the new concert movie 'Taylor Swift The Eras Tour' will open at ArtsQuest's Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema, bringing Taylor Swift back to the Lehigh Valley in film version, but she has a long, real history in the area, as well.

The expanded ice rink, which will be 50-by-120 feet — 1,500 square feet bigger than last year — will officially open Nov. 21 and run through Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 15