Arts & Culture

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

At its 30th anniversary, the Lehigh Valley's Magic: The Gathering scene is going strong say local players and game store owners. Some events have seen a downturn in players following the pandemic and expansion of online play, while others have seen a strong resurgence of new and returning players.

Caputo brings her live show to the Wind Creek Event Center on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20

This weekend is the 43rd annual Roasting Ears of Corn Festival, hosted by the Museum of Indian Culture. The two-day event will feature performances, cultural heritage demonstrations, artifact displays and more.

Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center will host its first Pride Parade Sunday. A step-off ceremony at 10:30 a.m. between 13th and 12th streets will be followed at 11 a.m. by the parade which will last about an hour.

A group of young artists, under the tutelage of muralist and teaching artist Matt Halm, took to the Lehigh Valley International Airport Friday to work on a brand new mural, allowing the kids to exercise their creativity and skills while appreciating public art.

The 30th anniversary of Lehigh Valley Pride will be highlighted at a festival on Sunday at Bethlehem's SteelStacks campus. The event will include food, vendors and drag performances, as well as many other activities.

ArtsQuest is holding "Beep Boop, Beep Boop: A Sci-Fi Film Festival," presenting fans of the genre with nine classic films.

Organizers had hinted that this year's crowds were expected to break records. On Tuesday, ArtsQuest confirmed it. More than 1.3 million visited Bethlehem during the 11 nights of Musikfest 2023.

The opening line of The Band's song "The Weight" — “I pulled into Nazareth/Was feelin' about half past dead” — has again put the spotlight on the Northampton County borough with the death of its writer, Robbie Robertson.

Listen to the Dissonance: Songs & Conversations About Mental Health will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 4 (doors and vendors open at 1:30) in the Charles Brown Icehouse, 56 River St., Bethlehem. Offered by Your Next Favorite Band podcast, the show will offer interviews and solo performances by five regional performers, then a songwriter roundtable with all the participating artists.

Season 32 winners Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy will appear at the "Dancing with the Stars Live!" tour at the Wind Creek Event Center.

ArtsQuest’s Concerts on the Grange, which kicked off last year as a two-day music festival featuring tribute acts to Upper Macungie Township’s Grange Park, this year will expand to four nights of music throughout spring and summer.

Allentown Art Museum hosted a reception for its new immersive and interactive exhibition ‘Restoring Petals,’ which reflects on the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic and honors those who died.

The series, at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema in the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, "promises to immerse audiences in the magic of 1999, a year celebrated for its groundbreaking and iconic films," an ArtsQuest release said.

The ice skating rink at SteekStacks, put on by ArtsQuest, will cap off its second winter in operation Monday. The nonprofit took a loss on ice skating there for a second year, according to the organizers.

Looking to lose the alcohol but still enjoy a drink this January? Bars in the Lehigh Valley have you covered, with craft brews and tasty mocktails which don't need booze to please your palate.

The troop from New Tripoli has set a goal of selling 6,000 boxes, with plans to use that money to fund a two-week trip to Europe next year.

Alvin Pettit’s statue design, “A Higher Power: The Call of a Freedom Fighter,” was selected from five finalists in a year-long process.

Dave & Buster's Lehigh Valley location doled out 200 passes for free games for a year Friday, drawing hundreds of people to the hybrid arcade/bar/restaurant.

Folks can volunteer or celebrate the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at these events happening in Allentown, Easton and Bethlehem.

The Allentown Art Museum has new immersive and interactive exhibition called Restoring Petals. The artwork — which includes framed poems, resin pieces and paper flowers — reflects on the isolation of the pandemic and honors those who died from Covid-19.