Arts & Culture

The 40th Musikfest drew to a successful close on Sunday night in Bethlehem. The nation's largest open-gate free music festival delivered more than 500 free performances, plus paid-ticket headliners. Organizers believe a record of roughly 1.25 million attended the 11-day event. An official count is expected to be announced Tuesday.

The Grammy-winning band closed out the 11-day spread with a 90-minute set of their biggest hits and covers of The Eagles and Journey.

Giuseppe Iatarola, 11, of Hellertown, is a widely known gearhead looking to make a mark on the automotive industry with his YouTube channel and MotorWeek segment.

In a stripped down production that felt custom-made for the Musikfest stage, Morris capped a 17-song set with three songs that put a rush of energy into the crowd as the skies opened up over Bethlehem.

Musikfest attracts tens of thousands of people to the city each day during its 10-day run. Officials said they’re continuously working to lessen the event’s impact on the environment.

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.

Here are the Musikfest acts and more you should see today, Saturday, Aug. 12.

The final weekend of Musikfest is upon us, and while the festival is perhaps its best-know attractions, its "spectacles" — as Musikfest calls them — and street performers have become important to the environment of the ‘Fest.

Recently retired Parkland art teacher Linda La Due said her students were her greatest masterpieces.

Alt-rock band Wheatus, known for its 2000 hit "Teenage Dirtbag, will play Musikfest's Americaplatz stage at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 11

The enchanted fairy tale will be performed by 100 cast members at the Zoeller Arts Center.

Bluesy rocker Boz Scaggs, best known for his 1970s hits "Lowdown" and "Ledo Shuffle," performs at 7 p.m. Sunday at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown.

Greenway Pride will be held 1-4 p.m. Saturday, May 20, on the Greenway between Taylor and Adams streets.

The Water Lantern Festival is coming to Allentown; the event has a non-refundable ticket policy customers should be aware of.

ArtsQuest announced a grand re-opening of the first floor of its ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem will be held 5:30 p.m. Monday. The organization also announced a "generous gift" from Crayola for its planned ArtsQuest Cultural Center, which is slated to replace the Banana Factory in Bethlehem.

If nostalgia is your jam, ArtsQuest has something special for you this summer — a limited-edition Musikfest mug.

The 6th Annual Food Truck Thursday, at South Mall, will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will happen every Thursday from May 18 to Sept. 14.

Christopher Jackson discusses his plans for the Bach Choir with Brad Klein.

Lehigh Valley Pride will be free this year. It will be on Sunday, August 20, from 2 to 8:30 p.m. at the SteelStacks campus.

Vanessa Collier, a saxophonist/singer, will open this year's season of free concerts at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 19.

The students will present their original scripts for the first time at a performance at Zoellner Arts Center on Friday, May 19.

J&J Demolition Derby, a Labor Day mainstay at Allentown Fairgrounds, will return to the fair for its closing-night grandstand entertainment offering.