Arts & Culture

The Allentown Film Festival is now in its second year and will feature short films and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.

The event's theme this year is "All Jazzed Up," and students shared what they're excited — or jazzed up — about in their own lives.

Actor/comedian Patrick Roach, who plays the character Randy on “Trailer Park Boys,” will bring Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic to Maingate Nightclub on Saturday, June 1.

Violinist Diane Monroe and New Jersey-based dance group Nimbus are among the scheduled performers set for April at Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University.

Megan Campbell and her son Finley have just released their first storybook, "Home is Where the Heart is," which features some of the young man's favorite spots in Easton.

Blues Traveler, which also in the 1990s had five gold and platinum albums and whose 1990 hit "Run-Around" spent 49 weeks on the Top 100, will perform Aug. 24. Also on the show will be Big Head Todd and The Monsters, who had the Top 15 hits “Bittersweet,” “Broken Hearted Savior” and “Resignation Superman.”

A $900,000 grant to ArtsQuest and the City of Bethlehem will improve pedestrian infrastructure around the nonprofit's Banana Factory complex on Third Street.

A new event, Steel City Smokeout, will be held Saturday, July 20, on PNC Plaza on the SteelStacks campus in conjunction with Bethlehem restaurant Nick’s BBQ.

Moravian University students wrote and directed the productions as part of their Master of Fine Arts thesis projects. Their performances at Touchstone Theatre — spread out through April and starting this week — will explore disability, self-worth and creativity.

Heavyweight developer City Center plans to open its new music venue, The Archer, in the 900 block of Hamilton Street in Allentown later this fall. Construction is underway.

ArtsQuest produced a summer concert series in Allentown's Union Terrace Park to great acclaim, according to officials. It's set to culminate Friday night with a show featuring 1970s soft rock group Orleans and local act DMC Duo.

Billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, whose nomination Trump later withdrew, will be the inaugural guest for Lehigh’s new Future Makers Speaker Series.

Cardi B, best known for her 11-times-platinum hits "Bodak Yellow" in 2017 and "I Like It" (with Bad Bunny and J Balvin) in 2018, will appear in the area on Sept. 20.

The Harlem Globetrotters — those hilarious, historic clown princes of basketball, will return to the venue at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 — exactly a year since they took their last shot here, it was announced.

The event will mark 80 years since WWII’s end and its sister city bond with Tondabayashi, Japan, on Saturday, Sept. 13 with a peace mural unveiling, taiko drumming, and concerts at the Bethlehem Area Public Library and Congregation Brith Sholom.

Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience stops at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12 at Lehigh University's Zoellner Arts Center.

“Sacred Planet with Gulnaz Khan,” is a four-part documentary series focused on how indigenous leaders and traditional religious communities across the world are grappling with the impacts of climate change.

Moccasins Across America, a traveling group of First Nations people, made a stop in Easton on Tuesday to engage in a ceremony of reconciliation and healing.

The event, which features trucks 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide sitting atop 66-inch-tall tires, will have sessions at 7 p.m. Feb. 21; noon and 6 pm. Feb. 22; and noon and 6 p.m. Feb. 23.

Arlan and Pat Christ’s 1,000-piece quilt collection is featured in “Cutting Edge” at the Allentown Art Museum, with a special quilt turning event. The collection will be on display through Oct. 26. Admission to the museum is free.

The Darkness is on a U.S. tour that stops Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $45.75 and $48.05, remain available at the Archer website.

Ryan Eldredge, regional manager of public relations for Dorney Park and other Six Flags Entertainment Corp. properties, said operators continue to focus on refreshing and enhancing attractions.