Arts & Culture

Juneteenth events are taking place throughout the Lehigh Valley. A large crowd took to Easton to celebrate the city's second annual Juneteenth parade on Sunday.

Lehigh Valley Friends Meeting, as the Quaker congregation is known, celebrated its 75th birthday Sunday with an open house in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

On Wednesday, June 19, DJ Prince Hakim (nee Hakim Bell) will be the musical entertainment from 2-8 p.m. for Allentown's downtown Juneteenth block party along Hamilton Street.

Dozens of vendors, musicians, and historians came together at SteelStacks in Bethlehem on Saturday to celebrate Juneteenth by exploring culture and history.

Jefferson Starship will play at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at Penn's Peak in Penn Forest Township. Tickets, at $28-$33, remain available at the Penn's Peak website.

The mural, by artist Mercedes Salazar, is a collaboration with Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance, Community Action of Development of Allentown, The Chamber Foundation and Allentown Mural Arts.

With help of sponsors D.G. Yuengling & Sons and Bazella Works, all men and women now serving in any branch of the military, all veterans and immediate family of those killed in action, are eligible to get tickets to a variety of events, ArtsQuest said.

The federal holiday is a week away, but that doesn't mean celebrations are that far out yet. Festivities are taking place all over the area, with Juneteenth Lehigh Valley scheduling events through June 19.

The Bethlehem film festival will feature close to 70 shorts and indie films ranging from documentaries to comedy and horror. The screenings begin Tuesday at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity and close on Saturday, June 15.

Rick Springfield, best known for his hits “Jessie’s Girl,” “I’ve Done Everything for You” and “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Tickets, at $39.50-$79.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, June 14, at www.windcreekeventcenter.com.

For the first time in its nearly 200-year history, the Philadelphia Flower Show will be held outdoors at a South Philly park beginning June 5 and running through June 13.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission says more people are taking to fishing and boating during the pandemic. The agency is getting ready for another busy summer season.

Musikfest, which claims to be the largest free concert festival in the country, is set to return this summer.

One of The Lehigh Valley’s largest and longest running events is returning. The Great Allentown Fair is slated to come back in September. 

The 105th annual Pennsylvania Farm Show is going virtual this year.

Lehigh County will now officially recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for workers. But the move to give employees the day off to honor African American independence from slavery was met with some opposition

The Allentown Art Museum announced that Max Weintraub is to be the museum's next President and CEO.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey will hold a rally organized by the Northampton County Republican Committee.

Bethlehem’s Touchstone Theatre is kicking off this year’s Festival UnBound Tonight with a Latinx Block Party on the city’s south side.

Gov. Tom Wolf says he wants to spend $1.3 billion in CARES Act money on things ranging from small business assistance to paid parental leave.

ArtsQuest officials in Bethlehem say they’ve lost nearly $19 million dollars in revenue since mid-March. With Musikfest being mostly virtual this year because of the pandemic, the nonprofit is now working to make next year’s festival possible.

One of the largest annual events in the Lehigh Valley - Musikfest - is going virtual and cancelling live shows this summer.