Arts & Culture

The Christmas City tree lighting took place at Payrow Plaza on Friday, with Mayor J. William Reynolds and a group of children coming together to flip the switch around 5:30 p.m. following an enthusiastic countdown from the crowd.

Lehigh Valley Health Network is providing free parking in Downtown Bethlehem for the fourth consecutive year.

Construction started on the ice rink at SteelStacks just after Halloween. Workers are now putting the finishing touches on the venue, which opens Nov. 22. We captured the process, featured in a time lapse video.

With visitors set to weave through the open-air stalls of Bethlehem's Christkindlmarkt, many will be looking for seasonal items to purchase for friends and family. But not all are aware of the history and symbolism of the objects they’ll purchase.

This week, the LehighValleyNews.com digital desk handpicked three events for you to enjoy, including Easton Winter Village, Christkindlmarkt and Steelworkers’ Archives Walking Tours.

Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center met its funding goal to build a new Pride Café through donations and state budget funding.

The Office of Attorney General is now encouraging frustrated Swifties—Taylor Swift fans—to file complaints to the office.

Käthe Wohlfahrt of America sells German inspired and handcrafted holiday and seasonal décor at Bethlehem's Christkindlmarkt. They offer Nutcrackers, incense smokers, pyramids and ornaments reflecting skills of artisans that have flourished in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) of Germany for over 200 years.

A songwriting workshop at Broughal Middle School stems from a partnership between the Any Given Child program and Icehouse Tonight.

Lehigh Valley Salsa Social meets monthly in the Lehigh Valley to practice salsa and bachata. The dances are making a comeback among younger people thanks to TikTok and artists like Bad Bunny.

Ashley Rodrigues, a Moravian University student, recently attended Super Bowl LIX with Living Sport, a sports experience company. As a communications major, with a dream to go into sports broadcasting, she said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Bailey Spinn, who has nearly 16 million followers on TikTok and nearly 5 million subscribers to her YouTube channel — and viral YouTube pop-punk songs, as well — will perform at 6 p.m. June 18. Party Iconic: Hot to Go — a dance party named after Chappell's 2023 double-platinum hit and featuring music by the Grammy Awards' Best New Artist — will be at 8 p.m. March 29. And Let’s Sing Taylor — A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift will perform at 2 and 6:30 p.m. p.m. April 5.

Citing its lease ending, south Bethlehem paint-your-own pottery shop will reopen in the lifestyle center where it first opened 15 years ago.

Local artists teamed up to dispense their artwork from a vending machine at the Easton Public Market.

Arrival From Sweden: The Music of ABBA will perform July 18 at the venue, 301 W. Mill St., Quakertown, as part of the Sounds of Summer Concert Series.

Hollywood Undead, best known for the 2008 hit "Undead" and 2009's "Everywhere I Go," will perform a paid-ticket concert at the venue at 7 p.m. May 13, it was announced. The show also will feature gold-selling rock band Set It Off and charting rap-rocker Zero 9:36.

Attendees will receive a piece of artwork during the benefit, which takes place Friday at the JuxtaHub.

The 26th annual Lehigh Valley Auto Show will be held March 20-23 at Lehigh University. More than 400 vehicles, domestic and imported, will be on display.

Sting, who topped the charts with such songs as "Every Breath You Take" as bassist and vocalist of The Police, then with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" as a solo artist, will perform Nov. 20-21.

Live Nation head of club programming Molly Warren said the Archer is viewed as a resource being built where there's already a "thriving community" for music — the Lehigh Valley — that embraces artists of many genres.

A punk band that started at Nazareth Area High School will perform at 7 p.m. April 12 in the venue's The Arrow room. And Emo Night Brooklyn, which started as parties in the 2010s that captured the youthful, Do It Yourself milieu of the genre, will perform at 8 p.m. March 22, also in The Arrow.