Arts & Culture

Lehigh Valley's 'Spooktacular' Hot Air Balloon festival is on Friday through Sunday and there's a lot more going on than just balloons

This year, people seeking Halloween thrills have a real selection of places to go and things to see: Have a butterbeer, a ride in a spooky hot air balloon or scream your lungs out. Your choice.

LehighValleyNews.com newsroom has handpicked 3 Valley events for you to enjoy this weekend. This week we feature Autumn Splendor Fall Foliage Train Ride, Eerie Easton Walking Tours and a very Lit performance at Musikfest Cafe.

Alternative rock band Lit, which became famous in the '90s with their hit song "My Own Worst Enemy," will be playing at 7 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 16. at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

A Bethlehem Township family is going all out for their haunted garage, but other nearby community attractions will be dark this Halloween. One of them has spooked its last visitor.

Imagine the Bidens singing and celebrating this holiday season around a tree from the Evergreen Acres farm this Chrismas.

Moravian history and spooky anecdotes from the past are given a spotlight on this hour-and-a-half walk through Emmaus' past and present to usher in the Halloween season

The 10th annual Luncheon with the Authors, a fundraiser of Society of the Arts – the nonprofit organization supporting the Allentown Art Museum, was held Thursday at Lehigh Country Club in Lower Macungie Township.

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites will host the Lehigh Valley Antique Treasure Show on Saturday at the Moravian Museum. Visitors can come watch the appraisal process or bring their own treasures for experts from area auction houses to evaluate.

Hardy, whose 2023 album "The Mockingbird & The Crow" topped the Country Albums chart and produced the platinum hits "Wait in the Truck" (featuring Lainey Wilson), "Truck Bed" and "Sold Out," will perform at 7 p.m. March 26.

KC and The Sunshine Band, who had the hit “Boogie Shoes” in a run of six No. 1 songs and five others that hit the Top 40 from 1975 to ’79, will play State Theatre on Saturday, March 28.

Allentown Symphony's New Chamber Music Concert series will start with "Innovation" in the Da Vinci Science Center's Curiosity Center at 7 p.m. Oct. 28.

Saves The Day, whose albums "Stay What You Are" in 2001 and "In Reverie" in 2003 were the prototype for emo-punk, will perform at Archer Music Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 9. Sharing the bill will be Glassjaw and Soul Blind.

"Kinky Boots," whose six Tony wins came from 13 nominations, and which also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album, will be performed Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, the theater announced.

Trapt, with supporting acts Never Ready, William H. Taft and Honky Tonk Medics, will perform tonight at the Gin Mill & Grill,1750 Main St., Northampton. General admission standing tickets, at $20 each, can be found at Ticketweb.com.

Call it sludge, stoner metal, heavy rock, whatever. Melvins, one of the most influential acts in the game, came out to Musikfest Cafe on Thursday and played an incredible set exploring its vast and varied four decades.

"Iron Chef" winner Jose Garces has opened Okatshe, a Japanese-inspired izakaya on Hamilton Street, with an eight-foot sushi roll instead of a ribbon-cutting. Located across from Rosa Blanca, Okatshe offers small plates, sushi, sake,and whiskey in a modern take on Japan’s traditional neighborhood bar.

Former Phillies Steve Carlton and Ricky Bottalico were at a meet-and-greet event at Coca-Cola Park on Thursday. The event was sponsored by St. Luke's University Health Network, of which Carlton is a community ambassador.

The 2026 Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic, a PGA TOUR Champions event, will be held Sept. 28-Oct. 4 at Lehigh Country Club. The 54-hole tournament will feature a field of 78 PGA TOUR Champions players.

The festival spans two weekends of authentic German traditions, including stein holding competitions, bratwurst eating contests, live polka bands, schuhplattler dancers, dachshund races and new contests.

After three years of low attendance because of inclement weather, the 2025 Celtic Classic & U.S. Highland Games returned with crowds and a packed celebration of the Celtic regions: Ireland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Scotland, and Wales.