Arts & Culture

Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre is America’s oldest drive-in movie theater to still be in operation. It will celebrate its 89th birthday on April 15, 2023.

In the theater's latest production, "The Last Play," theater co-founder Bill George teamed up with his daughter, Anisa, to explore their journey as playwrights and actors.

This year's event promises to be a celebration of local history, architecture, interior design, original art, and fascinating stories.

Teams from Brandywine and Philadelphia will meet at Burnside Plantation to kick off their seasons, in an event hosted by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.

La Santa Cecilia, which in 2014 won the Grammy for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album and has been nominated twice, will perform at Levitt SteelStacks at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 26.

The 1982 hit includes the lyrics, “Well, we’re livin’ here in Allentown/And they’re closin’ all the factories down” – marking the city a symbol of the American rust belt. Some people who live in Allentown say it's not fair and not true.

Soviet-born Israeli-American classical pianist Yefim Bronfman, whose works have won a Grammy Award and also appeared in Disney films, will open the 73rd season of Allentown’s Miller Symphony Hall.

28 string musicians, most in middle school or younger, performed in Allentown's Miller Symphony Hall Sunday, as part of the Allentown orchestra's education program.

The concert will feature music from local composers and presented by a string quartet.

The two-day, family-friendly festival features lectures from authors, children's story-hours, a jazz brunch and movie night.

Alumni celebrated the PBS39 quiz show's 50-year run at the Iacocca Conference Center at Lehigh University on Friday. The celebration continued Saturday with a screening of a documentary at the Univest Public Media Center on the SteelStacks campus in Bethlehem.

Steep Canyon Rangers at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 22, stop at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. Tickets, at $39 and $49, remain available.

On Juneteenth, Allentown rapper and producer Red Mcfly and Pas Simpson presented "Hip Hop on the Wall" a new exhibition featuring pieces by local talent and well-known creatives at Art Haus. The exhibition will run through July 11.

About 900 feet above sea level, the nearly 100-foot-high beacon atop South Mountain sports 238 brand-new LEDs and a jump in wattage from 5.5 to 7 per lamp, according to Bethlehem Electrical Bureau Chief Greg Cryder.

Celebrate the start of summer with traditional folk dance and son jarocho music at the Charles A. Brown Ice House on Saturday, June 21.

ArtsQuest's new Movie Trivia Mayhem, a tournament-style movie trivia showdown, is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 16 at Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas in ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.

The Smashing Pumpkins founder and frontman Billy Corgan played a two-hour, 22-song set with his new band The Machines of God before a near-sellout crowd of perhaps 1,500 at Allentown's Archer Music Hall.

A cappella group Straight No Chaser, best known for its viral internet video of “Twelve Days of Christmas” mashed with Toto’s “Africa,” will perform at the theater Dec. 7. And Wizards of Winter, the popular rock-music-holiday show, will return at 3 p.m. Dec. 21.

The five-story cultural hub, which will replace the Banana Factory, will house a recording studio, a 125-seat theater, STEAM classes, a glass studio and programming in English and Spanish.

Crumb has started a short tour that brings it later this week to Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $41.80 for general admission standing, with pop band Kassie Krut as opening, remain available for the Thursday show.

The fair said Monday that Ace Frehley, former guitarist for KISS, and 1980s hard rockers Quiet Riot and Great White will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 30.

"Rooted: A Story of Artists Embracing Place" debuted on Sunday at Zoellner Arts Center. It is produced by Doug Roysdon, Dave Fry, Bill George, and Bridget George. The riveting film features interviews with Bethlehem's community leaders, directors, and arts advocates.