Arts & Culture

The Lehigh Valley Vegan Chef Challenge is asking local eateries to put their best plant-based dishes forward, and for the community to rate their favorites to find a champion.

The venue on Thursday touted the installation of a massive, high-definition videoboard that nearly doubles the size of the original display installed in 2014.

Easton's South Side now has an artistic historic mural, detailing the neighborhood's rich history of famous spots and individuals which have kept the community going for nearly two centuries.

Jason Aldean, who performed at PPL Center in 2016 and drew Allentown Fair’s biggest crowd in the past 20 years, will perform at the arena at 7 p.m. Jan. 30, it was announced.

Post-hardcore band Chiodos, whose 2005 album "Bone Palace Ballet" hit No. 1 on Billboard's Rock, Indie and Alternative charts, will perform at 7 p.m. Nov. 22, it was announced. Joining it will be Hawthorne Heights, the rock band whose 2006 album "If Only You Were Lonely" hit No. 1 on the Indie chart and sold gold, and also had a gold album with 2005's "The Silence in Black and White."

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.

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.

Night at the Drive-In: On Tuesday, June 17, Shankweiler's will host Brad Klein and Marty McGuire for Watching the Skies' first live event. And they will screen (also for the first time) a presentation by Bethlehem’s "Backyard Astronomer" about his favorite planet, Mars.

Juneteenth Lehigh Valley celebrated its fifth year — a wet one — on the SteelStacks campus.

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts graduate is reuniting with her fellow "The Voice" contestants and will release a new single in the fall.

High school Ultimate Frisbee teams from across the U.S. began competing Friday in the High School National Invite tournament, held in the Lehigh valley for the first time.