Arts & Culture

Construction is set to begin after the former Banana Factory building is demolished in March. There, the new ArtsQuest Creative Factory will house a Martin Guitar recording studio, volunteer center, artist studios and a year-round comedy club.

Chicago, which is among the Top 30 bestselling music acts of all time, with more than 120 million copies of its 46 albums sold worldwide, will perform on Musikfest's main Steel Stage on Aug. 5.

The broad range of shows coming to Allentown's new Archer Music Hall includes an all-star revue of New Orleans musicians that headlined Musikfest's main stage, an iconic original punk band and an early 2000s teen chart-topper.

The new exhibits feature artwork by well-known creatives and former residents of the New Arts Program, plus pieces by local artists Rain Black and Mallory Zondag.

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers tribute band Damn the Torpedoes will perform Friday, Jan. 17, at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

A top-priced $99 ticket for country star Darius Rucker at Musikfest on Aug. 3 normally would come with a $10 service fee, a $8.50 Musikfest venue fee and a $1 ticket vendor fee. So normally, you'd pay $19.50 in fees (a 19.7% upcharge) per ticket. But not today.

The fledgling cultural center on Church Road in Martins Creek is at the former Good Shepherd Church, built in 1864. The center offers monthly lunches for seniors, free classes for children, monthly movie nights, book clubs and gardening.

The 109th PA Farm Show is in full swing and continues through Saturday in Harrisburg. Find out how Lehigh Valley competitors placed in the Family Living and Commodities competitions.

Ahead of the Civic Theatre's staging of "Jesus Christ Superstar," Ted Neeley, star of the 1973 film, will visit Allentown for a special appearance.

The Lehigh Valley Arts and Culture Alliance is offering grants to individual artists and nonprofits to help revamp parts of downtown Allentown. LVACA also seeks artists to paint a mural on the Spiral parking garage on Linden St.

The free expo is now in its seventh year and will occur from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 15, at Penn State Lehigh Valley.

Jon Gosselin will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, March 14 art the grand opening of Americus Nights, a posh nightclub at the Americus Hotel in downtown Allentown.

The Black Crowes, best known for its No. 1 hits "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels" will perform on the festival's main Steel Stage at 7 p.m. Aug. 4.

Alabama, which has sold more than 75 million albums and charted 43 No.1 hits to become the most successful band in the history of country music, will headline the Allentown Fair's Grandstand stage on Thursday, Aug. 28.

William Donner, an anthropology professor at Kutztown University, led a presentation over the weekend on the history of what was once known as the country's oldest folk festival. He lectured at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum.

Surrounded by family, friends and fans, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley addressed an enthusiastic and raucous crowd at the PPL Center. It came a month after winning the Super Bowl and days after signing a contract extension that made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

Cavalera is taking its music with Sepultura back to fans in a tour that stops tonight, March 8, at Allentown's new Archer music hall — the first national act to perform at the venue.

Friday evening welcomed the reopening of The Gap Theatre in Wind Gap, where Harry Guerro launched the event with a showing of the first two Indiana Jones films.

Formed in 2008, local weekend event in May features separate day of beer and wine tastings, followed by a for-kids-only day of art and science fun.

Americus Nights will be on the lowest level of the Americus Hotel at Sixth and Hamilton streets. It will hold a grand opening at 8 p.m. March 14 with DJ Jon Gosselin, formerly a star of the reality TLC TV show, "Jon and Kate Plus 8."

Archer Music Hall, Allentown's downtown entertainment venue is brand new — so new, it had its official ribbon-cutting and first concert Thursday. But its roots in the city go extremely deep, officials said in a ceremony to open the venue.

Daryl Hall, who with John Oates made up Hall and Oates, a vocal duo that had 19 songs hit the Top 10 on various charts, will perform at 7:30 p.m. July 19.