Arts & Culture

Juneteenth events are taking place throughout the Lehigh Valley. A large crowd took to Easton to celebrate the city's second annual Juneteenth parade on Sunday.

Lehigh Valley Friends Meeting, as the Quaker congregation is known, celebrated its 75th birthday Sunday with an open house in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

On Wednesday, June 19, DJ Prince Hakim (nee Hakim Bell) will be the musical entertainment from 2-8 p.m. for Allentown's downtown Juneteenth block party along Hamilton Street.

Dozens of vendors, musicians, and historians came together at SteelStacks in Bethlehem on Saturday to celebrate Juneteenth by exploring culture and history.

Jefferson Starship will play at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at Penn's Peak in Penn Forest Township. Tickets, at $28-$33, remain available at the Penn's Peak website.

The mural, by artist Mercedes Salazar, is a collaboration with Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance, Community Action of Development of Allentown, The Chamber Foundation and Allentown Mural Arts.

With help of sponsors D.G. Yuengling & Sons and Bazella Works, all men and women now serving in any branch of the military, all veterans and immediate family of those killed in action, are eligible to get tickets to a variety of events, ArtsQuest said.

The federal holiday is a week away, but that doesn't mean celebrations are that far out yet. Festivities are taking place all over the area, with Juneteenth Lehigh Valley scheduling events through June 19.

The Bethlehem film festival will feature close to 70 shorts and indie films ranging from documentaries to comedy and horror. The screenings begin Tuesday at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity and close on Saturday, June 15.

Rick Springfield, best known for his hits “Jessie’s Girl,” “I’ve Done Everything for You” and “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Tickets, at $39.50-$79.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, June 14, at www.windcreekeventcenter.com.

Eric Hutchinson's new Best Of tour stops at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks at 7:30 p.m. tonight, April 23. Tickets for the show, at $40 (some areas are sold out) remain available at the SteelStacks website.

The long-running festival celebrates its 117th year with a new schedule and additions, including a flamenco and guitar concert and a lecture by Bach scholars. It will take place May 8 - 11 in Bethlehem.

ArtsQuest’s Ginvitational: A Celebration of Cocktails will return to SteelStacks for a fourth year on June 8 in Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center, it was announced.

The series of 10 Wednesday night movies will begin May 21. Families are welcome to bring lawn chairs and blankets to the Levitt lawn for the films, which start at 6:30 p.m.

Submissions for the singing competition will be accepted until June, but organizers say early applicants have the competitive edge. The winner will take home $2,000.

"The Book of Mormon," which has grossed nearly $1billion, making it one of the most successful musicals of all time, will return to the theater for three performances Sept. 27-28.

Jose Garces, an award-winning "Iron Chef," opened the Hamilton Street restaurant and rum bar in March.

The exhibit, which calls itself North America’s most popular interactive dinosaur event, will return to Allentown Fairgrounds Agri-Plex from June 13-15.

The 3rd Annual No Planet B Jamboree will be at 1-4 p.m. Saturday, April 19. For the first time, it will be at the ArtsQuest Town Square Stage on the SteelStacks campus.

Visitors can find rare records and artwork at the free flea market that will take place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Charles A. Smith Ice House in Bethlehem. Later in the day, four punk bands will take the stage.

Archer Music Hall, the new downtown concert venue, has announced a concert series that will showcase Pennsylvania acts. The series, called Pennsylvania’s Own, will start May 9 with Motionless in White.

Locals making up the Downtown Bethlehem Association helped market the Main Street’s successful campaign, offering a QR code for voting, social media content, printed postcards and word of mouth to draw voters.