Arts & Culture

It's in our coffee, our baked goods, our savory dishes, our beer... It's everywhere! Pumpkin spice season is in full swing, and we're here for the haters to hear why it's so awful.

The 13th Oktoberfest opened Friday night at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. The German-inspired festival will be held Friday, Oct. 6 through Sunday, Oct. 8, and Friday, Oct. 13 through Sunday, Oct. 15. It features polka and other music, a variety of beer, food and entertainment.

LehighValleyNews.com gathers a list of local Halloween events this year, ranging from ghost tours and parades to trick or treat.

NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet will hold auditions for children ages six to 17 this Friday, Oct. 6 at the Pennsylvania Classical Ballet Academy.

The Large Flowerheads will perform on a stage erected near home plate on the field at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7. General-admission seating will be in the stadium bowl, on blankets on the field or in lawn chairs in designated areas.

Easton's Garlic Fest is coming back for its 20th year, offering up savory and sweet garlic dishes, drinks, memorabilia and more.

Hip hop, widely believed to have started in the Bronx borough of New York City, quickly spread to the nearby Lehigh Valley, says organizer Michael A. Frassetto.

Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center is holding its first annual Ghouls & Glitter Pride Night at Dorney Park.

The East Penn area is getting a multitude of Halloween festivals in events in October. New festivals return and set off, while traditional events return.

The free tribute concert honoring two prominent members of the Lehigh Valley's music scene takes place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 8 at Central Moravian Church.

Tensions are rising as the City of Easton and the Rock Church of Easton move closer to a legal battle over possession of the historic Hooper House property.

Perhaps the biggest revelation is the price of tickets. For the 20 announced shows, the average price for a standing, general admission ticket will be $46.30.

Rickhaslo "Ricky" Brown and his wife, Heather, celebrated his big win on "Wheel of Fortune" Wednesday at Rivals Sports Bar and Restaurant.

The Burt Bacharach Songbook Live is coming in April to Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.

Pop-soul group Lawrence, best known for its Top 40 Pop chart hit "Whatcha Want," will perform in the venue on Oct. 11, it was announced.

The 90-minute show coming to Promenade Saucon Valley includes BMX trick riders, illusionists, high flying aerialists, acrobats, comedic clowns and more.

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.