Arts & Culture

The 173rd Great Allentown Fair opens Wednesday, Aug. 27, through Labor Day, Sept. 1. The fair features rides, food, concerts, and family fun at one of Pennsylvania’s oldest fairs.

The 2025-26 season will feature innovative performances, including a modern "Alice in Wonderland" and an adaptation of "Medea." Part of the new UnBound Year-Round series, the season will run from Oct. 8 through June 30 in Bethlehem.

A few authors have brought books into Moravian Book Shop with AI-generated covers or art. That was enough for the staff to formally announce online that the bookstore would not support the use of technology that may replace creative jobs.

Coalition for Appropriate Transportation outside its headquarters on Friday announced it was awarded $634,122 to further its educational programming across the Lehigh Valley.

Recently retired linebacker Brandon Graham was the star turn at Dorney Park's tailgate party, where more than 100 fans celebrated the NFL season’s imminent start.

ArtsQuest's Cold Brew Hullabaloo, a cold coffee convention that debuted at Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks last year, will return Sept. 14, it was announced.

This year's honorees are abstract artist Michael Freeman, Lehigh University producer Steven Lichak, museum accessibility advocate Elise Schaffer, and members of the IceHouse Performing Arts Collaborative. The group will be honored at an awards ceremony in September.

The Struts performed Wednesday night at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks. The focus of the concert was a celebration of the 10th anniversary U.S. release of their debut album, "Everybody Wants."

To CEO Russell Fletcher, starting out as a small hyper-local business gave Mishka Premium Vodka a leg up to evolve at the rate it is right now. Soon, the vodka, which is distilled in Allentown, will be carried by yet another national chain.

Cheap Trick, which had its first hit with “Surrender” in 1978 and 10 years later had its biggest hit with “The Flame,” will perform Oct. 22. And Jason Bonham, son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, with his Led Zeppelin Evening will perform Nov. 15.

Several events are in the works to celebrate Latino culture across the Lehigh Valley during Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts Sunday, Sept. 15.

"67 Women, 67 Counties: Facing Breast Cancer in Pennsylvania' will be on display at the Bethlehem Township campus through Sunday, Sept. 22.

Art In The Park, which will showcase the works of hundreds of local musicians, painters, photographers and sculptors, will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept 14, in West End Park.

Allentown Farmers Market, Brass Rail and food truck fare complement free local and regional musical talent through mid-October.

An Evening with Sherlock: BAPL Rare Book Auction, a fund-raising event, will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The library will hold a rare and vintage book sale in the Cohen Room at its main location, Main Library 11 W. Church St., Bethlehem.

Trevor Wallace and Michael Blaustein will take their "The Stiff Socks Podcast" on tour for the first time and will stop at Wind Creek at 8 p.m. Dec. 8.

The Nitro Circus tour will perform at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Allentown's PPL Center. Tickets, at $54-$204, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13 at PPLCenter.com.

On Thursday, Sept. 12, PPL Center turns 10, and since that opening show by The Eagles, the arena has offered more than 1,365 events and brought more than 4.58 million visitors to downtown Allentown for events.

In the decade since Allentown's PPL Center opened on Sept. 12, 2014, with a concert by The Eagles, the venue has presented 83 concerts, including comedy shows.

The Tom JeBran Collection features a dozen rare electric Martin Guitars and amps. It will be on display until September 2025.

A rainstorm didn't stop locals from pouring into the seventh annual Allentown Beer Fest on Saturday, Sept. 7.

As part of a broader mission to put up a “peace wall” in all 50 states, locals in the Bethlehem area, including over 200 grade-school students over a span of two years, worked together to bring a new mural to life at Bernie Fritz Playground.