Arts & Culture

Organized by the SouthSide Arts District, First Friday is a monthly community celebration across South Bethlehem, featuring art, live music, cultural experiences and historical attractions.

A popular retro stylist band that was among the bigger-named acts to play an early show at Allentown's new Archer Music Hall will return to the area to play Wind Creek Event Center. So will a top comedian who has been a favorite of the Lehigh Valley.

Doogie Horner will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday during the fourth annual Winter WonderJam show presented by the "Your Next Favorite Band" podcast at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem.

Dogs in festive sweaters and antlers stole the show at Lights & Leashes, the dog-friendly night at Illumination at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. The event will return Dec. 17 and Dec. 30 for more tail-wagging family fun.

The zoo held a ribbon-cutting at the Fred & Anne Jaindl Family Barnyard and St. Luke's Children's Hospital Playground Wednesday, marking the completion of phase one of its Children's Activity Area project. The two spaces now are officially open to the public.

Pure Prairie League will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. It helped bring mainstream success to the country-rock and Southern Rock genres with its 1972 album "Bustin' Out," and its Top 30 hit "Aimie."

Scotty McCreery, who won “American Idol” in 2011 and since has released three No. 1 Country chart albums and two other Top 10 discs, will perform at 7 p.m. April 26, it was announced.

"Saint Nick of Bethlehem" is available to rent on Amazon Prime starting at $2.99. The holiday movie, which was filmed in the Christmas City, features recognizable scenes in downtown Bethlehem, Nazareth, Bath and Northampton.

Bush, whose 1994 debut album “Sixteen Stone” sold six-times platinum — the band sold 10 million copies with its first three albums — will perform Friday, Feb. 20, in Bethlehem.

Touchstone Theatre's Christmas Follies, the Bach Choir and more: The Lehigh Valley offers a variety of concerts that capture the spirit of Christmastime.

Attendees at the Great Allentown Fair were entertained by two trampoline artists who performed high-flying acrobatics outside the Agri-Plex complex on Thursday.

The crowd at Allentown Fair for Cheap Trick and Blue Oyster Cult was there to hear the hits of their youth and — for the most part — got what they wanted.

For the first time, Robbie Furman will showcase his work at the Allentown Fair.

The oppressive heat did not deter folks from making their way to the 172nd Great Allentown Fair at the Allentown Fairgrounds on Wednesday. Great food and drinks, amusement park rides and a variety of events will take place at the fair through Monday, Sept. 2.

The Lehigh Valley's newest bagel shop is officially in full swing, holding its grand opening Wednesday Aug. 28. Customers have continuously raved about the bagel spot since its soft opening mid-July.

Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour hits the grandstand stage at Allentown Fair at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29. Tickets, at $30 each, remain available at the fair website.

Nearly 50 years later, Blue Öyster Cult still is performing, and this year even released "Ghost Stories," its first album of new material in four years and only second in 23 years. The group also will open for fellow 1970s rockers Cheap Trick as the grandstand feature for opening night at Allentown Fair at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28.

The wartime lost portrait by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, entitled "Portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony," has hung at the Allentown Art Museum since 1961.

Bethlehem's SouthSide Arts District has joined with the city and Wawa stores to create what it calls a "Gateway sign" — "a vibrant public art piece that enhances the entrance between Route 412 and SouthSide downtown."

The Allentown Fair is back, with all the community’s beloved traditions, including the Allentown Fair Queen Contest and Coronation. Here are the finalists, and what we know about them.

The 10th anniversary of Clam Jam, the Easton festival held by Third and Ferry Fish Market, brought hundreds of seafood devotees to the city Sunday and crowned new chowder and homebrew champions.

The 2024 Great Allentown Fair runs Wednesday, Aug. 28 through Monday, Sept. 2. We've got a rundown on what you can expect, from the grandstand headliners to the Iron Chef competition and more.