Arts & Culture

Juneteenth Lehigh Valley will be celebrated with a week of festivities in 2023.

As Lehigh Valley residents treated themselves at the Easton Farmers Market Strawberry Day on Saturday, they also reached into their pockets to help less fortunate neighbors displaced by a Memorial Day row homes fire in Easton.

Take a look at stories throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Sugaray Rayford, who in 2020 won the Blues Music Awards for B.B King Entertainer of the Year and Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year, will perform at the festival, which will be held noon-10 p.m. June 24 along Hamilton Street.

Over a 19-song, hour-and-40-minute show, Live’s performance in the summer's first paid-ticket show at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks ranged from acceptably perfunctory to positively stunning, but not with the consistency the band had with its former members.

The 21st Century program is to help students with academic support and art and music enrichment.

The Lehigh Valley schools announced the change last week — a switch made to accommodate the bicentennial celebration of Lafayette College in 2025-26.

Easton held its inaugural LGBTQ+ Pride Month flag-raising in Centre Square on Wednesday evening, celebrating the community and advocating for acceptance and love among more than 100 people.

The middle schoolers took the photos at a three-week class at the Easton Area Community Center.

The "You Point, We Pick" program will be back at Burnside Garden, 1461 Schoenersville Road, starting Saturday, June 3.

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.

Recently, many of Wildwater Kingdom's rides have been temporarily closed. All of them have reopened, except one, which will soon be replaced.

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.

The Lehigh Valley community is invited by the Allentown Symphony to contribute a short melody, chord progression, instrument timbre or rhythmic pattern to inspire the piece.

It all started with a wig, a Hannah Montana song and a sassy pose: this local vet is going above and beyond on social media to entertain and educate pet parents.

The non-alcoholic cocktail trend has exceeded popularity beyond Dry January. More Lehigh Valley restaurants — and even mobile bartending services — are featuring mocktails on their menus as customers increasingly ask for them.

Portugal's Ambassador to the U.S. joined local officials to recognize, celebrate thriving Portuguese culture in Bethlehem and across the Lehigh Valley.

The release is the first of a long list of fun summer activities planned for young readers at the library.

The nine-piece group, which includes a horn section, play at 7:30 p.m. today, June 8, on the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks as part of the venue's free summer concert series.