Arts & Culture

Easton Public Market will celebrate its eighth anniversary on Friday, May 17, with a special party featuring vendors, the band A Few Good Men, and a fundraiser benefiting Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital.

Christopher Sipos remembers his late-grandmother's love of birds but was pleasantly surprised to find her collection of antique baking soda trading cards that feature the feathered beauties.

Rockers Orgy, with opening act Cold, will play at 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 17, at Maingate Nightclub in Allentown. Tickets, at $25 in advance and $30 day of show, are available at maingatenightclub.com

Kutztown University's jazz ensemble was recognized by DownBeat magazine for Outstanding Performance in its Student Music Awards. It's the 10th win for Kutztown's commercial music program but the first for the jazz ensemble.

The annual Freddy Awards will take place at the State Theatre in Easton on May 23. Bangor Area High School's "Mean Girls: the High School Version," leads in nominations this year. Find a full list of the nominees here.

Tickets for both shows will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10, at ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, or at www.SteelStacks.org.

Months after the Da Vinci Science Center at PPL Pavilion opens with Dinos Alive, another interactive dinosaur event will move into Allentown as the Agri-Plex plays host to Jurassic Quest.

The Bereaved Mother's Day dinner was held at the Blendery at Seven Sirens Brewery in Easton. It offered a sentimental moment for mother's to honor their loved ones and lend support to one another.

The nine-man Straight No Chaser will perform at 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 7, the theater said in a release. Tickets, at $39.50-$74.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10, on the State Theatre website.

The Emmaus Memorial Triangle could get a major facelift. A veterans group seeks to build a new memorial complex there and rename it.

Blue October, best known for the 2006 platinum hits “Hate Me” and “Into The Ocean,” will play the event center at 6:30 p.m. July 27. It will be joined by Switchfoot, best known for its hits “Meant to Live” and "Dare You to Move,” and singer Matt Nathanson, best known for his 2008 hit “Come On Get Higher.”

“Unspun: Stories of Silk,” which runs through April 28, explores the Lehigh Valley’s Moravian connection to silk production.

The Monster Jam truck show, which features trucks 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide, sitting atop 66-inch-tall tires and weighing at least 10,000 pounds, will have sessions at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. July 13 and 1 p.m. July 14.

Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors will perform at 8 p.m. Sunday at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem.

Old Crow Medicine Show has spent 25 years exploring the depths of classic folk, country, and Americana, all the while making tunes distinctly their own. On April 13, the band is coming to the State Theatre as part of the tour in support of their latest album, Jubilee.

Let’s Sing Taylor — A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift, which calls itself “the ultimate tribute to the music of Taylor Swift,” will perform June 15 at the center, at 301 W. Mill St.

The Allentown Film Festival is now in its second year and will feature short films and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.

Actor/comedian Patrick Roach, who plays the character Randy on “Trailer Park Boys,” will bring Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic to Maingate Nightclub on Saturday, June 1.

Violinist Diane Monroe and New Jersey-based dance group Nimbus are among the scheduled performers set for April at Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University.

Megan Campbell and her son Finley have just released their first storybook, "Home is Where the Heart is," which features some of the young man's favorite spots in Easton.

Blues Traveler, which also in the 1990s had five gold and platinum albums and whose 1990 hit "Run-Around" spent 49 weeks on the Top 100, will perform Aug. 24. Also on the show will be Big Head Todd and The Monsters, who had the Top 15 hits “Bittersweet,” “Broken Hearted Savior” and “Resignation Superman.”

A $900,000 grant to ArtsQuest and the City of Bethlehem will improve pedestrian infrastructure around the nonprofit's Banana Factory complex on Third Street.