Entertainment News

ArtsQuest is holding "Beep Boop, Beep Boop: A Sci-Fi Film Festival," presenting fans of the genre with nine classic films.

Organizers had hinted that this year's crowds were expected to break records. On Tuesday, ArtsQuest confirmed it. More than 1.3 million visited Bethlehem during the 11 nights of Musikfest 2023.

The opening line of The Band's song "The Weight" — “I pulled into Nazareth/Was feelin' about half past dead” — has again put the spotlight on the Northampton County borough with the death of its writer, Robbie Robertson.

The time-lapse was shot from the weather camera atop the Univest Public Media Center on the SteelStacks campus.

The 40th Musikfest drew to a successful close on Sunday night in Bethlehem. The nation's largest open-gate free music festival delivered more than 500 free performances, plus paid-ticket headliners. Organizers believe a record of roughly 1.25 million attended the 11-day event. An official count is expected to be announced Tuesday.

The Grammy-winning band closed out the 11-day spread with a 90-minute set of their biggest hits and covers of The Eagles and Journey.

In a stripped down production that felt custom-made for the Musikfest stage, Morris capped a 17-song set with three songs that put a rush of energy into the crowd as the skies opened up over Bethlehem.

Musikfest attracts tens of thousands of people to the city each day during its 10-day run. Officials said they’re continuously working to lessen the event’s impact on the environment.

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

Dorney Park's upcoming new roller coaster Iron Menace is a multi-million dollar project that officials hope will bring attendance back to pre-pandemic levels.

You can still get tickets to the show, but as of Sunday morning, just two premium balcony seats remained, and general admission floor tickets were up for resale at a 131% markup.

In his first public performance since the "American Idol" episode with him on it aired, Allentown singer Seth Witcher on Thursday was cagey about his status on the show.

Dashboard Confessional will perform at Archer Music Hall in Allentown on Tuesday, April 14. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13.

Black Stone Cherry, which is observing the 20th anniversary of its self-titled debut album and is best known for its hits "Lonely Train" and "White Trash Millionaire," will perform at 8 p.m. July 10 on the Univest stage, at 301 W. Mill St.

Box Fest XVII, a professional boxing card, will take over the new downtown arena at 8 p.m. April 3, it was announced.

Seth Witcher, 26, was shown for a total of 20 seconds of screen time in a montage of acts on which the judges disagreed during auditions for the show at Belmont University in Nashville.

Actor/comedian Patrick Roach, who plays the character Randy on “Trailer Park Boys,” will bring Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic to Signature Saloon in Stroudsburg on April 1 and to The Gin Mill and Grill in Northampton on April 4.

Colombian band Grupo Niche, whose album "Cielo De Tambores" hit No. 3 on that chart, will perform at 6 p.m. July 30, as a preview night for the festival, which will run July 31-Aug. 9.

Listen to the Dissonance will return for a third year Friday, Feb. 27, at Charles A. Brown Ice House at 56 River St., Bethlehem. Performers will be vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Judah Kim, singer-songwriter Clover, songwriter-producer Barney Cortez and Nashville-based songwriter Patty PerShayla.

John Melendez, who was known as "Stuttering John" on the Stern show, then spent years in the cast on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," will perform Friday, March 6, at Civic Theatre of Allentown's The Hub at Theatre514, it was announced.

Rapper Freddie Gibbs will perform at Allentown's Archer Music Hall at 7 p.m. June 4, it was announced. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6.

Buckcherry, known best for its 2006 quadruple-platinum hit "Crazy Bitch" and 2007's double-platinum "Sorry," says on its website that it will perform at Allentown's Archer Music Hall on May 19.