Arts & Culture

On Thursday, ArtsQuest and public officials gathered for a ceremonial "brick-breaking" marking the start of construction work at the former Bethlehem Steel Turn and Grind Shop at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

Straight No Chaser will perform at the theater at 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 5. And the stage play "Waitress" at 7 p.m. Dec. 15 and 16.

Friday's show, which started this year's lineup of 48 concerts, gave the audience its first exposure to a new state-of-the-art sound system that replaces a public address system developed 25 years ago.

Two-thirds of the way through construction, the new Creativity Center is ahead of schedule, below budget, growing in size and adding new elements of creativity, opportunity and community, officials said.

WWE will return to the Lehigh Valley this summer, bringing its 2026 Summer Tour to the PPL Center on Thursday, July 16, marking the company’s first live event in Allentown in roughly three years.

The Freddy Awards is now in its 24th year. The ceremony will take place on May 21 at State Theatre.

Country music star Martina McBride and Justin Hayward, who led The Moody Blues for more than 50 years, are among four new shows announced for the theater's 100th season.

Musikfest announced 331 music acts announced for about 500 concerts on the festival's 15 free stages during its July 31-Aug. 9 run, with a July 30 preview night.

The season will offer 48 shows and open May 15.

Hard rock band The Used will perform at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem on July 22. Tickets are available at the venue website or box office.

Cardi B, best known for her 11-times-platinum hits "Bodak Yellow" in 2017 and "I Like It" (with Bad Bunny and J Balvin) in 2018, will appear in the area on Sept. 20.

The Harlem Globetrotters — those hilarious, historic clown princes of basketball, will return to the venue at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 — exactly a year since they took their last shot here, it was announced.

The event will mark 80 years since WWII’s end and its sister city bond with Tondabayashi, Japan, on Saturday, Sept. 13 with a peace mural unveiling, taiko drumming, and concerts at the Bethlehem Area Public Library and Congregation Brith Sholom.

Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience stops at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12 at Lehigh University's Zoellner Arts Center.

“Sacred Planet with Gulnaz Khan,” is a four-part documentary series focused on how indigenous leaders and traditional religious communities across the world are grappling with the impacts of climate change.

Moccasins Across America, a traveling group of First Nations people, made a stop in Easton on Tuesday to engage in a ceremony of reconciliation and healing.

The event, which features trucks 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide sitting atop 66-inch-tall tires, will have sessions at 7 p.m. Feb. 21; noon and 6 pm. Feb. 22; and noon and 6 p.m. Feb. 23.

Arlan and Pat Christ’s 1,000-piece quilt collection is featured in “Cutting Edge” at the Allentown Art Museum, with a special quilt turning event. The collection will be on display through Oct. 26. Admission to the museum is free.

The Darkness is on a U.S. tour that stops Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $45.75 and $48.05, remain available at the Archer website.

Ryan Eldredge, regional manager of public relations for Dorney Park and other Six Flags Entertainment Corp. properties, said operators continue to focus on refreshing and enhancing attractions.

The new exhibition “Here and Now: 100 Years of LUAG, 100 Local Artists,” runs through May 22 and coincides with a community birthday celebration on Sept. 19 at Zoellner Arts Center.

Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley was inducted into the Whitehall High School Hall of Fame on Friday night.