Arts & Culture

A four-man crew has been making haste since Oct. 1 in putting up the decorations, with most of the wreaths, ribbons, light wraps, trees and stars currently hanging on light poles above streets in South Bethlehem and along the city’s bridges.

The Indoor Auto Racing Series, in which the cars compete on the concrete floor, will drive into the area Jan. 3-4 for the ninth running of the Ironton Global Allentown Indoor Races.

The festival, which features which retailers, artisans and food in heated tents on the SteelStacks campus, will open for its 32nd year on the weekend of Nov. 15.

Easton's Frank Pintabone announced Wednesday that a Hispanic Resource Day, catering to the needs of the city's Hispanic population, will be hosted at the Easton Area Community Center in November.

About 48,000 people attended the two-weekend Oktoberfest festival Oct. 4-6 and 11-13, ArtsQuest said.

The book festival will feature workshops, poetry, lectures by authors and discussions on the environment, LGBTQ rights, diversity and the steel industry. It runs through Sunday at various locations in the city.

Tribute shows to the music of Taylor Swift, Whitney Houston and Michael Bublé have been announced for the event center. So is rising comedian Sam Morril.

"Monster Mini Golf" is set to come to the Lehigh Valley, with construction started according to an announcement by the company's Facebook page.

The Buckinghams, best known for its No. 1 hit “Kind of a Drag,” will join with The Lovin’s Spoonful, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group that had the hits “Do You Believe in Magic?” and “Summer in the City” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28.

The star-studded awards ceremony was held inside Miller Symphony Hall on Saturday, Oct. 12. Young actors and a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist shared the stage.

Recently retired linebacker Brandon Graham was the star turn at Dorney Park's tailgate party, where more than 100 fans celebrated the NFL season’s imminent start.

ArtsQuest's Cold Brew Hullabaloo, a cold coffee convention that debuted at Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks last year, will return Sept. 14, it was announced.

This year's honorees are abstract artist Michael Freeman, Lehigh University producer Steven Lichak, museum accessibility advocate Elise Schaffer, and members of the IceHouse Performing Arts Collaborative. The group will be honored at an awards ceremony in September.

The Struts performed Wednesday night at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks. The focus of the concert was a celebration of the 10th anniversary U.S. release of their debut album, "Everybody Wants."

The two cultural institutions collaborated to offer a conjoined professional development experience for educators at the charter school.

To CEO Russell Fletcher, starting out as a small hyper-local business gave Mishka Premium Vodka a leg up to evolve at the rate it is right now. Soon, the vodka, which is distilled in Allentown, will be carried by yet another national chain.

The new eatery, Okatshe, will open at 947 W. Hamilton St., connected to The Moxy Allentown Downtown Hotel in mid-September, Garces announced in a release.

Cheap Trick, which had its first hit with “Surrender” in 1978 and 10 years later had its biggest hit with “The Flame,” will perform Oct. 22. And Jason Bonham, son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, with his Led Zeppelin Evening will perform Nov. 15.

The Struts stop at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks for a paid-ticket show in which it will play the entire album, as well as other songs.

The Great Allentown Fair returns Wednesday, Aug. 27, and so does the competition for fair royalty. Here are the four Lehigh Valley finalists hoping to be crowned the next Great Allentown Fair queen.

St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church held a festival for the community to raise money for families and victims of the deadly attack at Prophet Elias Church (Mar Elisa) in Damascus, Syria.

The Route 22 Filmworks Film Festival returns to Bethlehem’s Charles A. Brown Ice House for its third year on Saturday. The nine-hour event will feature 39 short films, including student work from several Pennsylvania universities.