Hear to the audio: Musikfest opens for 40th 12 months nowadays

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Musikfest is what phone calls Patrice Longo again dwelling.

Seven years back, Longo, a Whitehall Township native, and her husband, Jeffrey, bid the Lehigh Valley goodbye. A task in the petroleum sector in The Woodlands, Texas, awaited him.

• Musikfest opens these days with a preview evening, celebrating the music festival’s 40th year
• The party is billed as the nation’s biggest non-gated free of charge tunes pageant
• Musikfest consists of no cost and ticketed audio, food items, refreshments, and much more

Everyday living in the upscale town in the vicinity of Houston is fantastic, Longo mentioned gushingly when in Bethlehem this week: A good deal to see, a good deal to do everyday living in a hammock, as she explained it.

Still Longo admits to being nagged by a Texas-measurement palpable longing.

It’s an emptiness that Musikfest fills.

“We’ve occur again every single year apart from the COVID calendar year,” Longo, 57, explained this week in Bethlehem. “The ’Fest is the most important rationale. In all the yrs I lived about here, I assume I have only missed one particular of them.

“When I occur back for Musikfest — seeing outdated friends, owning a blast listening to the audio, ingesting and ingesting — it serves as a reminder of what a exclusive location this is.

“The ’Fest would make me experience like I’m component of a little something specific.”

That specialness returns to Bethlehem right now.

Spread all through the town

For a 40th yr, Musikfest all over again will showcase a multitude of new music performances from a variety of genres, right now by way of Aug. 13.

The competition is unfold during the city, on the north side covering the Historic Moravian District, and on the South Aspect at the SteelStacks campus in the arts district.

Significantly like Longo and her relatives, individuals seem ahead to dealing with the joy of Musikfest. Previous yr, a report-breaking 1.2 million men and women attended what is billed as the nation’s major free of charge, non-gated songs pageant.

Though the the vast majority of the performances are free, each and every evening will aspect a single ticketed, headlining present on the most important Metal Stage at SteelStacks.

Amid the performances on the Steel Phase are Grammy Award-successful artists Prepare, Goo Goo Dolls, AJR, Maren Morris and Dan + Shay, and comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias.

But don’t low cost the hundreds of cost-free performances. Stages will be brimming with nearby artists and nationally regarded acts these types of as Igor and the Pink Elvises, Jimmy and the Parrots, Hayley Jackson, Philadelphia Funk Authority, The Sofa Kings, Seth Wicher, We Banjo 3, area acts Slingshot Dakota, Red McFly and Kendal Conrad, and many extra.

The tunes serves as an outstanding backdrop for a competition replete with an array of award-winning meals sellers, craft beers and other refreshments, desserts, kids’ bounce homes and a bungee trampoline, artists at work, and even a gaming trailer supplied by Wind Creek on line casino.

At Musikfest, you’ll come across almost everything from your standard truthful favorites these types of as deep-fried Oreos to extra one of a kind eats. Typical selections consist of mouth watering grilled kebabs from Hogar Crea, bratwurst, halupki, Aw Shucks! roasted corn, Take a Taco, Island Noodles, Theo’s Gyros and The Traveling V.

The alternatives are so mouthwatering and assorted, the shock is one’s tongue does not snap off its roller.

Really feel the vibrancy

As one particular walks between the smiling crowds, it is virtually extremely hard not to feel the vibrancy of Musikfest. The sights and sounds are omnipresent.

“You can’t help but really feel good when you might be at Musikfest,” Jamie Ripley of Bethlehem reported. “It can be like you’re there, with all the crowds and the waiting in line for some food stuff, but there is nowhere you’d somewhat be.”

Nothing at all is cooler than grabbing a cold brew and jogging into old close friends — except most likely experiencing the refreshing coolness of misting enthusiasts at the Interesting Zone on Initially Road driving the entrance of the Metal Stage.

How amazingly pleasing an encounter is Musikfest? As a person competition-goer described it: It’s each other audio festival in the region on steroids.

Musikfest is a festival that displays the electrical power, mood and continued revitalization of Bethlehem.

As Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds mentioned: “Musikfest is a 10-day advertisement for what it’s like to dwell in the City of Bethlehem.”

Musikfest’s preview night opens at 5 p.m. currently with a effectiveness by Slingshot Dakota at Americaplatz, at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks. See a total program here.

Headliners AJR will kick off displays at the most important Metal Stage at 7 p.m. (gates open up at 6). The clearly show, previously bought out, has introduced constrained tickets.