“The sermon was about the circumcision of Baby Jesus.” That’s how Lisa VanArsdale describes a recent trip to a mega-church in Phoenix, and it is exactly the kind of unexpected, funny, and slightly unsettling real-world moment that fuels her live show, Lisa Joins a Cult, coming back to Bethlehem this month.
It’s the 50th year of a Lehigh Valley absolute treasure, and this is the year you go if you haven’t been.
Since opening on March 19, 1976, Godfrey Daniels has built a national reputation with great artists, a quiet room, and an audience that prioritizes listening.
The club began as a coffeehouse in a former doughnut shop on Bethlehem’s Southside, founded by Dave Fry and Cindy Dinsmore, and it has been nurturing live music ever since. It became a nonprofit soon after, helping keep the focus where it belongs, on the performers and the shared experience in the room.
There is nothing quite like this intimate Southside Bethlehem listening room, where the whole point is to show up, listen closely, and leave with a new favorite artist.
The Peter Kearns Memorial Christmas Tree Toss raised $3,277 for Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley during its 2025 event, held on December 20 at More Miles Automotive in Bethlehem.
Easton Farmers Market is inviting the community to help stock local pantry shelves with a Community Food Drive on Saturday, December 20, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The collection tent will be set up at Scott Park along the Riverfront in downtown Easton, near the Larry Holmes statue, making it easy for marketgoers to drop off donations while they shop.
Bethlehem’s midwinter party season will stretch a little longer when Hearthsong Folk Arts and Celtic musical troupe The Chivalrous Crickets & Friends host the Third Annual Bethlehem Twelfth Night Celebration, themed for Scottish Hogmanay, on Saturday, January 3, 2026 at the Charles A. Brown Ice House.
ArtsQuest is bringing back the SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival for its 13th year, turning Bethlehem’s SteelStacks campus into two packed days of fast, unscripted comedy. The festival runs Friday, January 23 and Saturday, January 24, 2026, featuring improvisational teams from across the region and around the country.
Pennsylvania is home to more than 86,000 miles of streams, and Penn State Extension is inviting residents to help care for them through its Master Watershed Steward Program. Applications are now being accepted for the 2026 training class serving Lehigh and Northampton counties.
ArtsQuest and Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem, PA have opened a call for artists to create the signature artwork for the 2026 free concert season. The selected piece will become the visual identity for one of the Lehigh Valley’s largest community music series.
Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania will open the 2025/2026 winter season on Friday, December 5 at 9 a.m., offering 30% of the mountain, 40 acres of skiable terrain and 13 trails to start the season. Details and tickets are available at https://www.skibluemt.com/.
A beloved Northampton holiday tradition is set to return in 2025 as the Greater Northampton Area Chamber of Commerce once again hosts Christmas at the Roxy. The two-day event will take place at the historic Roxy Theatre, 2002 Main Street, inviting families, friends and local businesses to enjoy showings of the classic film “White Christmas” while supporting the Northampton Food Bank.
Downtown Nazareth, PA will come alive with holiday spirit on Friday, December 12 and Saturday, December 13, 2025 as the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual two-day Christmas Weekend celebration. Families, neighbors and visitors are invited to gather in the borough for festive activities, live entertainment and small business shopping throughout the weekend.
JuxtaHub is inviting the public into the creative process with a 24-hour live drawing performance by resident artist Anthony Smith Jr. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The free event runs from noon on December 7 to noon on December 8, 2025, at JuxtaHub’s arts and innovation center at 375 South 10th Street.
Unity Bank is inviting the community to help fight hunger this season through its 2025 Holiday Food Drive. From December 1 through December 31, all Unity Bank branches in New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, will collect non-perishable food items to support local food banks.
The Trees of Historic Bethlehem exhibition is back in the Christmas City for the 2025 holiday season, this year celebrating some of the most memorable Christmas trees and themes from the past 20 years. Presented by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS), the exhibition runs through Sunday, Jan. 11 and is one of the region’s signature holiday traditions.
We went behind the scenes at PBS39 Studios in Bethlehem for a special taping of Home for the Holidays, the heartwarming podcast co-produced by WDIY 88.1FM, –TS Brand Elevation, and Lehigh Valley Public Media.
