The following events are planned for the week ahead throughout the region:
• Musikfest, America’s largest free music festival featuring more than 500 acts on 16 stages, opens Friday and runs through Aug. 14 in downtown Bethlehem. In addition to the continuous free music spanning a wide array of genres, the Wind Creek Steel Stage presents ticketed concerts nightly. Scheduled to appear are Boyz II Men on Thursday (preview night), Kip Moore on Friday, Willie Nelson & Family on Saturday, Poison on Sunday, Counting Crows on Monday, Ziggy Marley on Tuesday, Disturbed on Wednesday, Kelsea Ballerini on Aug. 11, Ja Rule and Ashanti on Aug. 12, Alabama on Aug. 13 and Olga Tanon on Aug. 14. The free entertainment starts at 4 p.m. Friday and noon from Saturday through Aug. 14. For more information including daily schedules and band bios, visit musikfest.org.
• Rapper Kevin Gates headlines a concert Friday at 8 p.m. at Santander Arena, Reading, followed by rockers A Day To Remember with The Ghost Inside and Bad Omens on Saturday at 7 p.m. Gates’ 2016 debut studio album, “Islah,” peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Prior to that, he released a number of mixtapes, including”Stranger Than Fiction,” “By Any Means” and “Luca Brasi 2,” all of which peaked in the top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart. A Day To Remember is touring in support of its latest studio album, “You’re Welcome,” a 14-track collection highlighted by the singles “Brick Wall,” “Degenerates,” “Resentment,” “Mindreader” and the Active Rock chart-topper “Everything We Need.” For tickets and more information, visit santander-arena.com.
• The Miller Center for the Arts at Reading Area Community College will kick off its 15th anniversary season with a concert by emerging country ainger Allie Colleen on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The dauther of country superstar Garth Brooks, Allie Colleen sings about the layers of love and heartbreak that have shaped her. Her song “Close Enough” gained more than 750,000 views on YouTube, and her debut album, “Stones,” dropped last year to strong reviews. She scored her first Top 40 hit with “Ain’t the Only Hell (My Momma Raised)” in fall 2020. Uncle Jake & the 18 Wheel Gang will open. Tickets cost $25 at millercenter.racc.edu.
• The Upper Merion Concerts Under the Stars series presents a free concert featuring Hezekiah Jones followed by Carsie Blanton on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Upper Merion Township Park. Hezekiah Jones is a collective of Philadelphia-area musicians performing the folk songs of frontman Raphael Cutrufello. Blanton is a Philadelphia-based songwriter who draws inspiration from the likes of Nina Simone and John Prine, resulting in a catalog that ranges from sultry jazz to pop-punk protest anthems. Doors open at 6, and spectators are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets for lawn seating. There’s a beer garden with local craft brews and cocktails, plus food trucks on site. For more information, see concertsunderthestarskop.com.
• The St. Marco Society in Temple, Berks County, will host its Italian Food Festival on Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. The festival features a wide variety of homemade Italian specialties including lasagna, pasta with meatballs, porchetta, sausage and meatball sandwiches, stuffed olives and fried mushrooms. Entertainment will include music by Teacher’s Pet on Friday and Saturday and Stupak Gallagher on Sunday.
• The Bryn Mawr Twilight Concert Series presents the Christine Havrilla Duo with opener Colleen Clark on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Bryn Mawr Gazebo Park. Self-taught from the age of 5, Havrilla wins crowds over with her musical innovation, heartfelt lyrics and her guitar a mere extension of herself. With 13 albums, two EPs and over 20 years of touring under her belt, Havrilla describes her music and sound as “Neofunkadelicfolkpoptwangrock!” Tickets are $15, and free for ages 12 and younger. The concert is rain or shine. Bring chairs and blankets for lawn seating. For tickets and more information, see brynmawrtwilightconcerts.com.
• The 151st annual Kutztown Fair begins Monday and runs through Aug. 13 at the Kutztown Fairgrounds. Gates open Monday through Friday at 4 p.m., and at 2 p.m. Aug. 13 for Children’s Day. The fair features live music, midway shows, grandstand shows, face painting, country line dancing, livestock exhibits, farm and craft exhibits and carnival rides. General admission costs $10 for adults and children over 36 inches tall, or $30 for a family value pack containing four passes. For more information, see kutztownfair.com.
• The Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville, presents a Buster Keaton marathon with live organ accompaniment on Sunday at 2 p.m. Three of Keaton’s short films — “One Week,” “The Playhouse” and “Sherlock Jr.” — will be shown, with live music by Brett Miller on the Theatre Organ Society of the Delaware Valley’s Wurlitzer Theatre Organ. There will also be a discussion by film critic Dana Stevens, author of “Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century.” Tickets cost $12 for adults and $7 for children at thecolonialtheatre.com.
• The Muhlenberg Township Summer Concert Series presents the Black Ties on Friday at 6 p.m. at Jim Dietrich’s Park. The Black Ties are a classic rock band based in the New York/New Jersey metro area. They perform classic rock from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s as well as the contemporary rock sound from the ’80s and ’90s. Being inspired by the British Invasion, The Black Ties have entertained festival crowds at The Fest for Beatles Fans, Abbey Road on the River and The Fab 4 Music Festival, as well as numerous public and private events, since 2018. Admission is free. The POP truck will be serving adult beverages, and food vendors will be on hand. Take along chairs or blankets for lawn seating.
• The Red Corner Benefit presents “House of the Rising Sun,” a play in two acts, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, plus Aug. 12-13, at 8:15 p.m. at 465 Red Corner Road, Douglassville. Written and directed by Cheyenne Malfaro, the play stars Sarah Althen as Annie Jankewitz, once wild and joyful but now abused and broken and clinging to the hope she creates with a paper and a pen. The show contains mature themes and will be staged outdoors. Bring along blankets or chairs. It is BYOB. Tickets cost $25 ($20 for seniors) and will be sold at the entrance. Proceeds benefit Red Corner Benefit, a nonprofit organization supporting the fight against childhood cancer.
• SoulJoel’s Comedy Dome at Sunnybrook, Pottstown, opens the weekend with a double headliner bill of Julian McCullough and Meghan Hanley on Friday at 7 p.m. McCullough is known for his free flowing autobiographical style and quick wit, as seen on MTV2’s perennial hit “Guy Code” and his hour special on Comedy Central, “Maybe I’m a Man.” Hanley is a Brooklyn based, nationally touring stand-up comedian, as well as the producer, writer and star of the popular web series “Sports Tabata.” On Saturday, Pete Correale headlines starting at 6 p.m. Correale’s comedy is reflective of his life and the experiences. Being married for almost 20 years and having a young daughter, he’s never at a loss for material. With a conversational delivery and disarming regular New York guy attitude, he makes you feel like you’re listening to the funniest guy at a party as opposed to just another comedian on a stage. For tickets and more information, visit souljoels.com.
• Sellersville Theatre presents Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee JD Souther on Thursday at 8 p.m. Souther’s latest releases include “Tenderness,” described by Uncut Magazine as an album that connects “LA’s ’70s golden age with the Great American Songbook,” with songs that “sound like standards themselves.” Souther has penned countless hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Roy Orbison, James Taylor, Don Henley, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Brooks and Dunn and others. Also coming up this weekend at Sellersville are Stoned Soul Picnic presenting the music of Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Laura Nyro on Friday at 8 p.m., Grammy-winnning singer Melissa Manchester on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Australian singer-songwriter and guitar virtuoso Daniel Champagne on Sunday at 8 p.m. On Monday at 8 p.m., the Americana band The Petersens takes the stage, and on Wednesday at 8 p.m., Southern Accents presents a tribute to Tom Petty. For tickets and more information, see st94.com.
• Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center, West Chester, presents Disney’s “Descendants: The Musical” on Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 1 and 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. Based on the series of Disney Channel musical fantasy films, this play follows the teenaged children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella De Vil, who are imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost, home of the most infamous villains who ever lived. They have never ventured off the island, until now. When the four troublemakers are sent to attend prep school alongside the children of beloved Disney heroes, they have a difficult choice to make: should they follow in their parents’ wicked footsteps or learn to be good? For tickets and more information, see uptownwestchester.org.
Source: Berkshire mont
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