The best of the Lehigh Valley, every Thursday · Issue #5 · October 1, 2026

Happy Thursday, Lehigh Valley!

October opens with the busiest Saturday of the fall, and for once the west valley has the best of it. Emmaus has a helicopter landing in the park and a brand-new biergarten holding its first steinholding contest, both free, both walkable from each other. We built the day around them.

The weather is on board. Today is partly sunny and 79. Friday is mostly sunny and 84 with a 40% chance of showers after 4pm. Saturday is the best day of the four: mostly sunny and 71. Sunday is partly sunny and 67 with a 30% chance of showers after 8am, so Sunday plans get a backup.

In today's edition:

  • How to do Saturday in Emmaus, from the corn maze to the steins

  • An Emmaus teacher's pipe band just won the world championship

  • Homes of the Week: Hellertown, Bushkill Township, and Upper Saucon

  • Route 22 closes overnight Saturday near Route 33

  • Pizza in the old Willy Joe's, and a new brewery downtown

  • The Buddy Walk needs $22,500 by Saturday

  • 48 things to do this weekend

- Joe Roller

News

How to Do Saturday in Emmaus

A tractor pulls a wagon of visitors on a hayride through the orchard rows at Grim's Orchard in Breinigsville

The hayride through the orchard at Grim's in Breinigsville. Photo courtesy of Grim's Orchard & Family Farms / grimsorchard.com

Emmaus moved its National Night Out from August to this Saturday so it would not fight with the borough's 250th. The same afternoon, Shangy's opens the biergarten it built behind the Main Street store. Put them together and you have a whole Saturday, most of it free, none of it more than ten minutes from Emmaus. Here it is by the clock.

10am: Grim's Orchard. Start in Breinigsville while it is cool. Grim's fall festival has the 8-acre corn maze, hayrides, the Great Potato Dig, goat snuggling, and cider donuts. $12 gets you the maze, $21.99 the activity pass, $37.99 the whole thing. Open 10 to 7 Saturday and Sunday, last entry 5:30, and Fridays in October too (10 to 6).

Noon: Emmaus Community Park. National Night Out runs noon to 5 at 1389 Shimerville Road, and the police department has packed it: a MedEvac helicopter landing, K-9 and drone demos, motorcycle and bicycle demos, a car cruise, pumpkin decorating, a climbing wall, bumper cars, mascots, music, and food trucks for lunch. Free. Rain date is Sunday.

1pm: Shangy's Biergarten. Four minutes away at 40 E Main Street, Shangy's throws the grand opening of its new outdoor biergarten from noon: string lights, picnic tables, cornhole, food trucks, live music, and at 1pm the first-ever Shangy's steinholding contest. It is free to enter (limited spots, sign up ahead), every contestant gets a Shangy's shirt and a 1-liter Weihenstephan stein, the winners get a $100 gift card, and the top man and woman go to the Pennsylvania State Steinholding Championship at SteelStacks on October 10. Free to attend.

3pm: a winery. Clover Hill in Breinigsville runs a 45-minute tour at 3 ($14, four samples, keep the glass) and is pouring Harvest Sangria Flights all weekend ($16 ahead, $19 at the door). Or sit on the patio at Vynecrest, open till 7 Saturday, with live music most weekend afternoons.

The family swap: if the kids would rather bounce, the Alburtis Fall Festival runs noon to 5 at the community center, 220 W Second Street, with food trucks, vendors, a pumpkin drop, and new this year, bounce house rides and games. Rain date Sunday.

Thursday warm-up: Community Heroes Day tonight, 6 to 7:30, in the Emmaus Public Library lot at 11 E Main Street. Fire trucks, ambulances, and cruisers for kids to climb on. Free.

Sunday chaser: the Emmaus Farmers' Market at Triangle Park, 10 to 1, then the Bortz Log House open house at 5047 Hamilton Boulevard in Wescosville, 2 to 4, where the Lower Macungie Township Historical Society shows off the log house and its fall gardens. Bring the rain jacket.

Also in the neighborhood: the Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic, a PGA Tour Champions event, plays Friday through Sunday at Lehigh Country Club in Lower Macungie. $35 a day, kids free, and you park free at Dorney Park and ride the shuttle. Details in Sports.

Rather go east? Oktoberfest at SteelStacks is free all weekend (Friday 5 to 10, Saturday noon to 10, Sunday noon to 6) with wiener dog races Saturday at 1:30, 3, and 4:30 and the state steinholding qualifier Saturday at 6. Easton Garlic Fest fills Centre Square Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 6, free. Both are in the Rundown with the full schedule.

Community Digest

An Emmaus Teacher's Pipe Band Just Won the Worlds

Andrew Walker, 39, teaches 10th grade learning support at Parkland High School and lives in Emmaus. He is also a fifth-generation bagpiper, and in August his band, the Ulster Scottish Pipe Band, won Grade 2 at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow. Only six American bands have won there since the contest started in 1947.

He spent last weekend judging the pipe bands at the Celtic Classic, his third year doing it.

Speaking of the Celtic Classic: Jim Morrison and Chip Montgomery have built the Highland Games field in Bethlehem for more than 20 years, filling the holes, setting up the cages, planting the flags. Last weekend's U.S. National Highland Games Championships was their last one.

Busiest summer ever at LVIA. Lehigh Valley International Airport moved 320,058 passengers from June through August, about 20,000 more than last summer's record. August alone was up 6.6 percent.

24 miles and 2,400 push-ups. Cousins Cole and Logan Hilarczyk, both Nazareth High grads, ran a mile and did 100 push-ups every hour from 9am Saturday to 9am Sunday on the middle school track. Teal Strong was for Cole's mom, who is fighting ovarian cancer, and for ovarian cancer research.

Coming home after 82 years. Pfc. Howard G. Krapf was 26 when he was killed in the Hurtgen Forest in November 1944. DNA identified him in June, and on September 21 he was buried at Fairview Cemetery in West Catasauqua. His niece Joan Vannatta: "Because of the miracle of DNA, they were able to identify him. It's unbelievable, 82 years missing in action and he's finally coming out of the forest in Germany to come home to the United States."

One-liners: Downtown Easton's Platinum Star Cleaning was picked from 12,000-plus applicants as one of the U.S. Chamber's top 100 small businesses; the owners head to Washington October 19 to find out if they win the $25,000 top prize. Scout Pack 588 and Lynn Township volunteers put 42 native plants into a cleared patch of woods at Ontelaunee Park. And ten members of the Macungie Ambulance Corps were honored in Alburtis for saving a man in cardiac arrest.

Homes of the Week

Three homes, three budgets, three corners of the Valley. Live at send time.

UNDER $350K

$344,900 · Hellertown
1,536 sqft · 3 bed / 1.5 bath · Built 2006 · Twin with a 2023 quartz kitchen, second-floor laundry, and a fenced backyard with a screened gazebo, a few blocks from the Saucon Rail Trail and Main Street · Listed by Keller Williams Northampton

$350K TO $550K

$449,000 · Bushkill Township (Nazareth address)
1,602 sqft · 3 bed / 1.5 bath · Built 1985 · Brick colonial on a full acre on a quiet rural road, 3-car garage, coal stove in the living room, basement rough-plumbed for a bath · Listed last week by BHHS Choice Properties

OVER $550K

$749,900 · Upper Saucon Township (Coopersburg address)
2,851 sqft · 4 bed / 2.5 bath · Built 1998 · Heated in-ground pool with a pergola and woods behind it, wood-burning fireplace, primary suite with two walk-in closets and a Jacuzzi tub · Open house tonight, Thursday 5:30 to 7 · Listed by Howard Hanna

City Updates

Roadwork to Know About This Week

Route 22 closes overnight Saturday into Sunday at Hecktown Road, between Route 191 and Route 33 in Bethlehem Township, midnight to 4am, for bridge demolition. Detour is 191 and 33. This is the closure that got rained out last weekend. Rain does not cancel it this time.

Church Road in Bethlehem Township is closed southbound between Country Club Road and William Penn Highway from now until about December 23 for reconstruction. Northbound stays open. Detour: Country Club, Green Pond, Farmersville to the Easton Avenue light. Notre Dame families, add time.

I-78 between Route 412 and Route 611 (the Hellertown and Easton exits) has overnight lane closures both ways, 8pm to 6am, through Saturday.

Route 378 in Bethlehem has night lane closures Sunday through Thursday, 7pm to 6am, into November. One southbound lane of the Fahy Bridge is still closed by day.

Lehigh Street in Allentown, Vultee to Jefferson, loses lanes both ways 9 to 3 on weekdays through October 16 for utility work.

Fullerton Avenue repaving in Whitehall is scheduled to wrap this week. MacArthur Road, Center to Chestnut, keeps its daytime lane closures 9 to 3 through October 30.

Stones Crossing Road in Palmer, Freemansburg Avenue to William Penn Highway, has flaggers Friday 8 to 3, a block from Chinchorro's grand opening.

Lower Macungie this weekend: the golf tournament at Lehigh Country Club expects up to 30,000 people Thursday through Sunday, and there is no public parking at the course; fans park at Dorney Park and shuttle in. Give the Cedar Crest Boulevard and Lower Macungie Road corridor extra time.

Easton notes: no Easton Farmers' Market this Saturday (Garlic Fest takes the square; the market is back October 10). College Hill PorchFest, rained out last Sunday, is this Sunday, 1 to 5. And the National Canal Museum and the canal boat rides in Hugh Moore Park are done for 2026; the bridge job on the only road in slipped to spring 2027.

New in the Valley

Pizza in the Old Willy Joe's

Willy Joe's sold hot dogs at 446 N 15th Street in Allentown for 80 years before it closed last year. Now it sells pizza. Brian and Jess Macker, the Lower Macungie couple behind the Local Stone pop-up, soft-opened a takeout shop there last week: 72-hour cold-fermented dough, Detroit and Sicilian styles, pizza only. Hours are day to day for now; check their site before you go.

McCall Collective opened its third spot at 732 Hamilton Street downtown: wood-fired 14-inch pizzas, a mezzanine, and a beer garden. Regular hours started Tuesday (11 to 10 Monday to Thursday, 11 to 11 Friday and Saturday, noon to 8 Sunday), and the grand opening party with live music runs Friday through Sunday.

Shangy's Biergarten in Emmaus opens Saturday. See today's lead.

Chinchorro by La Frikitona, the Puerto Rican food truck's first restaurant at 2600 William Penn Highway in Palmer, holds its grand opening today, which kicks off regular hours. Bubbakoo's Burritos in Bethlehem Square opened Tuesday, per the company. Taco Tek, a New York halal Mexican chain, soft-opened its first Pennsylvania spot in the old Moe's at 3211 Schoenersville Road, 10am to 11pm daily; the birria tacos are the seller. Gigi & Alex is open in Hellertown at 605 Main Street, breakfast through dinner, 7am to 9pm Monday to Saturday and 7 to 3 Sunday.

dd's DISCOUNTS opened last weekend at Whitehall Square, 2180 MacArthur Road, the old Staples. And the Lehigh Valley Mall now lists Toys "R" Us with regular hours, upper level near the escalators: 10 to 8 Monday to Thursday, 10 to 9 Friday and Saturday, noon to 6 Sunday.

Closing: Drizzle Ice Cream in Schnecksville shuts for good November 1, with weekly sundae specials on the way out. The original Alburtis shop at 47 W Penn Avenue stays, and gift cards work there.

Coming: the Bethlehem Co-op Market holds its first preview market tonight, 4 to 7, at 250 E Broad Street, with local vendors; anyone can come. The full store opens December 5.

Do Some Good

One way to help the Valley each week, plus the nonprofit events worth knowing about.

The Buddy Walk Needs $22,500 by Saturday

The 27th Lehigh Valley Buddy Walk steps off at 2pm Saturday at Cedar Crest College in Allentown. Registration opens at noon, the opening ceremony is at 1:45, and the block party runs until 4:30: food trucks, characters, karate demos, live music, bounce houses, therapy dogs, mini golf, and a sensory village.

It is $25 a person, free for people with Down syndrome, and the Eastern Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Center has raised $72,497 of its $95,000 goal with two days to go. Every dollar funds EPDSC's programs for families across the Valley.

Full disclosure: I sit on EPDSC's board, and the walk raises money on Pledge It, where I work.

Community Bike Works Mileage Challenge | through Tuesday, October 13, anywhere
Log your walks, runs, or rides, or pledge a few cents a mile to a team. They are at $74,577 of $150,000 with 6,650 miles logged. Celebration party October 21 at Yergey.

Shindig at the Shelter | Fri 6 to 9pm, Christ Church UCC, 75 E Market St, Bethlehem
$100 a ticket, and every dollar keeps Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering open November 1 to April 30. Can't make it? They need sleeping bags, tents, and bottled water, dropped at 75 E Market Street weekends 11:45 to 1.

Women's 5K Classic | Sat 10am, Lehigh Parkway, Allentown
34th year. $45 if you sign up today, $50 from Friday on. The money stays local for women facing breast and gynecologic cancers, and they still need Saturday volunteers.

Out of the Darkness Walk | Sun check-in 10am, walk noon, Lehigh Parkway, Allentown
AFSP's walk for suicide prevention and for families who have lost someone. No fee. 735 walkers on 93 teams have raised $44,548 toward $115,000.

Kindness Project Fall Yard Sale | Fri 9 to 4, Sat 8 to 2, Emmaus Moravian Church, 146 Main St
Last week's feature is open to shop. They still have more than 100 volunteer shifts open if you would rather work the racks.

Miller-Keystone ShocktoberFest | through October 31, Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton centers
Seven blood types are at critical need this week. Book a chair (the Cedar Crest Boulevard center opens 6:30 Saturday mornings) and pick up a $10-off voucher.

Plant A Row | through October 10, Emmaus and Lower Macungie libraries and 20 more sites
Got a last flush of tomatoes or peppers? Drop them in the bin. Everything goes to local food pantries.

Is your nonprofit doing something? | anywhere in the Valley
Fundraiser, walk, drive, gala: hit reply and we'll list it here, free.

Weekend Rundown: Oct 1 to 4

FREE means free. Prices are listed where the organizer posts them. Double-check times before heading out!

FAIR & FESTIVAL

Oktoberfest at SteelStacks FREE | Fri 5 to 10, Sat noon to 10, Sun noon to 6, PNC Plaza, Bethlehem
Four biergartens (Hofbrau, Yuengling, Krombacher, Sam Adams). Saturday: Pup Parade at noon (sign up at 12:15), Wiener Dog Races 1:30, 3, and 4:30, Polkadelphia at noon and 2, state steinholding qualifier at 6 in the Sam Adams garden, Dragtoberfest 8:30 (free, fills fast). Sunday: oompah band at noon, races 1:30 and 3. Friday: Fritz's Polka Band 5:30, flip cup at 7. Weekend two is October 9 to 11.

Easton Garlic Fest FREE | Sat + Sun 10 to 6, Centre Square, Easton
Garlic everything, a main stage all day, chef cook-offs, a kids' cooking competition and bounce houses. The $10 garlic tasting shows (Saturday and Sunday at noon) sell at Pungent Plaza on Pine Street from 11:30. The city garages are $20 flat and fill by noon. Free afterparty Saturday 6 to 9 with The Hazmats.

Garlic Fest Preview Night FREE | Fri 5 to 9pm, S 3rd St, Easton
Buttercream (a CAKE tribute) with The SoundSmiths. Rain or shine.

Emmaus National Night Out FREE | Sat noon to 5, Emmaus Community Park
From today's story.

Shangy's Biergarten grand opening FREE | Sat from noon, steinholding at 1, 40 E Main St, Emmaus
From today's story.

Alburtis Fall Festival FREE | Sat noon to 5, 220 W Second St, Alburtis
From today's story.

Ottertoberfest | Sat 10 to 4, Lehigh Valley Zoo, Schnecksville
Frozen otter cake at 12:15, The Quakertown Band at noon, hayrides, a dunk tank. Included with admission, $18 adults, $14 kids and seniors. Rain or shine.

FHV Harvest Fest FREE | Sat 11 to 5, Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor
Food trucks, folk music, a scavenger hunt at the Valley's oldest winery.

MARKETS

Bethlehem Co-op Market preview FREE | Thu 4 to 7pm, 250 E Broad St, Bethlehem
First look inside before the December opening, with local vendors. Anyone can come.

Macungie Farmers Market FREE | Thu 4 to 7pm, Lumber St, Macungie
Four Thursdays left this season.

Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market FREE | Thu 9 to 7, Fri 8 to 7, Sat 8 to 6, 1825 Chew St

Bethlehem Rose Garden Farmers Market FREE | Sat 9am to 1pm, W Raspberry St between 8th and 9th
Two Saturdays left; the season ends October 10.

Emmaus Farmers' Market FREE | Sun 10am to 1pm, Triangle Park

No Easton Farmers' Market this Saturday. Back October 10.

LIVE & FREE MUSIC

Jazz Jam FREE | Thu 7 to 10pm, Williams Brew Stage, SteelStacks, Bethlehem

College Hill PorchFest FREE | Sun 1 to 5pm, porches across College Hill, Easton
Rained out last week, back this Sunday. Sets at 1, 2, 3, and 4, then the Big Easy Easton Brass parade at 5 from Reeder Park. Eighth year.

Music Bingo at Blue Mountain Vineyards FREE | Sat 2pm, New Tripoli
Sunday Music Jam with the James Supra Band is Sunday 2 to 5, also free; reserve a table.

Vance Gilbert with Barry Rabin | Sat 7:30pm, Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem
$35.98 advance, $41.17 at the door. The First Sunday Open Mike is Sunday at 7, $3 cash.

Ann Wilson: The Voice of Heart | Fri 8pm, Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem
$49.50 to $69.50 plus fees.

So Good: The Neil Diamond Experience | Fri 7:30pm, State Theatre, Easton
$38.98 to $54.73.

ARTS & CULTURE

First Friday in South Bethlehem FREE | Fri evening, SouthSide Arts District
Galleries, shops, and live music. The National Museum of Industrial History is free 6 to 8, and its Bethlehem Steel Flashlight Tour leaves at 7:30 ($15, bring a flashlight, heights to 46 feet).

1776 by Lantern Light | Thu 6 to 8pm, George Taylor House, 35 S Front St, Catasauqua
A lantern-lit open house at the 1768 home of a Declaration signer, with costumed guides, music, and Sleepy Cat Winery tastings. $45.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live cast | Sat gates 5:30, show 7:15, Shankweiler's Drive-In, Orefield
Third year for the Spaced Out Sensations shadow cast. $12 a person ($13.24 with fees). Sunday is a captioned sing-along without the cast. Rated R.

Free Sundays at the Museums FREE | Sun 11 to 5, Kemerer Museum, Moravian Museum, and Grist Miller's House, Bethlehem
Family crafts in three slots (paper lanterns, herb sachets, leather bookmarks); register ahead, five tickets a household.

Bortz Log House Open House | Sun 2 to 4pm, 5047 Hamilton Blvd, Wescosville
From today's story.

Arte y Espanol FREE | Sat 1 to 2pm, Allentown Art Museum
A Spanish-language gallery tour follows at 2. Last chance for the Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School show, which closes October 11. Admission and the Linden Street lot are always free.

FAMILY & OUTDOORS

Finding Titanic: The Secret Mission | Tue to Sun 10 to 5, Da Vinci Science Center, 815 W Hamilton St, Allentown
Opened Tuesday, through January 19. Real expedition gear, a virtual walk through the ship, a mini-ROV to pilot. $10 on top of $24 admission. Saturday is also a Witches & Wizards Weekend day.

Grim's Orchard Fall Festival | Fri 10 to 6, Sat + Sun 10 to 7, Breinigsville
From today's story. $12 to $37.99.

Seiple Farms Flashlight Corn Maze | Fri 6 to 9pm, Bath
22 acres of maze in the dark, $13. The farm is open noon to 6 Friday and 10 to 6 Saturday and Sunday, with a free hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Community Heroes Day FREE | Thu 6 to 7:30pm, Emmaus Public Library lot
From today's story.

Lehigh Valley Buddy Walk | Sat registration noon, walk 2pm, Cedar Crest College, Allentown
From today's Do Some Good. $25.

Women's 5K Classic | Sat 10am, Lehigh Parkway, Allentown
$45 today, $50 from Friday.

Yuengling Oktoberfest 5K | Sun 10:30am, SteelStacks, Bethlehem
$60. Finishers get a 22-ounce Yuengling (or root beer), a shirt, and a medal for the first 1,000. Registration closes Sunday at 10.

Screamin' Green Hauntoween | Daily from 10, Crayola Experience, Easton
Character meet-ups at noon and 2, weekend trick-or-treat stations, no masks. Through November 1.

Hawk Mountain hawkwatch | Daily 9 to 5, Kempton
Early October is prime broad-wing and sharp-shinned season. Trail fee $10, $7 seniors, $5 kids.

Dorney Park Halloween Haunt | Select nights through October 31, Allentown
Six mazes, not for under 13. Bundles from $60, mazes-only pass from $15. Daytime Tricks and Treats at Planet Snoopy from $39.

Walk in Penn's Woods FREE | Sat 10am to noon, Dent-Gundry Easement, Carls Hill Rd, Mertztown
A guided 2-mile hike with Wildlands Conservancy staff on protected farmland and forest. Rated challenging, leashed dogs OK, register.

FOOD & DRINK

McCall Collective grand opening party | Fri to Sun, 732 Hamilton St, Allentown
From today's New in the Valley. Live music all weekend.

Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer Dinner | Sat 5pm, ArtsQuest Center, Bethlehem
Four courses with 6-ounce pours and a Yuengling brewer talking you through each beer. $69, tax and tip included, keep the pint glass. 21+.

Harvest Sangria Flights | Thu to Sun, Clover Hill Winery, Breinigsville
Pumpkin Pie, Autumn Sunshine, Pomegranate Punch, and Apple Cider Donut, plus a full glass of your favorite. $16 ahead, $19 day-of. Winery tour Saturday at 3, $14.

Shindig at the Shelter | Fri 6 to 9pm, Christ Church UCC, Bethlehem
From today's Do Some Good. $100.

COMEDY

Randy Feltface: Gimmick! | Fri 8pm, Musikfest Cafe, Bethlehem
Purple felt puppet, real stand-up. $47.75 to $59, ages 13+.

Jordan Jensen | Sat 8pm, Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem
$39.50 to $59.50 plus fees.

Dragtoberfest FREE | Sat 8:30 to 10pm, Oktoberfest at SteelStacks
Free drag show inside the free festival. It fills fast.

SPORTS

Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic | Thu to Sun, Lehigh Country Club, Lower Macungie
The Valley's first PGA Tour Champions event. $35 a day Friday through Sunday ($15 for Thursday's pro-am, $75 for the week); kids 17 and under free with a ticketed adult, and active military, veterans, and first responders get in free. There is no public parking at the course: park free at Dorney Park and take the free shuttle (Saturday 8:15am to 6pm, Sunday 7:15 to 4:30). Proceeds go to Valley Youth House and the Eagles Autism Foundation. Nine hours on Golf Channel if you would rather watch from the couch.

Phantoms home opener vs Hartford | Sat 7:05pm, PPL Center, Allentown
Rally towel giveaway.

Lehigh vs Fordham | Sat noon, Goodman Stadium, Bethlehem
The "Tackle Cancer" game. Lehigh's only home game until October 24.

Lafayette vs Richmond | Sat 12:30pm, Fisher Stadium, Easton
A ten-minute walk from Garlic Fest.

Muhlenberg is off this week. Next home game October 10.

WORTH THE DRIVE

Jim Thorpe Fall Foliage Festival FREE | Sat + Sun 10 to 5, downtown Jim Thorpe
Weekend one of three. Craft and food vendors, four free music stages, train rides (book ahead). Lots are $20 to $30 a car and downtown fills by mid-morning; the organizers say weekends two and three usually have better color.

38 Special | Fri 8pm (doors 6), Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe
50 Year Legacy Tour. $50 reserved, $60 pit.

Knoebels Hallo-Fun starts next Friday, October 9, not this weekend.

Circle the Date

Barktoberfest is Saturday, October 10, 11 to 3 at Macungie Memorial Park, with a pet blessing at 12:30, a free agility course, and adoptable pets. The Macungie Halloween Parade is that night at 7. Same day in Emmaus, JuxtaFaire brings about 30 makers to JuxtaHub, 375 S 10th Street, noon to 4.

Lewis Black plays the State Theatre Friday, October 9 at 8. $59.98 to $110, on sale now.

The Allentown Symphony opens its season October 10 and 11 with pianist Joyce Yang, Prokofiev, and Brahms at Miller Symphony Hall.

Forks Township's first Restaurant Week runs October 11 to 17, nine restaurants with fixed-price menus.

Saturday, October 17 is stacked: Making Strides Against Breast Cancer at SteelStacks, 10:30 to 2, free to register ($52,634 raised of $300,000 so far); ChiliFest turns 30 on the South Bethlehem Greenway, noon to 5, $35 tasting passports, limited, pick up October 15 to 17 at 324 S New Street; Lower Macungie's Trunk or Treat at Quarry Park in Alburtis, noon to 2, free; and the Emmaus Halloween Parade at 7pm (rain date the 18th).

Light The Night fills Grange Park in Upper Macungie with lanterns Saturday, October 24 at 5:30. Free to register; the Valley goal is $485,000.

Bethlehem's Halloween Parade is Sunday, October 25, and the city's trick-or-treat night is Friday, October 30.

PA Bacon Fest turns 15 on November 7 and 8 in downtown Easton, free. The VIP lounge is on sale ($62 a day, $103 for both) and the Racin' Bacon 5K is already full.

Lehigh vs Lafayette, the 162nd meeting, is Saturday, November 21 at 12:30 at Fisher Stadium. Last year's game sold out.

The Lights in the Parkway 5K on Thanksgiving Eve has sold out five years running. 410 of 1,200 spots were left Wednesday at $45, and the price goes up again after October 29.

Historic Bethlehem's Turkey Trot is Saturday, November 28 at 9. $40 for the 5K, $25 for the fun walk, through November 20.

Share the Loop

Know someone who is always asking "what's going on this weekend?" Send them the Loop. When one friend signs up through your link, you get The Lehigh Valley Fall Guide: 40 fall events across the Valley in one place.

Quick Poll

That's the Loop. Know about something happening in the Valley? Hit reply, we read everything. See you next Thursday.