The best of the Lehigh Valley, every Thursday · Issue #1 · September 3, 2026
Happy Thursday, Lehigh Valley!
Welcome to the very first issue of The Lehigh Valley Loop. Every Thursday we round up the best of what's happening across the Valley. No crime, no politics, just the good stuff.
And what a weekend to start. It's Labor Day weekend, the Fair is open, fall festival season kicks off Saturday, and the early forecast is classic late-summer Valley weather: sunshine and low 80s to start the weekend, cool nights, perfect fairground conditions.
In today's edition:
Your complete Great Allentown Fair game plan
Lehigh University opened its forest to everyone
Fall officially starts Saturday at Grim's Orchard
Homes of the Week
$6.5M is coming to Valley parks and trails
The Iron Chef's Cuban cafe in downtown Allentown
One easy way to help the Valley this week
20+ things to do this long weekend
- Joe Roller
News
The Great Allentown Fair Is Back (Here's Your Game Plan)
The Great Allentown Fair at dusk. Photo courtesy of Discover Lehigh Valley
You know it's really the end of summer when you can smell the funnel cake from Chew Street.
The 174th Great Allentown Fair runs now through Labor Day Monday at the Fairgrounds, and this year's grandstand lineup has something for every generation in your house.
Here's what to know:
Friday, Sept 4: Warren Zeiders takes the grandstand, 7pm
Saturday, Sept 5: All Time Low headlines, 7pm
Sunday, Sept 6: Local Legends Live, a 2pm matinee with six Valley bands
Monday, Sept 7: the J&J Demolition Derby closes it out, 5pm
Gate admission: $10 for adults, kids 12 and under FREE every day
Now the insider stuff. Getting in costs $10 at the gate, and it's free from noon to 2pm on Thursday and Friday. Veterans and active military get in free all day Sunday, and seniors 65 and up get in free all day Monday. The big grandstand shows are separate tickets, $61 to $81 at the Fair Box Office with fees included, and every show ticket covers Fair admission too, so don't pay the gate twice. Sunday's Local Legends matinee is just $32.
Six days. Rides, livestock barns, and deep-fried everything. Then it's gone until next September.
Community Digest
Lehigh University Opened Its Forest to Everyone
For decades, the woods above South Bethlehem were something you looked at, not something you walked in.
That changed this spring. Lehigh University opened the first marked public hiking trail in Forest Park, giving all of us access to land that had been off limits.
Why it's worth your Saturday morning:
The first public trail on the university's wooded land above the city, with two blazed loops
Real elevation, real shade, and views back over South Bethlehem
Free, open to the community, no permit needed (park at South Mountain Park on Mountain Drive)
Long weekend + new trail + September air. That math does itself.
Fall Officially Starts Saturday in Breinigsville
Somewhere between the Fair's last funnel cake and the first apple cider donut, summer hands over the keys. That handoff happens this Saturday.
Grim's Orchard opens its Fall Festival on September 5, and it runs every weekend through November 1, plus holiday Mondays (Labor Day included).
What's waiting out there:
An eight-acre corn maze and hayrides
Pick-your-own apples from more than 25 varieties, plus pumpkin picking all week long
Apple cider donuts, kettle corn, and caramel apples
Open 10am to 6pm this weekend (last entry 4:30pm), packages from $11.99
Opening weekend means the corn is tall and the crowds are small. By October it's the opposite. Go now.
Two Hometown Candy Giants Just Teamed Up
Some partnerships just make sense. MIKE AND IKE is made right here in Bethlehem by Just Born, and the IronPigs are the Valley's team. Now they're officially collaborating, with co-branded caps, shirts, and jerseys in that unmistakable lime-green, at the team store and the Clubhouse Store at Coca-Cola Park.
And while we're talking IronPigs: Duck Night this season raised $12,000 for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley.
Hometown team, hometown candy, money to kids who need it. That's a good month at Coca-Cola Park.
Homes of the Week
Three Valley homes, three budgets. Listings were live when we hit send; homes move fast, so check the link.
UNDER $350K
$339,900 · East Side, Allentown
1,509 sqft · 3 bed / 2 bath · Built 1941 · 2-car detached garage, fenced yard with deck · Listed by Coldwell Banker Hearthside
$350K TO $550K
$380,000 · Macungie
1,440 sqft · 3 bed / 2 bath · Built 2012 · Attached 2-car, finished lower level · Listed by BHHS Fox & Roach
OVER $550K
$629,900 · Center Valley
2,622 sqft · 4 bed / 2.5 bath · Built 2003 · 2-car garage, half-acre corner lot · Listed by BHGRE Valley Partners
City Updates
$6.5 Million Is Coming to Valley Parks and Trails
Think about the last time you walked a Valley trail. Now picture 18 more projects like it getting funded at once.
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania awarded more than $6.5 million in grants to 18 Lehigh Valley conservation and recreation projects, and those dollars are now working their way toward shovels. The highlights:
South Bethlehem Greenway: $250,000 for new trail, an amphitheater, rain garden, and ADA access
The Easton Highline: $500,000 to acquire 17.5 acres holding over a mile of future trail
Hellertown: $280,000 to keep building out Tumminello Park
Fair warning: grants come before shovels, so some of these are a couple of years from ribbon cuttings.
But the Valley got 18 reasons its outdoors keep getting better. Worth knowing what's coming to your corner of it.
New in the Valley
Have You Tried the Iron Chef's Cuban Cafe Yet?
Rosa Blanca might be the Valley's best excuse to skip the drive to Philly.
Iron Chef winner and James Beard Award-winning chef Jose Garces opened his Cuban cafe and rum bar on the ground floor of The Nines in Allentown's Downtown West district last spring, and it has settled in as one of downtown's anchor spots.
Go for the Cubano, stay for the mojitos, and report back. We read every reply.
Do Some Good
One way to help the Valley each week, plus the nonprofit events worth knowing about.
The Food Bank Needs Hands After the Holiday
Here's a quiet truth about long weekends: while the rest of us are at the Fair, donations to the food bank slow down and shelves get thin.
Second Harvest of the Lehigh Valley moves nearly 10 million pounds of food a year through 200+ partner agencies, and most of it gets packed by volunteers. Shifts are a couple of hours, no experience needed. Sign up on Second Harvest's site, or through the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley.
Two hours of your September beats a can in a bin every time.
Give blood this week FREE | Miller-Keystone Blood Center, multiple locations
Holiday weekends drain the local blood supply, and Miller-Keystone supplies 35 hospitals across eastern PA and western NJ, including St. Luke's. Book a chair for next week.
Volunteer (or run) the D&L RaceFest | Sunday, Nov 15, Allentown to Easton
The race that carries on the old Via Marathon runs the D&L corridor in November: marathon, relay, and half. Runner registration and volunteer signups are both open now.
Is your nonprofit doing something? | anywhere in the Valley
Fundraiser, walk, drive, gala: hit reply and we'll list it here, free.
Long Weekend Rundown: Sept 4-7
Events marked with $ need a ticket in advance. Double-check dates and times before heading out!
FAIR & FESTIVAL
The Great Allentown Fair | daily through Mon, Allentown Fairgrounds
Rides, barns, food. $10 gate, kids 12 and under always free, free entry noon to 2pm Thu and Fri only.
Warren Zeiders $ | Fri 7pm, Fair grandstand
Country night at the Fair. Ticket includes gate admission.
All Time Low $ | Sat 7pm, Fair grandstand
Pop-punk headliner, biggest show of Fair week.
Local Legends Live $ | Sun 2pm matinee, Fair grandstand
Six of the Valley's own acts get the big stage. $32.
J&J Demolition Derby $ | Mon 5pm, Fair grandstand
The Labor Day tradition. Sells out most years, don't wait.
Grim's Fall Festival opening weekend $ | Sat, Sun + Labor Day Mon, Breinigsville
Corn maze, hayrides, apple picking. From today's story.
MARKETS
Easton Farmers Market FREE | Sat 9am to 1pm, Scott Park on the riverfront
The market calls itself the oldest continuous open-air farmers market in America, going since 1752. These days it sets up along Larry Holmes Drive. Peak tomato season.
Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market FREE | Thu to Sat, Fairgrounds
Hit the market, then walk straight into the Fair.
Emmaus Farmers Market FREE | Sun 10am to 1pm, Triangle Park
Last of the summer peaches. Go early.
Saucon Valley Farmers Market FREE | Sun 9am to 1pm, Dimmick Park, Hellertown
Small, friendly, and right off the rail trail.
LIVE & FREE MUSIC
Levitt Pavilion at SteelStacks FREE | Fri to Sun 7:30pm, Bethlehem
The Psycodelics Friday, Judy Blank Saturday, Adam Ezra Group Sunday. Free shows under the blast furnaces, second-to-last weekend of the season.
FACE 2 FACE at Musikfest Café $ | Fri + Sat 7:30pm, ArtsQuest Center
A Billy Joel and Elton John tribute, indoors both nights.
Where else is the live music? | your neighborhood
Know a Valley bar, brewery, or porch series we should be listing here? Hit reply and we'll add it.
ARTS & CULTURE
First Friday on the SouthSide FREE | Fri evening, South Bethlehem
Galleries, studios, and shops across the arts district open late to start the month, with ArtsQuest programming at SteelStacks.
Rise & Fall of Bethlehem Steel walking tour $ | Fri to Mon 1pm, SteelStacks
90 minutes through the plant that built America's skylines. $20 adults.
Allentown Art Museum FREE | Thu to Sun 11am to 4pm, downtown Allentown
Free admission, cool, quiet, and air conditioned. The long-weekend reset button.
FAMILY & OUTDOORS
Forest Park Trail FREE | anytime, Lehigh University, Bethlehem
The new public trail from today's story. Beat the crowds that are coming.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary $ | daily 9am to 5pm, Kempton
Broad-winged hawk migration is ramping up. Thousands pass the lookout by mid-September. $10 adults.
Dorney Park closing weekends $ | Fri to Mon, Allentown
Weekends only after Labor Day, and Wildwater Kingdom's season is in its final stretch. Last easy chance.
Da Vinci Science Center $ | daily 10am to 5pm, downtown Allentown
The rainy-day insurance policy for the weekend.
Lehigh Valley Zoo $ | daily 10am to 4pm, Schnecksville
Book animal encounters (giraffes included) on the zoo's calendar.
D&L Trail FREE | anytime, canal towpath
Flat, shaded, and perfect in early September. Start at Sand Island in Bethlehem.
Circle the Date
Los Straitjackets close out the free Levitt Pavilion season Saturday, Sept 12. Celtic Classic takes over Bethlehem September 25 to 27. Seiple Farms opens its 20-acre corn maze September 26. And the D&L RaceFest (the old Via Marathon's successor) runs Allentown to Easton on Sunday, November 15. Full rundown next Thursday.
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, from the big festivals in order to corn mazes, apple picking, and Halloween, every date checked against the source.
Your personal link is below. Text it, post it, forward it. One friend is all it takes.
Quick Poll
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That's the Loop. Know about something happening in the Valley? Hit reply, we read everything. And if a neighbor would like this, your share link above gets them in and gets you the Fall Guide. See you next Thursday.