Американың жылдық музыка фестивалі: Музикфест

Annual American music festival

Musikfest is an American music festival that has been held annually since 1984 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the nation's largest non gated free music festival. The festival begins on the first Friday in August, though it has been preceded since 2015 with a Thursday preview night involving the premium stage and adjacent areas. The festival ends the second Sunday thereafter. Musikfest draws thousands of visitors to Bethlehem from around the nation and world in a celebration that weaves through a Moravian community that dates back to 1741. Festival visitors are treated to hundreds of free shows with great genre variety over the course of the event. Each night, the festival's premium stage, Steel Stage, formerly known as RiverPlace and Kunstplatz, hosts a nationally known recording artist. These premium concerts, along with select shows at other stages, require paid tickets to gain admission. Musikfest is rooted in the Bethlehem area's German roots, and most of the festival's venues use Platz, the German word for place or square, at the end of their names. A popular place for eating and listening to music, for example, is the large "Festplatz", which includes 300 dining tables, and usually features a polka band each night. Beyond that, however, Musikfest's music, food, and other attractions represent a broad range of cultures. Musikfest is presented by ArtsQuest, a nonprofit arts organization founded to celebrate arts and culture in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Proceeds from the event benefit ArtsQuest ventures such as the Banana Factory community arts center in South Bethlehem, and other nonprofit groups throughout the region. Musikfest served as the inspiration for major plot elements of the music film, Killian & the Comeback Kids.

Musikfest 41 is scheduled for August 1 to August 11, 2024.

Musikfest 40 took place from August 3 to August 13.

Representing the Spanish heritage of a carnival, the colorful 2023 Musikfest poster mural not only commemorates the festival’s 40th anniversary, but also embodies the spirit and liveliness of the Lehigh Valley’s richly diverse culture. Celebrating around the mural’s center image, called a Vejigante, people happily dance among a rainbow burst of color and musical notes, against a colorfully rich backdrop that features the iconic SteelStacks nestled among hills and trees representing the City of Bethlehem.

Musikfest 39 took place from August 4 to the 14th, celebrating music and the arts within the community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Fine artist Bart Cooper came up with a detailed poster, incorporating hidden imagery within his colorful vision. Capturing a joyful image of a father with his daughter hoisted onto his shoulders at Musikfest, Cooper wanted to bring warmth to his painting as the two share the same experience from different perspectives.

After going virtual for 2020, Musikfest returned from August 5 to August 15, 2021, with another community celebration to mark its 38th year.

Musikfest 2021 differentiated from previous years, honoring the lives lost to the COVID 19 pandemic through the symbol of the Poppy flower in all operations of the event. Poppies of Remembrance, Lanterns of Hope was created through partnership with New Bethany Ministries to give the community a way to honor those lost, affected and to highlight the first responders of the pandemic. Through the illumination of votive candles inside paper bags, attendees paid respect to the lives lost. Those performing and in attendance were asked to #pausethemusik to take a moment of silence, remembering those who passed.

The event poster was painted by fine artist Mandy Martin, drawing inspiration from the revival of Bethlehem through the years. Poppies serve as the focal point of the poster, to represent the growth of the city of Bethlehem and the fest. As the painting began Spring of 2020, Mandy's symbolism took on different meanings as the pandemic progressed.

In preparation for the festivities, equipment and the fest grounds were examined before welcoming Darius Rucker on August 5 to mark the start of the festivities.

Impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic, Musikfest 2020 was substantially scaled back from its traditional schedule of several hundred shows over the 10 day festival to only five live shows (along with live streaming of these shows). The festival took place July 31 to August 9.

2019 marks the 36th year of the annual music festival, which ran from August 2 to 11.

2018 marks the 35th Anniversary of the annual festival, which ran from August 3 to 12. A special "35th Anniversary" poster was created by Dan Mugrauer, tattoo artist and owner of Blood Moon Tattoo Syndicate in Ambler, PA. The artwork will also be used for the official festival mug and souvenirs, while being incorporated into other official festival merchandise and apparel throughout the year.

Musikfest 2016, the 33rd iteration of the annual music festival, will take place from August 5 to 14.

Musikfest 2015, the 32nd iteration of the annual music festival, took place from August 7 to 16.

Fresh Vegetables, Daniel Womack, Ray Owen, Johnny Brezovec, John Gorka, Heather and Royston Wood, Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre, Rainbow Collection, An Evening at a British Music Hall, Happy Boombadears, Mountain Laurel, Mike Dugan, Bob Carlin, Mike Craver, Dave Fry, Lu Mitchell, Four's Company, Hot House, Thompson Family Quintet, Fairmount Brass Quartet, Kato, John Bauer, Broadway's Greatest Songs in Concert, Mail Pouch Express, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Kim and Reggie Harris, Peter Tork, Swing Shift, Ilona's Strolling Violins, Chorus of the Lehigh Valley, Darlene Rose and 1,001 Hawaiians, John Gorka, Roland Kushner, Lord Burgess, Happy Boombadears, Beethoven Choruses of Bethlehem, Fess Roundtree, Cranberry Lake Jug Band, Alan Gaumer Quartet, Kevin Roth, Steve Brosky, Alan Gaumer Quartet, Cornerstone, Lord Burgess, Garnet Rogers, Hanover Township Society for the Preservation of Big Band Sound in America, Harley the Clown's Washtub Circus, Diamond State Saxophone Quartet, Satin 'n' Lace, The Writer's Group: Thom Schuyler, Chris Rawlings and Gilles Losier, Ilona's Strolling Violins, Mario Acerra's Show Biz Revue, Touchstone's Theatre – "Comic Book Kid", The Writer's Group: Fred Knobloch, Steve Whitaker, Sweet Adelines, Sadie Green Sales, Johnny Brezovec, Alan Gaumer Quartet, Shanachians, Lew London, Meixner Kinder, and Pennsylvania Playhouse: "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".

1984 marked the first year for the annual festival. There were far fewer acts then there are currently, and the size of the festival was much smaller than it is right now. 182,000 people attended the first festival, and since then that number has greatly increased.