Santana, Toby Keith, Chicago, Aloe Blacc, Godsmack, and more headline Musikfest in Bethlehem Aug. 4-13
From a press release:
Santana, Toby Keith, Father John Misty, Aloe Blacc, Chicago, Godsmack, Live, and nearly 400 other performers will take the stage when Musikfest, the nation’s largest free music festival, returns for its 34th year to Bethlehem on Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 13.
This year’s festival features music at 16 of 18 venues – the most in the event’s history – with more than 500 free music and art performances during the event’s 10-day run.
The complete festival lineup is available now exclusively on the free Musikfest App presented by PNC Bank, available at musikfest.org/app through June 1. Other features of the app, available for all Apple iOS and Android operating systems, include personalized schedule creation, opportunities to win Musikfest tickets, an interactive festival map, and more. Starting June 2, the Musikfest lineup will also be available online at musikfest.org.
Headlining Musikfest 2017 at the festival’s Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza (645 E. 1st St., Bethlehem) at the SteelStacks are:
Aug. 4: Santana
Aug. 5: Chicago
Aug. 6: Father John Misty with San Fermin
Aug. 7: Live
Aug. 8: Aloe Blacc
Aug. 9: Godsmack
Aug. 10: Toby Keith
Aug. 11: The Band Perry
Aug. 12: Lee Brice and Justin Moore
Aug. 13: Jethro Tull by Ian Anderson
On Saturday, Aug. 12, Musikfest welcomes Colin Hay of Men at Work to the IBEW Local 375 Volksplatz stage, while on Monday, Aug. 7, Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman of Ween will perform the music of Billy Joel on the Air Products Americaplatz stage. Other acts performing during the festival include The Smithereens on Aug. 7, rising indie stars Low Cut Connie on Aug. 5, popular Americana group The National Parks on Aug. 4-5, Korean pop rock act Ssing on Aug. 10-11, Celtic and world music group Scythian on Aug. 10-11, funk bassist Freekbass on Aug. 11, Popa Chubby on Aug. 13, and Jamaican reggae legends The Skatalites on Aug. 8.
New for 2017 is the Martin Guitar Stage at Yuengling Lagerplatz, featuring short acoustic sets by two dozen artists performing at the festival, as well as open mic sessions, where festival attendees can pick up one of the Martin Guitars on site and perform their favorite songs accompanied by one of these handcrafted masterpieces. In addition to the hundreds of free musical performances, the festival also features nearly 60 food vendors, 45 artisans, over a dozen buskers, and a diverse array of family programming.
Presented by the nonprofit ArtsQuest, Musikfest was founded in 1984 and today offers more than 500 free music and art performances on 16 stages, making it one of the largest music festivals in the country. The festival, which features free music on all but one of its stages, is made possible thanks in part to the support of more than 150 corporate partners, 1,800 volunteers, and 2,500 supporting ArtsQuest Members. Musikfest takes place throughout Bethlehem’s Historic District, as well as the SteelStacks arts and cultural campus, located on the site of the city’s former Bethlehem Steel plant.
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Santana playing at the 2015 Peach Music Festival in Scranton here and check out photos and a review of the Flaming Lips at Musikfest last year here.
Photo by Jason Riedmiller Photography
