Around the Valley
Mid-September in Nazareth and Easton: events ahead
This is the Lehigh Valley's mid-September week, and the calendar is dense with one-day events: Palmer Day on Saturday, three different festivals in Easton on Sunday, the East ON light festival and Forks Community Days the following weekend, and school board meetings in both districts before the month turns. Here is what is happening across Nazareth, Easton, and the surrounding townships between now and the end of the month, gathered and checked against live sources.
A three-festival Sunday, September 13
The weekend starts quietly and ends with three different one-day events. On Saturday, September 12, Palmer Township holds its annual Palmer Day community celebration, and the Nazareth Farmers Market is back at the Circle from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. as usual. Then Sunday, September 13 stacks three Easton events on one day: Festa Italiana runs 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Ferry Street, the Easton Vintage Market sets up along the 300 block of Northampton Street, and the Dominican Festival takes over the city's South Side at the Levitt Pavilion. If the weather agrees, a single Sunday can cover an Italian street feast, a stall-hunt downtown, and music by the river.
On the market side, the Easton Farmers Market, which bills itself as the nation's oldest continuous open-air market, keeps its Saturday morning run at Centre Square going through the season, and the market also holds Wednesday evening sessions this month, so there are two ways to catch it each week. The Nazareth market's season runs through October.
The big weekend: September 18-20
If one weekend wins the month, it is September 18 through 20. East ON Fest (the Festival of Light), downtown Easton's projection-mapping and light-art weekend, returns Friday and Saturday evening, September 18 and 19, normally running 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. across the Centre Square area. Across town the same weekend, Forks Community Days takes over Forks Community Park at 500 Zucksville Road: Friday 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with food, music, and family rides. The following Tuesday, September 22, Forks tops the week off with Truck & Trivia, the township's food-truck night.
Then Sunday, September 20, Latin Fest returns to Riverside Park on Larry Holmes Drive from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., free to attend, with live Latin music, food trucks, and dancing along the Delaware. It is a big finish to a busy 48 hours.
School district notes: games, in-service days, boards
Both districts ease back into the routine this week. The Easton Area School District uses Tuesday, September 8 as a teacher in-service day, so students have the day off; the next no-school in-service day is Monday, September 28. On the football side, the Nazareth Area Blue Eagles are on the road at Allentown Central Catholic on Friday, September 11, then come home to Andrew S. Leh Stadium for two home Fridays: September 18 against Freedom and September 25 against Emmaus. The Easton Area Red Rovers host Parkland on Friday, September 11 at Cottingham Stadium and stay on a home kick for most of the month.
For parents and taxpayers who follow the boards: the Nazareth Area School Board holds its Committee of the Whole meeting this week (Tuesday, September 8 at 6:00 p.m.), with the regular voting meeting on Tuesday, September 22. Agendas post on the district website. The Easton Area School Board's regular meeting is Tuesday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the Easton Area Education Center, 1801 Bushkill Drive, with standing committee meetings earlier that evening at the same building; the full calendar lives on eastonsd.org.
Guitar town and Crayola town
The C.F. Martin & Co. visitor center at 510 Sycamore Street in Nazareth stays on its weekday rhythm: factory tours run Monday through Friday by advance online reservation, limited to small groups (about eight) and about an hour long, with the museum, lobby, and 1833 Shop free to visit. Because the daily tour caps are small, the smart play in September is to reserve a few days out. The center is closed weekends, so it works best as a mid-week anchor when you need to break up a workday.
The Crayola Experience at 30 Centre Square is in its early-fall rhythm: Color Days continues with PURPLE from September 12 through 18, and its summer daily hours have shifted now that Labor Day has passed (the visitor hours page is the source of truth before you go). The Screamin' Green Hauntoween season at Crayola gets underway late in the month; the attraction's Hauntoween page and its general events calendar list slightly different start dates, so check the events page before you plan the trip. It is a four-floor, all-weather option in the heart of the circle when an afternoon shower rolls in.
Municipal meetings in the next two weeks
For residents who follow the boroughs and townships, the strongest two-week cluster of public meetings starts this Thursday. These are the dates the municipalities have posted, worth confirming on each official website when the week arrives, because holiday-and-harvest weeks can shift a room.
- Forks Township plans its Planning Commission for Thursday, September 10 and Board of Supervisors for Thursday, September 17, both 7:00 p.m. Meetings appear on forkstownship.org.
- Upper Nazareth Township Supervisors meet Wednesday, September 16 at 7:00 p.m., the monthly second-Wednesday round. Agendas post on the township site.
- Nazareth Area School Board regular voting meeting Tuesday, September 22 at 6:00 p.m.; agendas are on the district site.
- Lower Nazareth Township Supervisors meet on the township's posted schedule, roughly the second and fourth weeks at 7:00 p.m.; the yearly schedule sheet on the township site confirms the exact days.
- Nazareth Borough Council's business meeting normally grabs the first Monday, which landed on Labor Day this month, so confirm the pickup date. Palmer Township's is the Monday 7:00 p.m. round, and Stockertown Borough usually asks you to call the borough office to confirm dates.
One date to circle now: Bushkill Township Supervisors meet on the first Thursday of the month, so with the September 3 meeting behind you, look ahead to October 1 to get back on the calendar.
Good places to eat this week
For a mid-week dinner or a festival fuel-up, the dependable backups are easy to reach: the Nazareth Diner on South Broad Street in Nazareth, Bella Bean Coffee Shop for the morning stop, and Thyme Rooftop Grille in Easton if you want a view. The Easton Public Market at 325 Northampton Street remains the easiest stop for everything from noodles to pastry to the farmstand, and Weyerbacher's Taproom is a solid post-market destination near the circle. The September 4 roundup has the full dining list if you are building a bigger plan.
On the horizon
The month closes the way it opens: with markets on Saturday, lights downtown on the weekend, and the season's first hint of Halloween in the air at the Crayola Experience. Beyond September, the much-anticipated PA Bacon Fest packs Centre Square on its usual November Saturday, so mark the date now if it is on your list. For everything this week, the Easton city calendar and each township site stay more current than any single post can.