Around the Valley
Tuesday, October 6 in Nazareth and Easton: both markets return Saturday, a two-town home football night Friday, and Forks Restaurant Week opens Sunday
This is the Tuesday, October 6 roundup for Nazareth, Easton, and the townships in between, checked this morning against live district, municipal, and venue calendars. The week after Garlic Fest settles into its rhythm: Easton school committees meet tonight, Wednesday is an early-dismissal conference day, the West Ward Market moves to its garden Thursday, Nazareth and Easton both host home football Friday night, both farmers markets are back Saturday, and the inaugural Forks Township Restaurant Week opens Sunday.
Tonight and tomorrow: school committees and early dismissal
The Easton Area School District runs its standing committee meetings tonight, Tuesday, October 6 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Easton Area Education Center, 1801 Bushkill Drive. Wednesday, October 7 is an early-dismissal day tied to the district's fall elementary parent-teacher conferences: the adopted calendar sets conferences from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., with elementary students dismissed around 11:45 a.m. and middle and high school at noon.
Wednesday evening also brings Upper Nazareth Township Supervisors at 7:00 p.m. at the Township Building, 100 Newport Avenue, the first of their October 7 and 21 sessions. Across town, the city of Easton calendar lists the South Side Civic Association meeting tonight, so the neighborhoods stay busy even while the squares rest.
Thursday: the West Ward Market at the garden, and The Music Man
The West Ward Market keeps its Thursday-evening run from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., and October 8 lands at its new home, the Community Garden at 10th and Pine Streets in Easton. It is free and family-friendly, with low-cost produce, pantry items, kids' activities, and live music from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The season runs Thursdays through October 15, so this is one of the last two chances to catch it before winter.
If the evening leans more toward a night out, the State Theatre across the river has Meredith Willson's The Music Man on tour Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m., and Lewis Black is live Friday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m. Both make a full downtown evening, and Friday already has the football to build a day around.
Friday: the two-town home football night
Friday, October 9 is the home date to circle in both towns. The Nazareth Blue Eagles host Bethlehem Liberty at Leh Stadium at 7:00 p.m., and the Easton Red Rovers host Northampton at Cottingham Stadium at 7:00 p.m., both EPC league games. Tickets stay digital through the Nazareth district's online box office on Hometown Ticketing, so buy ahead and skip the line.
The schedules beyond Friday: Nazareth plays at Bethlehem Catholic on Saturday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m., a rare Saturday kickoff that lands the same day as the Nazareth Fall Festival, the Halloween parade, and Apple Jam in Easton; Nazareth hosts Northampton on Friday, October 23; and the rivalry finale is Nazareth at Easton on Friday, October 30 at Cottingham. Easton plays at Bethlehem Liberty on October 16 and at Bethlehem Freedom on October 23 before hosting Nazareth for the regular-season finale.
Saturday: both markets, the Martin raffle, and the arts
The Nazareth Farmers Market keeps its every-Saturday run on the circle at Main and Center Streets, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., operated by the Nazareth Economic Development Commission through the final Saturday of October, with roughly two dozen local vendors and live music from the Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation on market mornings. The Martin Guitar raffle draws again at 2 South Main Street on Saturday morning, October 10, with the grand-prize drawing pinned to Halloween morning, October 31. The Nazareth Center for the Arts runs its Saturday Open Gallery the same morning at 30 East Belvidere Street, with the HAUNTED exhibit on the walls through the end of October; gallery hours are Fridays 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
In Easton, the Easton Farmers Market returns to Scott Park on Larry Holmes Drive on Saturday, October 10, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., its first market day back after the Garlic Fest break, with more than 50 local and regional vendors, free admission, and EBT accepted. The 274th season runs Saturdays through December 19, and October's calendar fills in fast: Apple Jam on the 17th, a regular market day on the 24th, and the season's Halloween Saturday on the 31st.
Sunday: Forks Restaurant Week opens
The inaugural Forks Township Restaurant Week opens Sunday, October 11 and runs through Saturday, October 17, organized by the Forks Business Association with the Easton Area Chamber of Commerce. Nearly a dozen eateries across the township are offering prix-fixe menus and dining promotions, including Widow's Tavern in Stockertown and Leaf Restaurant & Cigar Bar at 90 Mort Drive in Forks, with SURV on Sullivan Trail anchoring the scratch-kitchen end of the list. It is a good week to eat your way up and down Route 248.
Sunday also brings the trunk-or-treat that Nazareth Borough Council approved in September: Action Karate's trunk-or-treat at Nazareth Borough Park, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., an early Halloween warm-up for the younger set. And the Downtown Nazareth gift card promo runs every Sunday, so a market-morning coffee can come with a card toward local shops.
Monday and the week ahead: schools off, boards on
Monday, October 12 is off for both districts, listed as Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day on the adopted calendars, so plan around a four-day weekend for students. The meetings stack up right after: the Nazareth Area School District board runs its Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m. and the general regular meeting on Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00 p.m., with agendas on the Keystone Agenda platform and Zoom links posted ahead. The Easton Area School District board meets Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Easton Area Education Center with the agenda in the district's BoardDocs portal, and elementary parent conferences with early dismissals run Monday through Wednesday, October 26 to 28.
On the municipal side, Lower Nazareth Township Supervisors meet Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. at 623 Municipal Drive, Suite 200, on the second-and-fourth-Wednesday round; Forks Township Supervisors meet Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. at 1606 Sullivan Trail, continuing the 2027 budget discussion that opened with September workshops; and Easton City Council meets Wednesday, October 14 and Wednesday, October 28 at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, 123 South 3rd Street, streamed on the city site with agendas in the Agenda Center.
The municipal month keeps moving
Rooms and times do move in the fall, so give the office a call before driving over, and check each municipality's own site for agendas posted in the days ahead.
- Nazareth Borough Council held its October business meeting last night, October 5 at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at Borough Hall, 159 West Center Street; the next regular session is the first-Monday round on November 2, agendas on nazarethboroughpa.com.
- Upper Nazareth Township Supervisors meet Wednesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m. at the Township Building, 100 Newport Avenue, on uppernazarethtownship.org.
- Lower Nazareth Township Supervisors meet Wednesday, October 14 and Wednesday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m. at 623 Municipal Drive, Suite 200, per the township's yearly schedule PDF on lowernazareth.com.
- Forks Township Supervisors meet Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. on the third-Thursday round, continuing the 2027 budget discussion; agendas post in the Forks Agenda Center.
- Palmer Township Supervisors meet Monday, October 5 and Monday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. at 3 Weller Place, lower level, on the first-and-third-Monday round, agendas on the township's NovusAgenda system via palmertwp.com.
- Bushkill Township Supervisors wrapped their first-Thursday session last week, October 1 at 6:00 p.m. at 1114 Bushkill Center Road; the next regular session is the November 5 first-Thursday round, with agendas on bushkilltownship.com.
- Easton City Council meets Wednesday, October 14 and Wednesday, October 28 at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, 123 South 3rd Street, streamed on the city site with agendas in the Agenda Center.
- Stockertown Borough posts council agendas on stockertown.org; it does not publish a fixed monthly calendar, so confirm dates with the borough office.
Things to do: Crayola, Martin Guitar, and the State Theatre
The Crayola Experience runs Screamin' Green Hauntoween through November 1, included with general admission at 30 Centre Square: weekend trick-or-treating stations, themed crafts, scavenger hunts, and photo ops, with a Creepy Critter Visit with Arachno-Showbia in the fall lineup. Crayola After Dark, the adults-only 21+ Halloween edition, lands Friday, October 16 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., and the ongoing Toddler Tuesdays and Sensory Sundays keep the calendar full, all on the Easton events calendar.
At C.F. Martin & Co. on Sycamore Street in Nazareth, the free museum, the 1833 Shop, and the Pickin' Parlor stay open weekdays, and the guided one-hour factory tour runs Monday through Friday with departures between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., small groups only. Online pre-registration is required and tickets are not sold in person, so book ahead on the tour scheduler. And the State Theatre stacks its month after this week: Bobby Collins on Friday, October 16, The Rocket Man Show on Saturday, October 17, The Bronx Wanderers on October 22, Cinderella by the United European Ballet Company on October 23, a Phil Collins tribute on October 24, and The Fab Faux on October 30.
Where to eat this week
Restaurant Week is the excuse, but the regulars are the reason. In Nazareth, the Nazareth Diner on South Broad Street covers breakfast any hour, Birthright Brewing Company at 57 South Main pours its own beer with a full menu, Pizza Joe's at 550 South Main is the dependable Italian stop, and Sicily Pizza and Los Compadres on East Lawn Road round out the quick-dinner end.
Downtown Easton keeps its own rotation: Billy's Downtown Diner on South 3rd Street for the classic breakfast, 3rd & Ferry Fish Market for seafood on the corner by the square, Thyme Rooftop Grille on Northampton Street for a view of the circle, ThreeBirds Coffee House for the coffee end of the street, and the Easton Public Market two blocks in when the square is shoulder-to-shoulder. In Forks, SURV is worth the short drive for its scratch kitchen and wood-fired pizza, especially during Restaurant Week.
On the horizon
Circle these dates: the West Ward Market Thursday, October 8 at the garden; the two-town home football night Friday, October 9; both farmers markets, the Martin raffle drawing, and the Nazareth Center for the Arts Open Gallery on Saturday, October 10; Forks Restaurant Week and the trunk-or-treat at Nazareth Borough Park on Sunday, October 11; a four-day weekend for students Monday, October 12; Crayola After Dark October 16; the Nazareth Halloween Parade at 1:00 p.m. and the Nazareth Fall Festival on South Main Street from about 2:00 p.m. plus Apple Jam at Scott Park and Nazareth's Saturday football game at Bethlehem Catholic, all landing October 17; the Nazareth at Easton rivalry finale October 30; and the Martin Guitar grand-prize drawing with the final Nazareth market Saturday on Halloween, October 31. Beyond the month, PA Bacon Fest celebrates its 15th anniversary November 7 and 8, and the reworked Easton Winter Village runs November 27 through December 20. For anything dated, the Easton city events page and Downtown Nazareth's listings stay more current than any single post can, so give them a glance before you head out the door.