Around the Valley
Thursday, October 8 in Nazareth and Easton: the garden market tonight, a two-town home football Friday, and the countdown to the 17th
This is the Thursday, October 8 roundup for Nazareth, Easton, and the townships in between, checked this morning against live district, municipal, and venue calendars. The week before the October 17 super-Saturday fills in fast: the West Ward Market moves to the Community Garden tonight, the Nazareth district runs Obstacles for Honor at the intermediate school, Friday is the two-town home football night with new procedures at Cottingham, Saturday stacks both farmers markets with the Martin raffle and the Eerie Easton lantern tours, and Sunday opens the inaugural Forks Township Restaurant Week.
Tonight: the garden market, Obstacles for Honor, and The Music Man
The West Ward Market keeps its Thursday-evening run from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., and tonight, 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 tonight and next Thursday are the last two chances to catch it before winter.
In Nazareth, the district activities calendar has Obstacles for Honor at Nazareth Area Intermediate School, 355 Tatamy Road, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., a district event that brings the community into the school on a school night. The day also wraps the fall tennis run: varsity girls singles semifinals and finals play at Lehigh at noon, and the middle school field hockey team heads to Eyer at 4:00 p.m. while the girls volleyball team hosts at home.
If the evening leans toward a night out, the State Theatre across the river has Meredith Willson's The Music Man on tour tonight 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, with new Cottingham procedures
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. The Easton Area School District has flagged this as the first home game under its new Cottingham Stadium entry and seating procedures, so arrive early and check the district's news feed for the gate map before you go. Nazareth tickets stay digital through the district's online box office on Hometown Ticketing.
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 lantern-lit Easton
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, one of the three October drawing days, 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., 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.
When the sun goes down, the Eerie Easton Walking Tours from the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society keep their Friday and Saturday evening runs through October. The roughly two-hour lantern-lit walks leave from the Sigal Museum at 342 Northampton Street and wind through the Downtown Easton Historic District with a cloaked guide telling documented tales of murder, mischief, and misadventure, including the Alfred Thomas steamboat explosion survivor testimony and the mystery of Judge Joseph Force Crater. Tickets are on Eventbrite, and the tour notes that October 3-4 and November 7-8 are festival weekends downtown, so parking lists get emailed after purchase. Just south of town, Olde Stone Farm at 1350 Raubsville Road runs Harvest Nights on Fridays and Saturdays from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. through October 31: a flashlight corn maze, moonlight hayrides, the pumpkin patch, a straw maze, seasonal games, and food trucks, all on a two-acre farm in Williams Township.
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.
The week ahead: schools off Monday, budget workshops and board nights
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, Forks Township runs its 2027 Budget Workshop on Tuesday, October 13 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at 1606 Sullivan Trail, then the Supervisors' regular meeting Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. continues the budget discussion that opened with September workshops. 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, 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.
Friday the 16th, then the super-Saturday
Friday, October 16 is the adults' night on the calendar: Crayola After Dark: Halloween Edition runs 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at 30 Centre Square, a 21+ evening with Halloween-inspired creativity, a live DJ, cocktails and bites, and a costume contest; early-bird tickets are $39.99 plus tax and space is limited, with a valid photo ID required at the door. The State Theatre has comedian Bobby Collins at 7:30 p.m. the same night, and the West Ward Market plays its final Thursday of the season that evening at the garden.
Then Saturday, October 17 stacks the season's biggest day in both towns. The Nazareth Halloween Parade, presented by Vigilance Hose Co. #1, steps off at 1:00 p.m. from Belvidere and Liberty Streets, proceeds west on Belvidere to Main, north to the circle, then east on East Center Street, ending at Nazareth Senior High School, where hot dogs and soda are provided for participants; rain or shine, no rain date. The Nazareth Fall Festival, presented by the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce, follows at 2:00 p.m. on South Main Street between Belvidere and Walnut, with craft and artisan vendors, food and beverage vendors, and live music. In Easton, Apple Jam fills Scott Park from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with apple pie, caramel apples, cider donuts, fresh farm-pressed cider, hard cider, and apple sausage, and Nazareth's Blue Eagles play a rare Saturday game at Bethlehem Catholic at 7:00 p.m., with The Rocket Man Show at the State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. to close the night.
Things to do: Crayola, Martin Guitar, and the haunted walks
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. 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 keeps its month moving after this week: Bobby Collins on October 16, The Rocket Man Show on 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 at the garden tonight and its final Thursday October 15; the two-town home football night Friday, October 9; both farmers markets, the Martin raffle drawing, the Nazareth Center for the Arts Open Gallery, the Eerie Easton tours, and Olde Stone Farm's Harvest Nights 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; the Forks budget workshop and the Nazareth school board Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, October 13; Lower Nazareth Supervisors and Easton City Council on Wednesday, October 14; Forks Supervisors on Thursday, October 15; Crayola After Dark and Bobby Collins on Friday, October 16; and the October 17 super-Saturday with the Nazareth Halloween Parade at 1:00 p.m., the Fall Festival at 2:00 p.m., Apple Jam at Scott Park, Nazareth football at Bethlehem Catholic, and The Rocket Man Show. Then the Witches' Walk takes downtown Easton on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, Market After Hours fills Scott Park on the 24th, the Phillipsburg-Easton Halloween Parade crosses the Delaware on Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m., the rivalry finale is Nazareth at Easton on Friday, October 30, and the Martin Guitar grand-prize drawing with the final Nazareth market Saturday lands 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, Downtown Nazareth's listings, and the Easton Main Street Initiative stay more current than any single post can, so give them a glance before you head out the door.