Around the Valley
Nazareth and Easton this weekend: September 11-13, and the week ahead
Past roundup · September 11, 2026 | This weekend preview has passed. For the current week, read the September 18 roundup.
This weekend in the Lehigh Valley splits clean in two: Friday and Saturday nights belong to football in Nazareth and Easton, while Sunday afternoon belongs to a brand-new street festival in downtown Easton. Between them sit two farmers markets, a city electronics recycling morning, a museum wine auction, and a free outdoor movie in the park. Here is what is actually on the calendar for September 11 through 18, checked against live sources, so you can plan without paging through a half-dozen websites.
Friday night lights: two home games
Both big stadiums host a game tonight, Friday, September 11. The Nazareth Area Blue Eagles are home at Andrew S. Leh Stadium at 7:00 p.m. against Allentown Central Catholic, the first of three straight home Fridays (Freedom on September 18, Emmaus on September 25). Across the county line in Easton, the Red Rovers host Parkland at Cottingham Stadium, also at 7:00 p.m. If your evening has room for only one, Nazareth and Easton both kick at the same time tonight, so pick your side and catch the other on the recap.
Also on Friday night and good for families: the City of Easton screens Coco, a free outdoor movie night at Moton Park (51 Jowit St), shown in Spanish with English subtitles. Bring a blanket and make a movie-in-the-grass evening of it.
Saturday, September 12: markets, recycling, and a wine auction
Saturday morning belongs to the markets. The Nazareth Farmers Market returns to the Circle at Main and Center Streets in Nazareth Borough from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., its producer-only stalls running every Saturday through the end of October. Down the river, the Easton Farmers Market fills Scott Park from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with 50-plus vendors. If you hit both, you can do your produce shopping in Nazareth and pick up the Easton specialties on the way home.
Two more Saturday items worth knowing. The City of Easton holds its Electronics Recycling Day from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the Bushkill Drive Public Works complex (500 Bushkill Dr), a handy drop for old electronics you have been meaning to clear out. And the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society hosts the 2026 Lehigh Valley Wine Auction at the Sigal Museum on Northampton Street at 6:00 p.m., a fundraiser evening pairing regional wine with the county's history museum.
Sunday: Festa Italiana debuts on Ferry Street
The headline of the weekend is a brand-new event: Festa Italiana wraps the Ferry Street corridor from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 13. It is free to attend and built around downtown Easton's Italian restaurants, so the street festival is as much a place to eat as a place to walk. Live entertainment starts at noon with the Massimo Brutto and Band, and the Lou Franco Project closes it out at 4:00 p.m. For a first-year festival the lineup is a genuine draw: walk Ferry Street, eat your way through the stands, and let the music run to dusk.
If you would rather keep Sunday low-key, the Easton Farmers Market also holds Wednesday evening sessions through the warm season, so you can catch the river market mid-week instead of on Saturday. More on that below.
The week ahead, September 14-18
The work week is quiet by design, then picks up. On Wednesday, September 16, two meetings of note run in the same evening: the Upper Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors meets at 7:00 p.m. on its first-and-third-Wednesday round, and the Easton Area School District holds its Standing Committee meeting, open to the public, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Easton Area Education Center, 1801 Bushkill Drive.
Thursday, September 17 brings the Forks Township Board of Supervisors regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the township building at 1606 Sullivan Trail; agendas post on the township site ahead of the meeting. And the weekend closes out the following Friday, September 18, when the Blue Eagles are home again at Leh Stadium: Freedom comes to town at 7:00 p.m.
School district notes
Both districts are in week three now, and the calendars are steadier than the opening stretch. Easton Area students have no in-service day off until Monday, September 28, so the next two weeks are an uninterrupted run of class days. On the football side, Nazareth is home this Friday and again on September 18 (Freedom) and September 25 (Emmaus), all at Andrew S. Leh Stadium at 7:00 p.m. Easton hosts Parkland tonight at Cottingham, with its next home date on the September calendar on September 25 against Allentown Central Catholic. Full district calendars live on nazarethasd.k12.pa.us and eastonsd.org.
Guitar town and Crayola town
Two local anchors keep a steady rhythm this month. The C.F. Martin & Co. visitor center at 510 Sycamore Street in Nazareth runs its free museum, lobby, and shop Monday through Friday, with guided factory tours departing by advance online registration only, no walk-ups, mid-morning through early afternoon. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7.50 for children, seniors, active military, and students, with proceeds supporting the Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation. The tour groups are small, so the smart play is to reserve a weekday slot a few days out.
The Crayola Experience in Centre Square is in the middle of its Color Days: Purple theme from September 12 through 18, included with admission. Its fall hours took effect this week: Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Screamin' Green Hauntoween season gets underway in early October, so if it is on your family's list, a weekday visit now beats the rush.
Good places to eat this weekend
With Festa Italiana taking over Ferry Street, the weekend's dining guide writes itself for downtown Easton, but the anchors still deserve their paragraphs. In Nazareth, Nazareth Diner on South Broad Street remains the reliable standby, Sicily Pizza & Restaurant on East Lawn Road and Los Compadres Mexican Restaurant on the same block are the dependable neighborhood options, and Diner 248 on Nazareth Road handles the border side of things any day of the week.
Downtown Easton for the festival weekend: Josie's New York Deli on Centre Square is the no-nonsense lunch stop, Pearly Baker's Alehouse on Centre Square pours a cold pint, and the Easton Public Market at 325 Northampton Street remains the easy indoor option when an afternoon shower rolls in.
Municipal meeting dates for residents
Here is what is securely on the books across the boroughs and townships between now and the end of the month. Times and rooms are always worth a last confirmation on each municipality's own site, since fall agendas can move a date.
- Easton Area School District Standing Committee meeting, Wednesday, September 16 at 6:00 p.m., Easton Area Education Center, 1801 Bushkill Drive; open to the public.
- Upper Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors, Wednesday, September 16 at 7:00 p.m., the first-and-third-Wednesday pattern.
- Forks Township Board of Supervisors, Thursday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m., Forks Municipal Building, 1606 Sullivan Trail.
- Lower Nazareth Township Supervisors meet on the posted second-and-fourth Wednesday schedule, so next up is Wednesday, September 23 at 7:00 p.m.; confirm on the township's yearly schedule sheet.
- Easton City Council next regular meeting Wednesday, September 23 at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at 123 South 3rd Street, with committee meetings the night before.
- Bushkill Township Supervisors follow the first-Thursday round: September 3 is behind you, so look to Thursday, October 1 at 6:00 p.m.
- Nazareth Borough Council business meetings normally take the first Monday at 6:00 p.m.; September's fell on Labor Day, so confirm this month's makeup date on the borough site.
- Palmer Township Supervisors keep their Monday 7:00 p.m. round, and Stockertown Borough asks residents to call the borough office to confirm its council dates, which it has not yet posted to public listings.
Agendas for most bodies post in advance on each site, and Easton City Council meetings stream online, so it is easy to follow local government without leaving the house.
On the horizon
Two dates to circle now. Oktoberfest: Pints for a Purpose lands Saturday, September 27 at Cinders Wood Fire Grill, a fall beer event in the Nazareth area. And the Nazareth Fall Festival returns Saturday, October 17 on Main Street in the borough to close out the festival season with seasonal treats and family activities. October rounds out with markets at the Circle on the 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st, and the Screamin' Green Hauntoween season opens at the Crayola Experience just after the month turns. The East ON Fest light festival also lands next weekend, September 18-19; the mid-September roundup in this Journal has the full picture for downtown Easton that weekend.