Around the Valley
This weekend in Nazareth and Easton: East ON Fest, home football Friday, and the week ahead
Today is Thursday, September 17, and the Lehigh Valley is two days from its brightest night of the month: East ON Fest, the free projection-mapping and light-art festival, fills downtown Easton on Friday and Saturday evening, the Nazareth Blue Eagles host Freedom for their second home Friday of the season, and the Crayola Experience confirms Screamin' Green Hauntoween opens Saturday. This roundup runs from now through the week of September 21-26, with fresh check-ins on the schools, the townships, Martin Guitar, and where to eat. Every date below was checked against live sources this morning, and each one is worth a final confirmation on the official calendar before you go.
East ON Fest: two free nights of light in the circle
East ON Fest returns Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19, roughly 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. both nights, free and on foot across Centre Square and the surrounding civic spaces. Architectural projection mapping, light installations, and interactive pieces turn downtown Easton into a walkable after-dark gallery; the Easton Public Market listing carries the same hours, and the city events calendar has the full schedule. The two-night format rewards a second pass: Saturday draws thinner crowds, and the projections read differently once the street lamps are full dark.
The festival weekend overlaps the Forks Community Days run at Forks Community Park at 500 Zucksville Road, with its craft and family festival spread across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the annual Nazareth Farmers Market at the Circle at Main and Center Streets. If one daytrip should cover it all, Saturday is the day: the market by morning, the park festival by afternoon, and the light show after dark.
Both markets keep their every-Saturday rhythm
The Easton Farmers Market, billed as the nation's oldest continuous open-air market, runs every Saturday year-round at Scott Park on the riverfront, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., so September 19 is another full harvest Saturday of apples, mums, and late tomatoes. The Nazareth Farmers Market holds its own Saturday run at the Circle at Main and Center Streets at the same hours through the season, a producer-only market of 20-plus vendors with music most weeks, per the Nazareth Economic Development Commission listing. A week later, the Easton market hosts the 17th annual Hot Pepper Showdown, the Ten Deadly Peppers heat-eating contest, on Saturday, September 26 during market hours at Scott Park, one of the most theatrical free afternoons of the season.
Football: Nazareth home Friday, Easton on the road Saturday
The Nazareth Area Blue Eagles play their second home game of September on Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. at Andrew S. Leh Stadium, hosting Bethlehem Freedom, per the 2026 district schedule on MaxPreps. They are home again Friday, September 25 against Emmaus, so the weekend starts a two-week home stand. The Easton Area Red Rovers play Saturday, September 19, traveling to Bethlehem Catholic at 7:00 p.m., then return to Cottingham Stadium Friday, September 25 to host Allentown Central Catholic. Full schedules for soccer, field hockey, and cross country for both districts live on the district sites and their MaxPreps pages this time of year.
Crayola: PURPLE ends, Hauntoween opens Saturday
The Crayola Experience at 30 Centre Square finishes its Color Days run with PURPLE through Friday, September 18, then opens Screamin' Green Hauntoween on Saturday, September 19, running through November 1, per the Easton events calendar. Hauntoween adds themed scavenger hunts, Halloween crafts, weekend trick-or-treat stations, and photo ops to the four floors of hands-on color, all included with admission. Fall hours settle into the fall rhythm, roughly Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. per the hours page, which also flags an extended 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. day on Monday, September 21. A standout for families: the Creepy Critter Visit with Arachno-Showbia lands Saturday, September 26 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., live critters and spiders up close for the brave.
School district notes
The meeting that matters in Nazareth this week is Tuesday, September 22: the Nazareth Area School Board holds its general regular voting meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Walter L. Peters Board Room at One Education Plaza, on the district's standing fourth-Tuesday round. Note the platform change: the district moved its agendas from BoardDocs to the Keystone Agenda platform this summer, so meeting packets post on the district's School Board meeting page ahead of the session. The district year opened Monday, August 31, and the Blue Eagles football home stand continues Friday night.
In Easton, Monday, September 28 is a teacher in-service day, so students have that day off. The Easton Area School Board meets Tuesday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the Easton Area Education Center at 1801 Bushkill Drive, with standing committee meetings earlier that evening; board sessions stream on the district's YouTube channel. The district homepage also carries continuing updates on the new Easton Area High School building project, worth following if construction progress matters to your household.
Municipal meetings for residents
Here is the public-meeting calendar across the boroughs and townships for the next two weeks, per each municipality's own site. Rooms and times shift in the fall, so every entry is worth one final confirmation before you go.
- Forks Township Board of Supervisors holds its regular meeting tonight, Thursday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the Municipal Building, its third-Thursday slot; October brings a workshop on the 1st and the regular meeting on the 15th, per the Agenda Center.
- Lower Nazareth Township Supervisors meet Wednesday, September 23 at 7:00 p.m. on the 2nd-and-4th-Wednesday round, with a Zoom option; the October sessions land on the 14th and 28th, per the 2026 schedule.
- Easton City Council sits Wednesday, September 23 at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall at 123 Church Street, its 2nd-and-4th-Wednesday slot, open to the public.
- Nazareth Borough Council holds its September workshop Thursday, September 24 at 6:00 p.m., with the business meeting Monday, October 5 in Borough Hall at 159 West Center Street; the council returned to Council Chambers in June, and its 2026 budget season has featured a one-mill tax increase and an ordinance removing five 15-minute downtown parking spaces, resident topics that left agendas fuller than usual.
- Upper Nazareth Township Supervisors meet on the 1st-and-3rd-Wednesday round at 7:00 p.m., so look to Wednesday, October 7 and October 21; 2026 highlights worth knowing include the data-center zoning ordinance adopted in June, the FirstEnergy LED-streetlight agreement, and the 1.5-mil fire-protection services tax for 2026, all covered on the township meetings site.
- Bushkill Township Supervisors meet on the first Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at 1114 Bushkill Center Road; the next session is Thursday, October 1, with an open-space conservation-easement authorization among the 2026 items on the township's books.
- Palmer Township posts its 2026 Board of Supervisors schedule and agendas at palmertwp.com, with business meetings at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building Meeting Room at 3 Weller Place; check the posted schedule for the exact September and October dates.
- Stockertown Borough lists its council calendar and agendas on stockertown.org, and asks residents to confirm council dates with the borough office before heading over.
Agendas for most of these bodies post in advance on their websites, and Easton council meetings are open to the public at City Hall, so it is easy to follow local government without guessing.
Fourth Friday comes to the circle
The downtown series formerly called Easton Out Loud now runs as Easton Fourth Friday, hosted by the Greater Easton Development Partnership, and September 25 is the fourth Friday of the month: 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. across Centre Square and the Air Products Plaza behind the Easton Public Market, with shops open late, galleries, and live music. It shares the night with home football in both towns, so the practical move is dinner in the circle, the second half on a phone, and the festival after the whistle. Over at the State Theatre on Northampton Street, the week stacks: Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Thursday, September 24 at 7:30 p.m., Brian Regan Friday the 25th at 7:30 p.m., Martina McBride Saturday the 26th at 7:30 p.m., and Three Dog Night Sunday the 27th at 7:00 p.m., per the State Theatre calendar.
Guitar town, mid-week
The C.F. Martin & Co. visitor center at 510 Sycamore Street in Nazareth keeps its dependable fall rhythm: the Visitor Center, Martin Museum, and 1833 Shop are open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed weekends. The museum is free and self-guided with donations encouraged and may close briefly for filming, and the 1833 Shop is card-only. The guided factory tour runs weekdays with departures between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., about six tours a day capped at eight people, priced from $5 and booked in advance online; a two-hour behind-the-scenes tour departs weekdays at 9:30 a.m. at $25 per person and reserves by reservation at 610-759-2837. Martin posts any special programming on the Event Calendar tab of its factory tours page, so check there before planning the trip.
Good places to eat this week
In Nazareth, Bella Bean Coffee Shop on South Broad Street handles the morning stop, the Nazareth Diner remains the standby for any meal, Paradise Dogs is the casual pick near the circle, and BeanBath Cafe at 2425 Plaza Court in Bath, a short drive north, is a new stop worth a detour. The Farm & Table on South Main Street keeps its restaurant-and-bowling hall open for an easy night out.
Downtown Easton around the festival nights: Josie's New York Deli on Centre Square is the quick no-nonsense stop before the light walks start, Pearly Baker's Alehouse pours a pint right on the circle, The State Cafe and Grill on South 5th Street handles the steak-and-cocktails end of downtown, Billy's Downtown Diner on South 3rd covers diner food at any hour, ThreeBirds Coffee House on Bushkill Street is the coffee anchor, and Quadrant Book Mart & Coffee House on North 3rd pairs used books with coffee. The Easton Public Market at 325 Northampton Street stays the easy indoor option from noodles to pastry, with vendor hours varying by stall, so check before you go.
On the horizon
Circle these now. Easton Fourth Friday on September 25 is the last downtown street night before the October festivals, and the weekend after brings the Easton Garlic Fest to Centre Square on October 3 and 4, free and in the heart of the circle. The Nazareth Fall Festival returns to South Main Street in October, and the biggest food weekend of the city year, PA Bacon Fest, packs Centre Square on its usual early-November Saturday, so book early if it is on your list. The Easton city events page and each township site stay more current than any single post can. Enjoy the weekend: the light shows, the home stand, and two towns' worth of Friday plans.