Around the Valley
Friday, September 18 in Nazareth and Easton: East ON Fest opens, the Martin Guitar raffle returns, and the week of September 21-26 ahead
Today is Friday, September 18, and the Lehigh Valley's biggest weekend of the month is officially here: East ON Fest, the free projection-mapping light festival, opens in downtown Easton tonight, the Nazareth Blue Eagles host Bethlehem Freedom at Leh Stadium at 7:00 p.m., and both farmers markets plus the annual Martin Guitar raffle fill Saturday morning. This roundup runs from tonight 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.
Tonight: East ON Fest opens, and Nazareth is home
East ON Fest runs 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 civic spaces around it. 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.
An hour north, the Nazareth Blue Eagles play their second home Friday of the season tonight, hosting Bethlehem Freedom at 7:00 p.m. at Andrew S. Leh Stadium, per the district's 2026 schedule. The same weekend, Forks Community Days fills 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., so the tri-town weekend runs all three days.
Saturday at the Circle: the market, the raffle, and a light show encore
Saturday, September 19 is the most stacked single day of the month in Nazareth. The Nazareth Farmers Market runs its every-Saturday harvest market at the Circle at Main and Center Streets, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and the Nazareth Economic Development Commission events calendar lines up the 2026 Martin Guitar raffle in downtown Nazareth that same morning, with tickets at 2 South Main Street on Saturday market days, September 19 and again September 26. It is the one Saturday in Nazareth where the Circle, the market, and the instrument that built the town all sit within a block of each other.
Down the valley, Saturday is the busier of East ON Fest's two nights, and it is the opening day of Screamin' Green Hauntoween at the Crayola Experience at 30 Centre Square, which runs through November 1. The Easton Farmers Market, billed as the nation's oldest continuous open-air market, holds its own Saturday run at Scott Park on the riverfront, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., full of apples, mums, and late tomatoes. And the Easton Red Rovers play the 7:00 p.m. Saturday game, traveling to Bethlehem Catholic per the district schedule.
Sunday: Latin Fest closes the weekend at Riverside Park
The third festival of the run lands Sunday, September 20, when Latin Fest (Festival Latino) takes over Riverside Park in Easton beginning around 10:00 a.m., per the regional festival listings. Music, food, and family programming run through the afternoon along the riverfront, and Forks Community Days plays its final day at Forks Community Park the same afternoon. If one daytrip should cover the whole weekend's leftovers, Sunday is the day: the park festival by lunch, the Latino celebration by midafternoon, and nothing on the calendar after dark to rush home for.
The week of September 21-26 in meetings
Here is the public-meeting calendar across the boroughs and townships for the week ahead, per each municipality's own site. Rooms and times shift in the fall, so every entry is worth one final confirmation before you go.
- Palmer Township opens the workweek: the Board of Supervisors holds its regular meeting Monday, September 21 at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building Meeting Room at 3 Weller Place, on the township's 1st-and-3rd-Monday round, per palmertwp.com.
- Nazareth Area School Board holds its general regular voting meeting Tuesday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m. in the Walter L. Peters Board Room at One Education Plaza, on the district's standing fourth-Tuesday round. Agendas post on the new Keystone Agenda platform; the next Committee of the Whole lands Tuesday, October 13 with the regular meeting Tuesday, October 27, per the district site.
- 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; agendas post in advance on the city site.
- 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 2026 budget season has filled agendas with a one-mill tax increase and an ordinance removing five 15-minute downtown parking spaces, both live resident topics worth following on the borough site.
- 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 items 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, 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.
- 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.
School district notes
In Nazareth, the meeting that matters is Tuesday, September 22, and the district has already pivoted to the new Keystone Agenda platform for its meeting packets, per the Nazareth Area School District. The year opened Monday, August 31, Superintendent's welcome message has been live since mid-August, and the district's "Planning for Our Children's Future" community conversations wrapped their August run; the next public milestones are the October 13 Committee of the Whole and the October 27 regular meeting.
In Easton, Monday, September 28 is a teacher in-service day, so students have that day off, and 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. High school families have two items on the week: underclassmen picture days run September 22-24, and Financial Aid Night takes over the EAHS Auditorium Wednesday, September 23 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., per the school site. The district also keeps its New EAHS Construction Project page current: Phase One work at the William Penn Highway campus began in July with site preparation and athletic-field upgrades, the roughly $300 million rebuild is planned for about 457,000 square feet, and completion is targeted around 2031.
Football, two towns deep
The Nazareth Blue Eagles host Emmaus Friday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m., then the season stretches out: at Stroudsburg October 2, home for Liberty October 9, at Bethlehem Catholic October 17, home for Northampton October 23, and the regular-season finale at Easton October 30, per the 2026 district schedule on MaxPreps. The Easton Red Rovers play at Bethlehem Catholic Saturday, September 19, then return to Cottingham Stadium Friday, September 25 to host Allentown Central Catholic. That makes September 25 the home doubleheader of the fall: Nazareth and Easton both kick at 7:00 p.m. and Easton Fourth Friday fills the circle from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. the same evening. 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: Hauntoween opens, and the critters arrive
The Crayola Experience opens Screamin' Green Hauntoween on Saturday, September 19 and runs it through November 1, adding 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, with passholders getting the seasonal run as a perk. 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., and 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 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.
Guitar town, this 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 phone at 610-759-2837. Martin posts any special programming on the Event Calendar tab of its factory tours page, and the Nazareth Economic Development Commission keeps its own downtown events calendar, where the Martin Guitar raffle and the Wednesday-morning "What makes Nazareth so Special?" program, September 23 at 9:00 a.m., both show up.
The circle: what to do downtown
Easton's Centre Square is a full evening by itself. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument anchors the circle, the Crayola Experience fills 30 Centre Square with color by day, and Book & Puppet Co. at 22 Centre Square Circle pairs an indie bookstore with puppet theatre shows, a real hidden gem per Discover Lehigh Valley. Around the ring, dining runs from Daddy's Place and Pearl steakhouse to Sette Luna, Bank Street Creamery, and Stoke Coal Fire Pizza, and the Easton Public Market at 325 Northampton Street is the easy indoor option a block off the square. On Friday, September 25, Easton Fourth Friday, hosted by the Greater Easton Development Partnership, brings late shopping, galleries, and live music to the circle from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. 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.
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, Birthright Brewing Company at 57 South Main Street pours pints steps from the Circle, Paradise Dogs is the casual pick near the center, and Los Compadres and Pizza Joe's round out the main-street stretch. 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 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 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. The Easton Garlic Fest returns to Centre Square October 3 and 4, free and in the heart of the circle. The Nazareth Fall Festival takes over Main Street (Belvidere to Walnut) Saturday, October 17, running from 2:00 p.m., a Nazareth Chamber of Commerce production and the borough's biggest street day of the fall. The biggest food weekend of the city year, PA Bacon Fest's 15th anniversary, packs Centre Square the first weekend of November, and Easton's Winter Village returns to the square with its market and ice skating from November 27 through December 20. 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 games, and the pick of two towns' worth of plans.