NEWS RELEASE
MUSIKFEST® 2011 FEATURES EXCITING VENUES, PARTNERSHIPS AND PROGRAMMING
Festival to include 10 sites in north Bethlehem and 5 new venues at ArtsQuest Center and SteelStacks;
Downtown Bethlehem Association partners with ArtsQuest on North Side programming
BETHLEHEM, PA—When visitors attend Musikfest® this summer, they’ll find plenty of the great, free music; delicious food and fun that they’ve come to love in the city’s North Side historic district, but they’ll also be able to enjoy dynamic, new experiences on the city’s South Side as well.
Musikfest 2011, which will take place Aug. 5-14, will feature 10 sites on the city’s North Side, as well as five locations at the new SteelStacks arts and cultural campus in south Bethlehem, which will open May 1. The 2011 festival will showcase programming at 15 venues, one more than in 2010. Twelve of these venues are free, two are ticketed, and one venue – The Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas – will offer both free and ticketed programming.
The city’s historic district, the traditional home of the festival, will continue to offer a wide variety of free music and arts programming from noon-11 p.m. daily, with shows at Banana Island, the Chamber Series at Central Moravian Church’s Old Chapel, Festplatz, Handwerkplatz, Liederplatz, Lyrikplatz, Main Street, Plaza Tropical, Vesper Concert Series at Central Moravian Church and Volksplatz. Festival programming at SteelStacks will take place at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks; the ArtsQuest Center’s Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas and Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling; the SteelStacks Town Square; and PNC Plaza, which will be the home of Musikfest’s new main stage, Sands Steel Stage.
"Musikfest 2011 will offer a variety of dynamic experiences for the more than one million people who attend the festival," said ArtsQuest President Jeff Parks. "Over the years, we’ve heard from the community that they love the fact that they can stroll from stage to stage enjoying the free music, so we’re pleased to say that with the exception of Americplatz, which is moving to the SteelStacks campus, none of that free programming on the North Side is changing."
At SteelStacks, patrons will be able to enjoy a more intimate festival experience, with performance spaces accommodating smaller audiences ranging from 100 or 200 people to approximately 2,500. The one exception will be Sands Steel Stage, which will hold approximately 7,200 people for concerts by some of the biggest names in the music industry. As with all previous Musikfests, the vast majority of the festival’s nearly 500 performances will be available to the community free of charge.
Musikfest at SteelStacks will begin at 5 p.m. each evening and include everything from street performers on the Town Square to cinema programming at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas. At Americaplatz at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, attendees will be able to bring their blankets and lawn chairs while relaxing on the grass lawn and enjoying free concerts under the stars. The venue, which will have a capacity of 2,500, will be open 5-11 p.m. each night and feature performances by local, regional and national blues, rock, world and Americana performers including Love in Stockholm Aug. 5, Entrain Aug. 6 and Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun Aug. 14.
Across First Street from Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, fest-goers will enjoy a variety of free programming on the SteelStacks Town Square. The venue, which will be open 5 p.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday and noon-1 a.m. Fridays-Sundays, will showcase street performers, local and regional bands, acoustic singer-songwriters and more.
Inside the ArtsQuest Center, both the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas and the Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling will be featured prominently during the festival. In addition to its regular cinema programming, the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas will offer a mix of free and ticketed Musikfest events including concerts, workshops by Musikfest artists, educational programs and music-focused documentary films, adding a new programming component to the festival. The Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling, located on the third and fourth floors of the ArtsQuest Center, will be the new home of the ticketed concerts previously presented at the Candlelight Concert Series and Performing Arts Series, as well as offer special music-themed lunches/brunches Fridays-Sundays, adding another new element to the festival. In addition, late-night performances including comedy will take place in the Musikfest Café each night.
The new venues for Musikfest 2011 mark the first major changes to the festival since 2000, when the event added four stages including Plaza Tropical and RiverPlace. During the festival, ArtsQuest will once again offer shuttle service from its off-site parking lots to the festival grounds. Once on the Musikfest grounds, patrons will be able to travel to the various festival sites either by walking or via the city’s LOOP bus service. In addition, ArtsQuest is working with the city and other entities to provide a limited shuttle service that will transport ‘fest-goers back and forth between the festival venues on the North and South Sides. More information on parking and transportation will be posted on www.musikfest.org in the coming months as details are finalized.
"Bringing Musikfest to south Bethlehem is a win-win for everyone. By including Musikfest programming at SteelStacks, it will not only introduce thousands of people to this exciting, new arts and cultural destination, it will also have a positive impact on the many businesses, shops and restaurants on the South Side," said Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan. "There’s a reason that Bethlehem is home to the nation’s largest non-gated, free music festival, and that’s the tremendous support from the community. I, for one, am honored that we host such an amazing event each summer, and I look forward to the incredible city-wide musical celebration that will take place this August."
DOWNTOWN BETHLEHEM BUSINESSES PARTNER WITH MUSIKFEST
ArtsQuest is pleased to announce that the Downtown Bethlehem Association will become one of the major sponsors of Musikfest, helping to keep the music free for the more than one million people who attend the festival each year. The DBA will be the primary sponsor of Main Street, as well as the stage sponsor of Liederplatz, which combined offer approximately 60 free concerts for the community. As part of its partnership with Musikfest, the DBA will also be developing and presenting special programming during the festival. Details on the new programming will be announced at a later date.
"Many of the businesses in the Historic Shopping District have the 10 days of Musikfest factored into their business plan, therefore it was a unanimous feeling among the downtown community that we work together to present the Main Street and Liederplatz venues," said Lynn Logue, Vice President of Bethlehem for the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. "The merchants, the DBA and the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce are all looking forward to this partnership and some new programming at Liederplatz."
The Downtown Bethlehem Association is a council of The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and serves to revitalize, rehabilitate, promote and advance downtown business areas within the city of Bethlehem. It is an organization comprised of business owners who believe that unity is better than isolation and involvement is better than neutrality. The DBA organizes over 90 events each year with the end goal to drive foot traffic in Bethlehem's two, vibrant downtowns.
SANDS STEEL STAGE, MUSIKFEST’S NEW MAIN STAGE, DEBUTS AT STEELSTACKS
An amazing view of the Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, bleacher seating and dynamic VIP experiences highlight the concert experience at Musikfest’s new main stage, the Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza.
At Sands Steel Stage, Musikfest’s largest concert venue, concert-goers will enjoy performances by some of the biggest names in the music world from Aug. 5-14. The venue, which will hold approximately 7,200 people versus 6,500 at Musikfest’s former main stage, RiverPlace, will be located on the western end of the Bethlehem Steel Blast Furnaces, offering attendees a view of one of the most unique backdrops of any concert venue in the nation.
"Sands Steel Stage will offer some amazing views, both of the performance stage and the blast furnaces, which will be illuminated each evening," Parks said. "This new venue will showcase not only world-class entertainers, but also some of the rich history of Bethlehem and the SteelStacks site."
The Sands Steel Stage will feature reserved seating in two seating sections and include approximately 3,000 bleacher seats located at the rear of the venue. While RiverPlace was linear, with the back of lawn section more than 450 feet from the concert stage, the new Sands Steel Stage will feature a wider configuration, with the farthest seats (bleachers) in the venue only 200 feet from the stage. Sands Steel Stage will also include two VIP areas within the venue for guests looking for an enhanced concert experience. Admission to these areas will include a ticket to the night’s performance, as well as great food and beverages.
Acts for the Sands Steel Stage, as well as the Musikfest Café, will be announced as they are confirmed. For more information on Musikfest 2011, visit www.musikfest.org.
ABOUT ARTSQUEST
ArtsQuest is a Bethlehem, PA-based nonprofit dedicated to presenting music, arts, cultural experiences and educational and outreach programs that aid in economic development, urban revitalization and community enrichment. Through festivals such as its flagship event, Musikfest®, and the Banana Factory® cultural arts and education center, ArtsQuest’s programming currently reaches more than 1.3 million people annually.
ArtsQuest is furthering its mission of celebrating arts and culture through the development of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. The 65,000-square-foot building, set to open in May 2011, will feature live music, independent and scientific films, new festivals and community celebrations year-round, reaching an additional 750,000 people each year.
For more information on ArtsQuest, visit www.artsquest.org or call 610-332-1300.
CONTACT: Mark Demko, ArtsQuest, 610-332-1342 or mdemko@artsquest.org
Mayor John Callahan, City of Bethlehem, 610-865-7100 or jcallahan@bethlehem-pa.gov.
Lynn Logue, Vice President of Bethlehem for the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, 610-841-5835 or lynnl@lehighvalleychamber.org.
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Editor’s Note: A high-resolution map of Musikfest 2011 is available for download by following this link: http://www.musikfest.org/images/2011/misc/map.jpg. Attached to this news release you will also find a Musikfest 2011 Venues Fact Sheet, which lists all of the sites that will be part of Musikfest 2011.
