Not for Coltrane (Monica A. Cabrera Photo)
Now that spring weather has (finally) showed up, with it comes the return of the Arts Community of Easton's annual Arts Tour and the rechristened Spring on the SouthSide festival in Bethlehem.
The 18th annual ACE Arts Tour is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 23, and Sunday, April 24, in Downtown Easton. The event offers visitors the opportunity to explore the city's rich arts culture by checking out participating Easton galleries and studios. The day will include demonstrations and artists talks.
Find out who which galleries and studios are participating in this year's tour.
The Spring on the SouthSide celebration (formerly known as "Spring on Fourth! What's on Third?") will be held noon to 3 p.m. Saturday in SouthSide Bethlehem.
Spring on the SouthSide will include the popular Chili Cook-Off and chili pepper-eating contest, as well as live music and additional food vendors. (Chili Cook-Off passports are sold out.) Participating SouthSide Bethlehem galleries and studios will be open for tours. Performers include Dave Fry, Not for Coltrane (with Shawn Cav and Dave Deubler) and Jack Murray and the Midnight Creeps, starting 11 a.m. on the Godfrey Daniels stage on the South Bethlehem Greenway.
In conjunction with Spring on SouthSide, ArtsQuest's second annual SouthSide Arts Festival is set for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at The Banana Factory, 25 W. Third St. The festival will include street performers and skateboarders, glass-blowing, face-painters, graffiti artists, chalk artists, pottery, food trucks, yarn bombers and a performance by Burning Hearts Fire & Light Theatre.
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In other local art news, Friends of the Karl Stirner Art Trail on April 30 will host its "Meet the Artists" Day, from 3 to 5 p.m.
The free event will feature installations of "The Young Masters Wall" (adjacent to the 13th Street trail entrance), Paul Deery's "Waterway" (also near the 13th Street entrance) poetry by Easton poet Beth Seetch (adorning the Easton Cemetery tunnel), "Lafayette Experience" by Easton Area High School students, "Sustainable Solutions" by Lafayette College engineering students and "Windows Into the Mind" -- showcasing brain imagery in celluloid and slide formats -- by New York City-based artist Julia Buntaine (at Lafayette College's new Guard House venue, located along Sullivan Trail).