Ahead of St. Patrick’s Day next week, The Morning Call has a family-friendly holiday event to check out, and a preview of a band prepping for one of music’s biggest stages.
A disclaimer: for Irish revelers, both Allentown and Bethlehem will host bar crawls this weekend. The expectation for those events is… self-explanatory. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite and PubCrawls.com.
Check out our full list of St. Patrick’s Day events in this week’s Go Guide.
Luck at the zoo
At the Lehigh Valley Zoo, “St. Pawtrick’s Day” will serve as a holiday celebration with far more paws than pints.
The event will feature a “river otter treasure hunt” showcase at 12:30 p.m. and a shamrock scavenger hunt all day. Seventeen shamrocks will be hidden throughout the zoo, with prizes on the line, according to the nonprofit’s website.
In keeping with St. Patrick’s Day tradition, attendees at the park are encouraged to wear green. Events at the zoo, per the website, are typically rain or shine.
Saturday’s festivities are included in a zoo general admission ticket.
If you go: Saturday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, located at 5150 Game Preserve Rd., Schnecksville. Tickets are $11 for those over the age of 2, and can be purchased at lvzoo.org/ticketing.
Carnegie Hall preview
Before it performs in the lavish halls of Carnegie Hall, the Allentown Band will host a free warm-up concert Sunday to showcase American fanfare.
The band — which has been active since 1828 — highlights that many of the performers are involved in fields entirely unrelated to music, though “when they meet to perform, however, whether in a public park setting, retirement community, or in Carnegie Hall, both age and daytime vocation disappear,” a description of the band reads.
Composers on the Sunday program feature American classical composers Leonard Bernstein, John Philip Sousa and more.
On the bigger stage, the band will perform in the “Sounds of Spring Festival” on March 25 at Carnegie Hall in New York, among five other performers. According to the band’s website, limited concert tickets and round trip bus fares will be offered to friends of the band.
If you go: Concert is a two-hour program starting at 3 p.m. Sunday. Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown.
The Allentown Band in a rousing performance of “Stars and Stripes” at Carnegie Hall.
Handout
Early spring art show
As the weather warms, Lehigh Gap Nature Center is inviting residents to check out local art, and take in the Appalachian Trail scenery.
The center will host a three-day “nature in art show,” opening with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Friday The event is hosted by the organization’s art club; the center serves as both a nonprofit environmental education center and wildlife refuge.
The art show is free to attend with no registration required. More than 100 pieces of painting, photography and sculpture are expected.
If you go: Opening reception is 6:30 p.m. Friday; art show runs from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 8884 Paint Mill Rd., Slatington.
Andreas Pelekis is a freelance writer. Reach out to him with weekend tips for next weekend at atp3417@gmail.com.