BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Arrests at Musikfest more than doubled this year, and total police incidents reached a five-year high, even as attendance at the festival declined from last year’s record, according to statistics released Thursday by the Bethlehem Police Department.
Officers made 37 arrests during the 2026 festival, up from 17 in 2025 — an increase of about 118 percent — while logging 178 total incidents, up from 113 last year. Both figures are the highest in at least five years, according to department data going back to 2022.
Bethlehem PoliceMusikfest police incidents and arrests, 2022–2026
Musikfest police incidents and arrests, 2022–2026 (bar chart). Total incidents — 2022: 89, 2023: 132, 2024: 125, 2025: 113, 2026: 178. Arrests — 2022: 21, 2023: 29, 2024: 28, 2025: 17, 2026: 37.
Source: Bethlehem Police Department Musikfest statistics, 2022–2026
The numbers come from a year in which Musikfest drew 1,260,630 attendees, the third-highest total in the festival’s 43-year history but down from the record of about 1.45 million set in 2025, according to ArtsQuest, the nonprofit that runs the event.
Police characterized the festival as safe despite the increases.
“Musikfest continues to be an incredibly safe event, especially considering the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Bethlehem during the festival,” Bethlehem police Capt. William Audelo said in a statement. “While we did see an increase in arrests compared with recent years, the overwhelming majority involved lower-level offenses, and we experienced no major incidents that threatened the overall safety of the festival.”
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Audelo said officers were “highly visible and proactive” throughout the festival, and that the numbers “reflect our commitment to addressing issues quickly while maintaining a safe and welcoming environment.”
Of the 37 arrests, 26 were for summary offenses — the lowest level of violation under Pennsylvania law — along with eight misdemeanor arrests and three felony arrests. Based on the department’s arrest count and ArtsQuest’s attendance figure, the total works out to roughly one arrest per 34,000 visits.
Adjusted for crowd size, this year’s rate of about 29 arrests per million visits was the highest in five years, according to a calculation based on police arrest counts and ArtsQuest’s reported attendance figures. But it was only modestly above 2024, when storms held attendance to about 1.02 million, and police made 28 arrests, a rate of about 27 per million.
By that measure, last year stands out as the anomaly: the 2025 festival drew a record 1.45 million visits in near-perfect weather while producing just 17 arrests, the lowest rate of the five years at about 12 per million.
RateArrests per million Musikfest visits, 2022–2026
Arrests per million Musikfest visits, 2022–2026 (bar chart). Arrests per million visits — 2022: 16.9 arrests per million visits, 2023: 21.8 arrests per million visits, 2024: 27.5 arrests per million visits, 2025: 11.7 arrests per million visits, 2026: 29.4 arrests per million visits.
Source: Calculated from Bethlehem Police Department arrest counts and ArtsQuest attendance figures
One of the most notable shifts was in who was arrested. Twelve of the 37 people arrested — nearly a third — were 17 or younger, up from three juveniles arrested in 2025 and the highest number in at least five years. The department’s statistics do not indicate what the juveniles were arrested for.
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The data also show that most arrestees came from out of town, a pattern consistent over recent years. Thirty-one of the 37 people arrested, about 84 percent, were residents of communities outside Bethlehem.
The categories driving the increase in incidents were largely minor. Abandoned or hang-up 911 calls more than tripled, from nine to 30. Parking complaints more than tripled, from eight to 25. Public drunkenness incidents rose from six to 16.
Medical calls, the single largest incident category, declined from 48 to 39.
More serious incidents remained rare. The data lists two aggravated assaults, up from zero last year, along with four motor vehicle accidents and two DUIs. It also lists one weapons offense, unchanged from 2025. The department’s release did not include details on those cases.
Geographically, police activity was concentrated on the city’s Northside, home to the festival’s Main Street corridor. The Northside accounted for 138 of the 178 incidents, compared with 39 on the Southside, where the SteelStacks campus and the ticketed Wind Creek Steel Stage are located. One incident was recorded outside city districts.
The festival’s two Saturdays were its busiest days for police, with 28 incidents logged on each. The final Sunday, Aug. 9, saw 20 incidents, up 11 from the comparable day last year.
Musikfest 2026 ran from July 31 through Aug. 9, with a preview night on July 30. ArtsQuest reported the festival featured more than 400 performers across 16 stages and generated an estimated $108.3 million in economic impact for Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley, a figure attributed to the organization’s own analysis.
This year’s totals reverse a two-year decline in festival police activity. Incidents fell from 132 in 2023 to 125 in 2024 and 113 in 2025 before this year’s jump, while arrests dropped from 29 in 2023 to 28 in 2024 and 17 in 2025 before more than doubling this year.
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