Bid on some bottles of wine for charity, take in the sights and sounds of Northampton, visit Bethlehem’s World Heritage sites or watch a water slalom race — all this and more is on the calendar this weekend in the Lehigh Valley.
Here are the details.
Lehigh Valley Wine Auction
The Lehigh Valley Wine Auction celebrates its 20th anniversary this year Saturday in Easton.
The event features local cuisine, thoughtfully paired wines and an open-air experience along a closed Northampton Street, with music, a silent auction for trips, dinners, wines and more, and finish with bourbon and cigars. If you are a foodie, and love wine, Easton and giving back to your community, this event is a must.
The auction, along with the spring Wine Gala, benefit the the Children’s Home of Easton and the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society.
VIP sponsors and guests are invited to private reception at the Sigal Museum with local food and global wines. All attendees will enjoy a selection of wines paired with food from local restaurants including Aman’s Artisan Indian Cuisine, Meli, Sette Luna, Third & Ferry Fish Market, ThreeBirds Nest and Chocodiem. Dance the night away with sounds from the Nite Liters and check out Easton Public Market after dark.
If you go: 6-9 p.m. on the 300 block of Northampton Street, Easton. Tickets start at $150. lehighvalleywinegala.com
50th anniversary Lehigh Valley Kayak & Canoe Club slalom races
The Lehigh Valley Kayak & Canoe Club hosts the 50th anniversary of their slalom races Sunday. The races are held on the Little Lehigh River in Allentown, adjacent to the police academy.
The races are a part of the Penn Cup Series and have been competed since 1976. Club members traditionally compete in kayaks and canoes, and now also stand-up paddleboards.
A slalom is a timed race through overhead gates that must be passed in sequence without touching the gate poles. It’s an international sport, and some of the racers who started in this slalom race have gone on to compete in the Olympics.
If you go: Races start at 8 a.m. Free for spectators. lehighvalleycanoeclub.org
Kurt Jensen from Perkasie “surfs” a rapid with his kayak in the Little Lehigh Creek in Little Lehigh Park Thursday, June 29, 2000, in Allentown. Jensen was on the creek with the Lehigh Valley Canoe Club, which will host its 50th annual slalom race on Sunday. (ED LANDROCK/The Morning Call)
Uptown Northampton Street Fair returns
Northampton Borough’s Main Street will once again come alive during the 37th annual Uptown Northampton Street Fair on Saturday.
This year, the fair returns bigger than ever, with more than 100 local businesses, makers, artisans, organizations, and exhibitors expected to line Main Street — more vendors than ever before.
The event also will include a variety of food trucks, as well as food and drink from Main Street restaurants; family activities such as a climbing wall and animal demonstrations; and live entertainment from the Video Daze 80s Band, Scott Henninger Comedy and Joyous.
“This event is a true reflection of what makes Northampton such a great community,” said Jessica O’Donnell Gower, executive vice president of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.
If you go: 11-4 p.m. Saturday along Main Street, between 17th and 21st streets, Northampton. Free to attend.
Expanded World Heritage site tours
Historic Bethlehem Museum & Sites began offering expanded Moravian Church Settlements —Bethlehem World Heritage Tours this week.
The 90-minute tour offers an opportunity to explore the approximately two-square-block area of historic downtown Bethlehem that served as the center of the early Moravian community, and is presented by Central Moravian Church and Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.
The tour begins at the 1741 Gemeinhaus, home of the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem and the only surviving 18th-century Moravian Gemeinhaus in use in the world. Other sites include the 1751 Old Chapel and Bell House Courtyard, the First Single Brethren’s House/Single Sisters’ House, the 1768 Widows’ House, God’s Acre, and other World Heritage buildings and sites along Church Street, Main Street and in the Colonial Industrial Quarter. It concludes at the Central Moravian Church Sanctuary.
If you go: Tours are offered at 2 p.m. Thursday through Monday, starting at the 1741 Gemeinhaus, 66 W. Church St., Bethlehem. $15 for Lehigh Valley residents; $20 for others. Advance reservations are recommended; tickets can be purchased at historicbethlehem.org/visit-us/experience/world-heritage-tour/ or the Goundie Visitor Center, 505 Main Street.
The Moravian’s Gemeinhaus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is pictured on May 10, 2016. The building was the center of life in the early Moravian community, and is now part of a World Heritage site that encompasses 10 acres and includes nine structures. (Harry Fisher/The Morning Call)
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