A vibrant Puerto Rican holiday tradition will return to Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown on Saturday.
After last year’s sold-out debut that brought together the Lehigh Valley’s Latin community, this year’s Latin Parranda is billed as being bigger and brighter. For its second year, the unique holiday event will expand to two sittings so more people can enjoy it.
The afternoon celebration will include a pinata and other family-friendly activities, while the evening will feature a coquito contest and music by DJV Spice. Both will provide a festive ambience with Latin music, food, dancing, and community spirit. Both sittings will also feature live Latin music led by Héctor Rodriguez and the Parranda All-Stars, plus dance performances and tango and salsa lessons from Latin dance groups.
Guests will enjoy traditional Latin dishes from restaurants and caterers, including Grandpa’s Kitchen and El Tipico. Alcoholic beverages and specialty soft drinks will be available for purchase, while complimentary soft drinks, water, and lemonade will be offered.
“We are thrilled to be planning the second year of our Latin Parranda with the support of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra,” said Elizabeth Ortiz, co-owner of Cactus Blue Mexican Restaurant. “This festive celebration brings together music, food, culture, and community. We are excited to offer two seatings this year, one for families and another for all. Parranda is such a beautiful reminder of how tradition brings us all together in the city that so many of us call home.”
“We really want to connect more deeply to people in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley who come from different cultures,” said Carolyn Powell, director of education for the Allentown Symphony Orchestra and planning lead for the Latin Leadership Committee. “Historic Miller Symphony Hall strives to be a place where everyone can gather around meaningful music and traditions. Latin Parranda is a wonderful way to celebrate that togetherness.”
Tickets cost $20 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and under.
‘A Christmas Carol’ and tree lighting in Allentown
A holiday classic will return to Civic Theatre of Allentown, and residents can join the tree lighting from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday outside the theater on North 19th Street. There will be entertainment, giveaways, crafts, Santa photos, and an appearance by Scrooge and Tiny Tim of “A Christmas Carol.”
The theater’s production of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of redemption will return for its 34th year, inviting audiences to experience the heartwarming story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his unforgettable journey through past, present, and future.
The show, which tells the tale of Scrooge and his redemption, has included thousands of Lehigh Valley children over the years. More than 70 children in two casts will fill the stage with urchins, carolers, and party children.
This adaptation is by the theater’s managing artistic director, William Sanders, and Sharon Lee Glassman, board president emeritus.
Sanders directs this production, which will feature Jarrod Yuskauskas returning to play Scrooge. Yuskauskas is a familiar face on Civic’s stage, most recently portraying the height-impaired Lord Farquaad in “Skrek The Musical,” and this will be his second time playing Dickens’ “covetous, old sinner.” He previously played Scrooge in 2023.
The production, filled with Victorian atmosphere, familiar music, and dazzling stagecraft, will celebrate kindness, compassion, and the joy found in community.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5, 6, 10, 12, 18, and 19; at 3 p.m. Dec. 7 and 14; and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and 20.
Civic will offer a “pay-what-you-can” performance on Dec. 6.
Follies returns to Bethlehem
Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem will celebrate the 26th anniversary of a holiday favorite by presenting “Christmas City Follies XXVI.”
Thousands of people have made the family-friendly, vaudevillian-style holiday show an annual addition to their holiday festivities, knowing that they can expect something special every time.
Writers, actors, and designers from Touchstone’s ensemble work each season to create a fresh and fun production, which is directed by JP Jordan. Every year is a surprise, staging brand-new stories while sprinkling in some recurring fan-favorite characters and scenes from past shows, such as Mary Wright’s doleful Little Red and Bill George’s inquiring old guy. This year will see the return of Lisa Jordan as an ensemble member. Jordan recently stepped down from her role as managing director of Touchstone Theater after nearly 18 years, but is staying involved as a performer.
Performances of “Christmas City Follies XXVI” will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 17, and 18; at 2 p.m. Dec. 7, 14, and 21; and at 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 13 and 20.
Touchstone will offer a “pay-what-you-will” performance on Thursdays.
The performance is 90 minutes with no intermission.
Audiences can get a sneak preview of this year’s “Follies” on Friday at 4:30 p.m., when Touchstone ensemble members perform during the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at Payrow Plaza in Bethlehem.
The theater also will host the Downtown Bethlehem Association’s live advent calendar, which will happen daily from Dec. 1 through 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sun Inn courtyard. Every evening, some Touchstone actors will select a member of the audience to open the door and see what surprises await inside.
Both events are free and open to the public.
Lighting of the Peace Candle
Downtown Easton will kick off the holiday shopping season on Saturday with a full day of merriment, culminating with the grand lighting of the Peace Candle at 6:30 p.m.
For decades, the candle has stood as a visual reminder and call for peace. It stands 106 feet tall and is displayed from mid-November to mid-January around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Centre Square. The Christmas Candle (as it was called) was first lit in 1951 at an interdenominational program in honor of those serving in the armed forces. Today, the candle lighting has become a full-fledged festival with live music, carriage rides, ice sculptors, gingerbread house contests, and a visit from Santa. Since 2013, Easton Main Street Initiative, the Greater Easton Development Partnership, and volunteers have organized the Peace Candle lighting/holiday open house. It coincides with Small Business Saturday.
The event will feature live music, the presentation of the Gretchen Wrenshall Award, and a visit by Santa Claus.
Easton Winter Village will be open from noon to 8 p.m. on Friday; from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 21 for gifts, seasonal food/drink, live carols, live music, visits with Santa, ice carving, carriage rides, and more.
Holiday specials at Pines
Pines Dinner Theatre in Allentown will host a special Thanksgiving celebration at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursday. It will include a Thanksgiving meal of ham and turkey and a performance of “Christmas at the Pines.” Tickets cost $78.
Pines’ other special event is a family show, “Santa’s Christmas Sing Along Celebration,” on Friday at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. It will include a kid-friendly buffet and a performance of the sing-along show.
Audience members, young and old, will be taken to the North Pole with singing elves Snickerdoodle and Jingle to meet Santa and sing holiday favorites. After the show, everyone will get to meet Santa and take photos. Tickets cost $30,
Tickets for regular performances of “Christmas at the Pines” through Dec. 28 cost $42 and include the show only. Food is available a la carte.
“Christmas at the Pines” was written by Pines co-owner Oliver Blatt in 2009 and has become a staple of the theater’s Christmas offerings.
Blatt directs the show, which mashes up holiday favorites, including multiple variations of “Jingle Bells,” “We Need a Little Christmas,” “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),” “Let it Snow,” and “Home for the Holidays.” It takes the small ensemble cast to Hawaii, complete with singers and dancers in Hawaiian shirts and hula skirts; to the old West with a cowboy chorus; and to New England for a Victorian Christmas.
The show also features the Nativity and a visit from Santa Claus to get everyone in the holiday spirit.
The cast features Moriah Faith, Deb D’Haiti, Connor Sternberg, Deven Windisch, Lydia Walker, Ryan Domalewski, Hannah Reiniger, and Robert Rice.
Performances are noon dinner, 1:30 p.m. show Thursdays and Sundays; 6 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. show on Fridays; noon dinner, 1:30 p.m. show and 6 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. show on Saturdays.
Advent concert at Moravian church
Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem will present its annual Advent and Christmas concert on Dec. 6 at 1:30 p.m. in a program featuring choral and instrumental music. The concert is free, and doors will open at 1 p.m.
“Central Moravian Church is happy to share this festive and reflective concert with our Lehigh Valley neighbors and visitors to Bethlehem,” said Becky Lepore, minister of music at the church. “It’s a time to relax and enjoy carols and fellowship as we prepare for the busy Christmas season. We hope this gift to our community will help spread the message of God’s love through music and word as we gather in this historic church, which is listed with worldwide Moravian Church Settlements as a World Heritage site.”
The concert will include “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Skater’s Waltz” performed by Lepore on Central Moravian’s Möller Opus 8650 organ, with its four manuals, 109 ranks, and 3,057 pipes. Central Moravian’s choir will perform “Morning Star in Darkest Night” by Georg Friedrich von Hellström, a Dutch Moravian composer, organist, and violist. For 40 years, he served the Moravian congregation in Christiansfeld, Denmark, also part of the Moravian Church Settlements listed as a World Heritage site. The choir will also perform “Festival Nowell” by American composer Dan Forrest and “There Shall a Star” by Felix Mendelssohn, part of his unfinished oratorio Christus, Op. 97. It has been performed at almost every Christmas Eve vigil at Central Moravian Church since 1891.
Mainstreet Brass, ensemble-in-residence at Central Moravian, will perform two sets of carols, and the audience will be invited to join in singing hymns of the season, including the final verse of “Jesus Call Thou Me,” sung on Christmas Eve in 1741, when Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf named this new community Bethlehem, and “Morning Star,” a cherished Moravian hymn by Francis Florentine Hagen, a Moravian bishop and composer born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The concert will conclude with an organ and brass arrangement of Samuel Scheidt’s “In dulci jubilo.”