BETHLEHEM, Pa. — On Friday night, thousands of festers turned out for a big Opening Night!\u00a0<\/p>\n
The country’s largest free music festival is back in Bethlehem for 10 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m just here to walk around, enjoy the music, and have a good time,” said Madison VanPelt of Emmaus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s really cool and I’ve never seen something like this, especially because most of it’s free,” said Rachel Gillman of New Jersey. “It’s just like mind-blowing to me.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year, Musikfest saw a record breaking 1.4 million people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The main event Friday night on the Wind Creek Steel Stage: Country music star Russell Dickerson.<\/p>\n
That show kicked off at 7:00 p.m., with Bethlehem native Lilly Moss opening for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We caught up with one couple who tells us they come to Musikfest from Maryland nearly every year.<\/p>\n
“We spend a lot of our time on the Hotel Bethlehem side and we kind of bounce between those stages and just have a good time,” Amanda Ceci of Maryland said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Musikfest has been enjoyed for generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Since 1984, since the beginning,” said fester Jim Deisher, of Bethlehem. “We’re here for the first one when they had the free acts down behind the Moravian College there off of Main Street, and it was great.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Musikfest runs through Aug. 9, so there is plenty of time to get here and enjoy the fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Visit 69 Newsplatz on Spring Street, located between Festplatz and Plaza Tropical at Musikfest 2026.<\/p>\n