{"id":85528,"date":"2026-01-13T13:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/85528\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T13:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:40:10","slug":"mlk-day-in-the-lehigh-valley-march-brings-together-3-generations-in-1-of-several-local-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/85528\/","title":{"rendered":"MLK Day in the Lehigh Valley: March brings together 3 generations in 1 of several local events"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lehigh Valley will host several free events across Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton to commemorate the 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day,<\/a> with activities ranging from marches and church celebrations to museum programs and interfaith gatherings.<\/p>\n

Allentown Art Museum day of activities<\/p>\n

The Allentown Art Museum<\/a> will offer a full day of free family activities on Monday, Jan. 19. Programming includes art-making in the Crayola Classroom from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., performances by the Joyful Voices Community Choir at 11:30 a.m. and hourly musical performances in Trexler Gallery from noon to 4 p.m. Storytelling sessions are scheduled for 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in the Rodale Classroom. The Taste Smokers will cater a luncheon in the Community Gallery from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., with a closing performance at 3 p.m. Free parking is available in the museum lot at Fifth and Linden Streets. Museum admission is free.<\/p>\n

Interfaith celebration<\/p>\n

In Bethlehem, a community-wide celebration will take place Sunday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m. at Foy Hall, Moravian University<\/a>. Second Baptist Church has partnered with Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem Area Moravians, Moravian University School of Theology and Bethlehem Interfaith Group for the event. <\/p>\n

Starting in the Foy Hall lobby, young members of Second Baptist will portray historical figures including King, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks while guests enjoy light refreshments. At 3 p.m., speakers from Jewish and Muslim traditions will present in Foy Hall Auditorium, followed by music and dance performances. Parking is available in Moravian University\u2019s South Campus lot and the Spring Street lot.<\/p>\n

Civil Rights Movement march<\/p>\n

The Dr. Martin Luther King Civil Rights Movement March will proceed rain or shine on Monday, Jan. 19, through Southside Bethlehem. <\/p>\n

Participants should gather at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Comfort Suites at 120 W. Third St., with the procession departing at 11:45 a.m. toward Martin Luther King Park<\/a> on Carlton Avenue, where memorials to King and wife Coretta Scott King are located.<\/p>\n

Scheduled speakers include Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds; judges from the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas; Joe Kelly, chief of staff for Pennsylvania state Sen. Lisa Boscola; and Carlton Ketchen, City of Easton executive assistant to the mayor. <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s march will honor three generations of marchers and children involved in the march. Refreshments will be served at the Comfort Suites following the march.<\/p>\n

Greater Shiloh Church celebration<\/p>\n

Greater Shiloh Church<\/a> of Easton will hold its annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration Monday, Jan. 19, at 6 p.m., with doors opening at 5:45 p.m. Philadelphia City Council Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas will deliver the keynote address. The evening will feature musical presentations and remarks from local leaders. The church is located at 403 Pastor Fred Davis St. on South Side Easton.<\/p>\n

Also on Monday, the Greater Community Development Corporation, the nonprofit community development corporation of Greater Shiloh Church, will also host a ceremonial event marking the launch of Shiloh Estates II. <\/p>\n

The affordable housing initiative will bring eight new homes to South Side for first-time homebuyers.<\/p>\n

It is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the development site, 134 Phillips St., Easton.<\/p>\n

More ways to honor MLK\u2019s legacy<\/p>\n

Additional events Monday, Jan. 19, include all-day service options through the Volunteer Center of Lehigh Valley<\/a>; a daylight vigil at 9:30 a.m. at the Martin Luther King\/Coretta Scott King Memorial<\/a> at Harry A. Roberts Plaza, Union St. and MLK Drive in Allentown; a \u201cRebuild the Dream\u201d program at Union Baptist Church<\/a> at 302 N. 6th St. in Allentown from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and a community prayer service honoring King\u2019s legacy at 2 p.m. at Cathedral Church of the Nativity<\/a>, 321 Wyandotte St. in Bethlehen, with Bethlehem Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Winston Alozie, Esther Lee of the NAACP, state Rep. Steve Samuelson and Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons.<\/p>\n

All events are free and open to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lehigh Valley will host several free events across Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton to commemorate the 2026 Martin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-85528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}