The Sweetest Festival of the Summer! 2014 Blueberry Festival

Join Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites July 18, 19 and 20 for a weekend of live music, history, crafts, and delicious blueberry savories  at the annual Blueberry Festival at Burnside Plantation, the 6.5 acre Farm in the City! They don’t call it the sweetest festival of the summer for nothing; blueberry pies, strudel, coffee cake, and ice cream, and more will be for sale in the popular dessert tent as well as locally crafted beers, mead, and wine in the newly expanded tasting tent.

Experience a tour of James Burnside’s colonial home and barns, summer kitchen and stroll through the colonial gardens.  Young and old can catch the hoop in a rousing game of graces, tackle Jacob’s ladder, and learn to play a variety of other colonial games.  Kids can enjoy crafts and colonial costume dress-up, make a bluebird house and of course, the blueberry pie-eating contest for all ages. The annual Blueberry Festival is a great special summer treat for the whole family!

The festival includes more than 30 crafters, including wood carvings, pottery, jewelry, homemade blueberry specialties, and festival tee-shirts available in the Burnside Plantation Museum store located in the corn crib.  Also patrons will enjoy colonial brewing demonstrations by award-winning local amateur brewer, Chris Bowen, of Hammersmith Ales.

Guides in period dress will be available for tours of the James Burnside colonial house, high horse-power wheel, barns and garden. The tours share the stories behind colonial farming and James Burnside, a Moravian missionary and county representative. Watch colonial cooking in action in the Summer Kitchen with the Bethlehem Foodways group who will be cooking and the Foodways group will be doing a dairy theme for Blueberry.  Visitors will be able to get hands-on in making butter (straining milk, skimming cream, and churning the butter) and ice cream. The ladies will also demonstrate how to make cheese in addition to cooking and baking dairy based dishes including cheeses and puddings.

Live Entertainment at the Blueberry Festival

On Friday, July 18 from 5pm-8:30pm the Blueberry Festival kick-off event, Pints from the Past, will feature Maggie Spike, a husband and wife duo from rural eastern Pennsylvania. Maggie and Eric Gernerd use a multi-style approach in writing their songs, combining folk/rock, jazz, acoustic pop, Celtic, psychedelic, reggae, Americana and world rhythm influences. Then, kicking-off the two-day festival, there will be a number of amazing performances by musicians and community groups each day held on three different stages.

On Saturday, July 19, followed by an encore from Maggie Spike, The Heritage Tent will feature performances by Moe Gerant, a drummer and percussionist from the Lehigh Valley who is a presenter of workshops and drum circles that emphasize stress reduction; Jay Smar, who is armed with two guitars, baritone vocals, claw-hammer banjo, fiddling, and flat footin’ (a form of clog dancing), serves his audience an “acoustic buffet” of traditional American and original folk, old time mountain music, bluegrass and gospel tunes, as well as coal mining songs of Northeast Pennsylvania preceded by their origin; and Roger Latzgo, a singer and guitarist who performs a repertoire ranging from early American Ballads and drinking songs to more contemporary fare. Other performers will include Barry Rivera, Ed McDade and Robin Reichert.

The Meadow Stage will also be alive with activity including an exciting performance by Naelee Rae, a country/pop singer-songwriter from Boyertown, PA who has consistently made the top ten list of singer-songwriters in Philadelphia for ReverbNation, and has appeared on stage at the Apollo Theater, performed to a sold-out Madison Square Garden, and played the Bluebird Café in Nashville. Other performers include Jon Samuels, Jay Smar, O’Grady Quinlan Irish Dancers, Valley Suzuki Strings, Ed McDade, the Twin Rivers Violin Ensemble and the Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley. There will even be a pie eating contest for all ages!

Head on over to The Orchard Stage to see Jack Murray, a singer/songwriter from Sevierville, TN, now living in Barto, PA, who was a founding member of country-rock band Golden Rocket in the late 70s, featuring a unique mix of folk blues, rock & roll and traditional country music. He’s played in countless other musical combinations while successfully writing for Nashville recording artists and providing his various country and rock bands with strong and witty original material. Billy Bauer will also be performing here.

On Sunday, July 20, there will be even more exciting entertainment. Join us at The Heritage Tent to see performances by Jolly Tars, who use vocal harmonies, fivestring and tenor banjo, bouzouki and mandolin, guitar, concertina, ukulele,bodhran, bones, harmonica, tin whistle and piano forte; Ray Owen, a truly versatile performer, Grammy Nominated Singer/Songwriter, and National Recording Artist whose engaging vocal style and infectious blend of good time music and humor continues to captivate audiences across the country; and Dave Fry,whose concerts feature both traditional and contemporary folk music, spliced together with guitar, mandolin, banjo, wry and spontaneous commentary on American family life, and plenty of participation on everyone’s part. Fry is unique in his ability to entertain all ages and builds a sense of community everywhere he plays. Other performers include Keith Brintzenhoff, Barry Rivera and Denise McCormack.

Make sure to be at the Meadow Stage for a riveting performance from CoraCree, a band that plays roots music from the heart, melding a mixture of Celtic, Old time, European and Original music with an old and contemporary sound tailored for listening and dancing. Following them will be Paul Pfau, whose sound is often likened to a fusion between John Mayer and Michael Buble because of his crooning voice and tasteful guitar playing. In 2011 Paul was nominated Best New Artist by the Washington Area Music Association. Joining him onstage is Connor Pledger, who taps into nostalgia-inducing soul level that evokes the magnetism of music icons such as Bill Withers, Sam Cooke and Stevie Wonder and combines it with his own lyrical depth and emotional resonance. He possesses a unique voice that rattles smoothly with soul while showcasing his range and precision. Catch other performances here by Keith Brintzenhoff, Ray Owen, Dave Fry, PYT Youth Theater Camp and Billy Bauer. There will be another pie eating contest as well!

Returning to The Orchard Stage will be Jack Murray and Billy Bauer, as well as another performance by Roger Latzgo. This stage is also where the festival tasting tent will be. There will also be strolling shows performed by Robert Latzgo on Saturday and Phydeaux’s Flying Flea Circus and Wahoo on Sunday.

The full entertainment schedule for the Blueberry Festival is available by visiting the Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites website (http://historicbethlehem.org/blueberry-festival-performers/). Tickets for the kick-off event, Pints from the Past, are $55 for HBMS members and $65 for the general public. Space is limited; reserve your spot today by calling Sarah at 610-882-0450 ext. 10 or visiting the website at historicbethlehem.org. Tickets for Saturday (10am-7pm) and Sunday (10am-6pm) are available at the gate each day for $8 per adult, $7 for seniors, $4 for children ages 6-16, and children 5 and under are free. All performances are included with the ticket. Credit cards are accepted throughout the festival.

Festival hours are 10am to 7pm on Saturday July 19 and 10am to 6pm Sunday, July 20, 2014. Burnside Plantation is located at 1461 Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. Parking is available in the shadow of Martin Tower, entrance off 8^th Avenue. Tickets are available at the gate for $8 per adult for the festival, $15 per adult for the festival and tasting tent, $7 for senior festival admission, $14 for seniors to have access to the festival and the tasting tent, and children (6-16) are $4, children under the age of 3 are free.

This year’s tasting tent will feature wine from Pinnacle Ridge, craft beer by Bethlehem Brewworks;  Funk Brewing Company;  Frecon’s Cidery; and The Other Farm Brewing Company and homebrew produced by  Tim and Honeree Kerrigan.  New this year, visitors will learn about Mead from Greg Heller LeBellee and Mike Manning of Colony Meader along with the opportunity to taste   Frozen Digits (blueberry melomel), Straight, No Chaser (traditional mead), Pikwant Field (Strawberry-Kiwi melomel), Towbeedog (hopped mead) and Mo-Me-Doh (lime and mint mead). Only adults aged 21 or older will be admitted to the tasting tent.

Pre-sale tickets are available at a discounted rate of $5 when purchased with the Pass Into History, available at all of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites’ gift shops. Credit cards are accepted throughout the festival.

For those who are not members of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, we are offering a special incentive that allows families to support historic preservation while enjoying this annual event.  Subscribe to a new family membership at the Blueberry Festival Admissions Gate and get two adult admissions to the Blueberry Festival free – a $16.00 savings.  Subscribe to a new individual membership and get one adult admission to Blueberry Festival free – an $8.00 savings.

In order to kick off the festival weekend, on Friday, July 18 from 5:30pm-8:00pm, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites will host the 2014 Pints from the Past craft beer, wine, mead and food pairing event. This special ticketed event will feature a brewing demonstration by colonial brewer Chris Bowen of Hammersmith Ales and sample three of his delicious brews:  the Thomas Morris Philadelphia Porter, Zum Uerige Alt, and Goundie’s Finest Blueberry Cider.

Guests will also have the opportunity to meet Gregg Heller La Belle and Mike Manning of The Colony Meadery, learn all about mead and taste his delicious creations! Especially for this event, The Colony Meadery has made a ginger mead infused with lemons and blueberries through a homemade “Randall,” a device that pushes mead through ingredients to absorb flavor. South Italy Imports will be providing wine pairings, and food pairings will be provided by The Bayou, Hotel Bethlehem, and Molinari’s, all restaurants local to Bethlehem.

The evening’s entertainment will be provided by Maggie Spike. “Maggie & Eric Gernerd are a husband and wife singer-songwriter duo from rural eastern Pennsylvania. Known for their “mixed bag” of folk originals, they are not an easy band to label. Both Maggie’s and Eric’s song writing styles combine folk/rock, jazz, acoustic pop, Celtic, psychedelic, reggae, Americana, and world rhythm influences. Their music takes you to a place where melody, rhythm, harmony, and insightful lyrics create a sound that is easily accessible and highly entertaining.” More information about the duo is available at MaggieSpike.com.

Tickets for Pints from the Past are available online at HistoricBethlehem.org, or by calling Sarah Baer at 610-882-0450 ext. 10 to make a reservation. Tickets are limited and are available at $55 for members of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, or $65 for members of the general public.

Questions about the festival can be answered by visiting HistoricBethlehem.org or by calling 1-800-360-TOUR. The Blueberry Festival is also a great way for families, individuals, teams, or groups to support historic preservation through volunteering. Anyone interested in volunteering may learn more by contacting Manager of Visitor Experience & Volunteers Melanie Depcinski at mdepcinski@historicbethlehem.org or 610-691-6055 ext. 16.