Musikfest History

Musikfest was founded in 1984 by Jeff Parks, who was inspired by the Oktoberfests he had seen in Europe, and while working for the Bethlehem Tourism Committee was attempting to revitalize a downturned city core. The idea almost failed; city council at first voted no, but eventually relented. They had to do something with Bethlehem Steel bankrupt. And from the days of that first, smaller, festival, held solely downtown, it thrived, although thriving saw an attendance of 182,000 in 1984. Favorite performer at the festivals of the founder; Ray Charles.

The festival has grown, now held over ten days during the first weeks of August, and includes the South side where the remnants of Bethlehem Steel remain in various states of ruin and revitalization. It is a German oriented festival, thus the name of the venues are Platzes. Some of the famous folks who have graced the stages of Musikfest; Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Joan Baez, Ray Charles, Marshall Tucker Band, Three Dog Night, the Temptations, Marie Osmond, REO Speedwagon, The Commodores, The Guess Who, Patti LaBelle, Little Richard, Hall and Oates, Tom Jones, Kenny Rogers, Hootie and the Blowfish, Tony Bennett, Duran Duran, Chicago, Kansas, the Beach Boys, Alice Cooper, Keith Urban, Donna Summer, Carrie Underwood, B.B. King, Stone Temple Pilots, Pat Benatar, Blondie, Selena Gomez, Norah Jones, Adam Lambert, Steely Dan, Maroon 5, Darius Rucker, Jerry Seinfeld, Lady A, Toby Keith, Daughtry, Brad Paisley, and Kelsea Ballerini, among many others.

In 2023, the lineup included AJR, Walk the Moon, G-Eazy, Dan + Shay, Walker Hayes, Keith Sweat & Monica, Goo Goo Dolls, Gabriel Iglesias & Faux Friends, El Gran Combo, Maren Morris, and Train.

Photo above: Musikfest photo 2023 of exterior of entrance to 5,000 seat Wind Creek Steel Stage where main acts perform. Rusting stacks of Bethlehem Steel in the distance. Courtesy Americasbesthistory.com.

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Bethlehem History

On April 2, 1741, William Allen sold those five hundred acres to the Moravian Church, who had been looking for good land to start their settlement. At the confluence of the Lehigh River and Monocacy Creek is where they chose. The land above them was hilly, but by Christmas Eve, 1741, it was christened Bethlehem in a stable with a hymn sung by the Moravians, "Not Jerusalem, Lowly Bethlehem." It would not stay lowly for long. They felled large white oak trees and built their workshops on the land along the creek and river. Their homes were built along Church Street. While the first structure built is gone, the Gemeinhaus, the second structure also built in 1741, housed many of the eighty members of the community for years, and still exists and can be toured as the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem.

The town was always steeped in music. One of the first orchestras in the colonies was founded in the community in 1744, and its tradition continues. Their role in the American Revolution as pacifists in nature was to care for the wounded. Five hundred soldiers would perish in the community. By the late 1820's, a canal ran along the river. By the 1850's, the railroad arrived and the south side of the Lehigh River and Bethlehem became home to the growing industries of the Industrial Revolution.

Image above: Drawing of Bethlehem, the Moravian settlement, in 1761, 1761, Paul Sandby. Courtesy Library of Congress.

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Bethlehem Steel History

One of those industries was steel. The predecessor of Bethlehem Steel, the Saucona Iron Company, was founded in 1857, later became the Bethlehem Iron Works, and succeeded under the tutelege of John Fritz for thirty years. Bethlehem Steel Company was officially incorporated in December 1904 upon the purchase by Charles Schwab. It would grow to encompass one thousand eight hundred acres, become the second biggest steel company in the world, and the largest ship builder. Shipbuilding was at its forefront during the two World Wars; during World War Two itself, 1,127 ships were built by them, more than any other company. They would go on to provide steel for the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, and Madison Square Garden. Thirty-three thousand people were employed in this one plant alone; three hundred thousand by the company worldwide.

As the 1970's approached, competition from around the world, many dumping steel into the United States at under value pricing, began to cost Bethlehem Steel its customer base. Its generous pension plans also drained their cash reserves. In 1982, the company lost $1.5 billion alone. By 2001, the Bethlehem Steel Company had filed for bankruptcy. In 2003, it had closed for good, with assets sold at the time to the International Steel Group. Cleveland-Cliffs Company is now its sole successor.

Photo above: Interior of Rail Mill, then Iron Foundry, 1988, Jet Lowe, Historic American Buildings Survey. Courtesy Library of Congress.