This weekend is your last chance to catch some great music at Bethlehem’s annual Musikfest, be it one of the hundreds of free performances around town, or a main stage headliner.
A little further north in NEPA, there’s a festival celebrating one of Pennsylvania’s favorite delicacies, the kielbasa, while the peak bloom season for sunflowers will attract thousands to the Erie area.
Here’s a look at what’s happening around the state this weekend.
Musikfest – Bethlehem
Dates: through Aug. 9
The country’s largest free music festival, Musikfest, winds down this weekend with plenty of free shows. You can catch some of that free live music and other performances across 15 stages, and ticketed shows at the Wind Creek Steel Stage, including Bailey Zimmerman (Aug. 6); Parker McCollum (Aug. 7); Yellowcard and Taking Back Sunday (Aug. 8); and AJR (Aug. 9).
Goschenhoppen Folk Festival – Perkiomenville (Montgomery County)
Dates: Aug. 7-8
You can enjoy traditional food, handmade crafts, and folk music at the Goschenhoppen Folk Festival, where more than 500 volunteers in period clothing will demonstrate what Pennsylvania German life was like in the 1700s and 1800s. Taking place at the Henry Antes Plantation in Perkiomenville, the 2026 event will be the festival’s 58th year. Tickets include access to living history programs, dozens of demonstrations, delicious Pennsylvania Dutch eats, and live performances.
Plymouth Alive Kielbasa Fest – Plymouth (Luzerne County)
Dates: Aug. 7-8
For more than 20 years, the Plymouth Alive Kielbasa Fest has been a cornerstone festival in NEPA, with dozens of vendors and attractions, and live music. And of course there’s a kielbasa competition where several NEPA meat stores and vendors compete for the best tasting kielbasa in categories like smoked and regular.
Barrel & Flow Fest – Pittsburgh
Date: Saturday, Aug. 8
Pittsburgh’s Barrel & Flow was the first Black craft beer and arts festival in the country, and has been recognized as one of the best beer festivals in the country by USA Today. The tradition continues this year with dozens of local and national breweries participating, the majority of which are Black-owned. The festival will also include live music, live art, and a market of vendors, community organizations, and food.
Girard Sunflower Festival – Girard
Dates: Aug. 9-15
There won’t be as many sunflowers as the 1.2 million that bloomed last year, but thousands are expected to be at their peak for the Girard Sunflower Festival, which kicks off Sunday. Visitors this year will be able to walk on pathways through the sunflower fields at the Girard campus of the Hagen History Center and take in a free performance from the Erie Philharmonic String Ensemble on the festival’s opening night.
Information from USA Today via Reuters Connect was used in this report.
