Lehighton will host its first heritage festival this weekend held by the Lehighton Borough Parks and Recreation Board. The festival will take place in the Lehighton borough parks between North and South streets. It will be held from noon until 11 p.m. Saturday and until 8 p.m. Sunday. Events will include a fireworks display and a coaster race.

The festival comes after the success of last year's sesquicentennial celebration. The Heritage Weekend aims to preserve the heritage of the town by showcasing various aspects of the town's history, including forgone traditions and displaying how the people of the town used to live and work."While this town has changed drastically over the course of the past 150 years, one thing remains the same: we have an amazing community of residents, organizations and businesses," said Autumn Abelovsky, one of the event's organizers. "That is absolutely something to celebrate." Abelovsky says the board wants to have more borough celebrations."The board's goal will be to celebrate an annual Heritage Weekend annually, as well as bring Music in the Park and a Fall Fest."The Lehighton Fire Department will hold its annual basket raffle on the second floor of the Lehighton Municipal Building during the weekend. There will also be food vendors selling food and drinks to those attending. Guests can also hear music throughout the weekend. Another Day Dawns, sponsored by Dr. William Tinsley, DMD, will perform Saturday at 4 p.m. A fireworks display will also occur on Saturday night. The fireworks are sponsored by Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank who donated generously toward the event.On Saturday guests will be able to see heritage stations set up by 10 local artists and sponsored by Blue Ridge Pressure Castings. The stations will show how life in Lehighton was years ago. Guests will be able to watch and take part in multiple activities at these stations, such as lace making, basket weaving, woodcarving, crocheting, quilting, sauerkraut making, weaving, and a demonstration and display of antique farm tools.The festival will also feature trolley tours just as last year. This year they will be improved and held on mini charter coaches. Tours will begin at the corner of North and Third streets.On Sunday the festival will hold a heritage coaster race. It is meant for youth participation and begins at 2 p.m. It will be sponsored by Lehigh Fire Company Number One. The coaster races, originated in Lehighton, saw a lull in the competition for years. It was revived last year by the Lehighton Sesquicentennial Committee with the hopes of carrying on the race tradition by commissioning ramps to be built for the town's use. Rocky Ahner and Elwood Reed will supervise the races.The Parks and Recreation Board is in need of sponsorships for the event and funding through local donations. Anyone who wishes to volunteer or sponsor the event should contact the board at

Events@LehightonBorough.com.