Musikfest 2024 started with record-breaking high temps, endured liquid sunshine and the remnants of Hurricane Debbie in the middle and ended strong with the best weather of the summer – resulting in the largest non-gated music festival in the country setting and breaking records.

The festival, covering more than 50 acres within the Historic Moravian District and the SouthSide Arts District, celebrated its 41st year, welcoming 1,020,000 attendees from over 48 states (including Alaska and Hawaii) plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and 10 countries (the U.S., Canada, Italy, Mexico, England, South Africa, Columbia, Taiwan, Spain and Australia).

It all kicked off on Thursday, Aug. 1, with preview night and ran through Sunday, Aug. 11, ending with an annual fireworks celebration.

ArtsQuest set a new record, selling 54,786 tickets to its 11 headliner shows that performed on the Wind Creek Steel Stage, an almost 8% increase from the previous 2011 record. Headliner concerts included: Greta Van Fleet; Sugar Ray, Better Than Ezra and Tonic; Shinedown; Jowell & Randy; SLASH – S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival; Old Dominion; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Black Eyed Peas; Big Time Rush; Ludacris; and ZZ Top. A second record was set with four shows being sold out: Greta Van Fleet, Shinedown, Old Dominion and Ludacris. The prior record-holding year for number of sold-out shows was in 2017 with Santana, Chicago and Toby Keith.

In addition to the Wind Creek Steel Stage, there were 15 free stages at Musikfest that covered a wide variety of genres, everything from traditional polka to classic rock, Indie, pop, Latin, country, rap, blues, classical, soul, children’s/family and more – something for everyone to enjoy. This year, 422 musicians performed on these stages, representing 48 states and 10 countries.

Locally, more than 165 musicians represented the greater Lehigh Valley

Musikfest also featured 86 street performances by seven different performers throughout the festival. There was live free music playing at every turn, something that festivalgoers look forward to, year after year and generation to generation.

“Musikfest 2024 was unlike the last few years, weatherwise,” said Kassie Hilgert, president and CEO. “When the weather is great, it’s easy to put on a successful festival. This year brought challenges, and every single member of our Musikfest team of staff and volunteers, along with our law enforcement community and city officials, came together to support one another in every way possible.

“It’s that teamwork that helped to make this year’s festival a big success, especially with the records that we set. This festival brings people from across the country and worldwide to Bethlehem, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. We’re excited for them to visit our city and attend not only Musikfest, but also visit the local businesses that thrive here.”