Lehigh Valley SoccerFest Returns to SteelStacks for Copa America This June

BETHLEHEM, PA—The free Lehigh Valley SoccerFest & Viewing Party, which attracted more than 75,000 cheering fans to Bethlehem the past two summers, returns to SteelStacks this June for the Copa America Centenario tournament. The festival, which is presented by Discover Lehigh Valley, will feature all three of the U.S.A.’s opening round matches vs. Colombia (June 3, 9:30 p.m.), Costa Rica (June 7, 8 p.m.) and Paraguay (June 11, 7 p.m.). The games will be shown on a large LED screen on the Air Products Town Square; additional matches will be shown should the U.S. team advance.

Launched in 2014 to coincide with World Cup Brazil™, the Lehigh Valley SoccerFest is designed to bring the community together in a celebration of the world’s cultures and the “world’s game.” During the festival’s first two years, the event attracted single-game crowds of up to 10,000 to SteelStacks on the city’s former steel mill site, grabbing the attention of ESPN, USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Los Angeles Times and dozens of other media outlets across the nation.

Highlights of this year’s SoccerFest include a children’s soccer clinic, run by the Bethlehem Steel FC and Philadelphia Union, on June 7 at 6 p.m., along with concerts at the Levitt Pavilion by Fleetwood Mac tribute band TUSK (June 3, 7:30 p.m.) and The Cedric Burnside Project (June 11, 5 p.m.). Delicious food, vendors offering soccer merchandise and free family programming, including youth soccer activities run by Lehigh Valley United and soccer tennis by Kwik Goal, round out the activities and attractions during the event. On June 11, SteelStacks will also host the “Food Truck Border Brawl,” featuring 16 area food trucks, prior to the start of SoccerFest. Tickets for that event are on sale now at www.steelstacks.org.

“Our region has really demonstrated its passion for soccer the past two years through its attendance at our World Cup™ viewing events,” says ArtsQuest Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Advancement Curt Mosel. “We’re excited to show the Copa America matches, and we know fans will come out to cheer on the U.S. men’s team. From free concerts at the Levitt Pavilion to the new food truck event on June 11, there will be plenty of great events and activities for everyone to enjoy.”

In addition to showing the U.S.A’s matches on the screen at SteelStacks, SoccerFest is working with area restaurants and pubs to establish additional viewing locations for other Copa matches. During June, locations such as McCarthy’s Red Stag Pub and Molly’s Irish Bar & Grille in Bethlehem will be showing the games, offering fans a variety of options for catching all the action from the longest running international soccer tournament in the world.

“One of the primary goals in developing SteelStacks was to help support tourism and economic development in our city and our region,” says Mosel. “By partnering with area restaurants and pubs, we’re hoping we can shine the spotlight on a few of the many dynamic businesses that make the Lehigh Valley such a great place to live, work and play.”

The historic Copa America Centenario marks not only 100 years since 1916’s first Copa America, but also the first time the championship will be staged in the U.S. From June 3-26, matches will take place in 10 NFL stadiums across the country, including Pasadena’s Rose Bowl and East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium.

The Lehigh Valley SoccerFest is a partnership between Discover Lehigh Valley, Lehigh Valley United, Lehigh Mining & Navigation and ArtsQuest. Sponsors of the 2016 event include Discover Lehigh Valley, Kwik Goal, Outlets at Sands Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Air Products, Red Robin, Bethlehem Steel FC and PBS39. The festival begins at 6 p.m. June 3 and 7, and at 5 p.m. on June 11; additional details on the soccer clinic will be announced soon. For news and updates, please visit soccerfest.discoverlehighvalley.com.

STEELSTACKS CELEBRATES 5TH ANNIVERSARY APRIL 15

Unique Revitalization Project Has Helped Transform City’s Old Steel Mill into Arts District That Draws Visitors from Across the Nation

BETHLEHEM, PA—On a spring day in 2011, a few dozen people made their way to a brand-new arts center located amid the ruins of the former Bethlehem Steel plant on Bethlehem’s SouthSide. It was a sleek, new building made of concrete, steel and glass that stood in stark contrast to the towering, old steel blast furnaces across the street that reminded people more of the city’s rich history than its bright future.

Built on the former Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem, the ArtsQuest Center marked the first step in the launch of an ambitious redevelopment project called “SteelStacks,” a public-private partnership that would help transform one of the largest privately-owned Brownfields in the nation into a dynamic destination for music, arts and entertainment. Fast forward five years as SteelStacks gets set to celebrate its 5th Anniversary April 15, and more than 800,000 people annually now visit the site to enjoy concerts, festivals and cultural events, having a huge impact on tourism and the economy in the city and the region.

“The ArtsQuest Center and our SteelStacks programming have an annual economic impact of more than $48 million,” says ArtsQuest President and CEO Kassie Hilgert. “But the real story is not the numbers, as impressive as they are. The real story is how the public sector, the private sector and the entire community came together to create an arts and cultural district that is truly unique and literally couldn’t have been built anywhere else because no other place has our community’s legacy of innovation, our community’s unique physical assets and our community’s rich history of arts and cultural activities. Each year, more and more visitors from both the region and the nation flock to SteelStacks and discover just how special Bethlehem, and the Lehigh Valley, truly is.”

On April 15, the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks – the first building opened on the SteelStacks campus – turns 5, highlighting a major milestone in the site’s redevelopment. Once the home of the industrial giant that made steel for the Golden Gate Bridge, much of the Manhattan skyline and the ships and artillery of the two World Wars, today the former Bethlehem Steel site hosts a dozen music and arts festivals, three indoor and outdoor stages and more than 800 concerts, 2,000 cinema screenings and 250 comedy shows annually. In addition to the ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks serves as the home of the Levitt Pavilion, which offers 50 free outdoor concerts for the community every summer; the Visitor Center at SteelStacks, housed in the oldest building on the former steel site; public television station PBS39’s PPL Public Media Center; and the Hoover Mason Trestle, an elevated walkway that provides visitors with an opportunity to get up close to the site’s old rail line, blast furnaces and other buildings.

Partners working together to bring new life to the former steel mill over the past decade include the Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority, City of Bethlehem, Bethlehem Area School District, Northampton County, PBS39, Sands Resort Bethlehem and ArtsQuest. Over the past 10 years, nearly $100 million has been invested in the SteelStacks campus by the Redevelopment Authority, ArtsQuest, PBS39 and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, an especially noteworthy accomplishment considering SteelStacks was developed during one of the biggest recessions in the nation’s history.

“SteelStacks is the culmination of years of hard work, public and private investment, and the vision to create an arts and entertainment destination on the former Bethlehem Steel land,” says Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez. “The result has been astounding as the number of events taking place each year support Bethlehem as being a destination for arts, entertainment and cultural activities.”

As the major programming provider at SteelStacks, the nonprofit ArtsQuest has greatly expanded its arts and educational offerings for the region over the past five years, thanks in large part to the support of its sponsors, supporting members, donors, volunteers and community partners. Today, ArtsQuest presents more than 2,200 programs and events annually, with more than 65 percent of these free for the region to attend. Since 2011, ArtsQuest has invested an average of $1.5 million annually, not including the Musikfest main stage, in music and arts programming at the SteelStacks site, while at the same time adding eight new festivals for the region including the free Oktoberfest presented by Yuengling, the free Sabor Latin Festival, Blast Furnace Blues presented by Highmark Blue Shield and RiverJazz presented by Concannon Miller.

“The success of SteelStacks and ArtsQuest is a great example of how public-private partnerships can work and create solutions that neither the government nor private sector could do alone,” says Northampton County Executive John A. Brown. “I congratulate ArtsQuest and the visionary government and community leaders that were willing to be proactive in solving one of the most difficult challenges our region has faced in decades. The future of ArtsQuest, the City of Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley is bright.”

From the opening of the ArtsQuest Center in 2011 to Dec. 31, 2015, ArtsQuest has presented 2,189 free concerts at SteelStacks, an average of 438 each year, drawing tens of thousands to the city while providing opportunities for hundreds of local and regional performing artists to support their livelihood through paid performances. These free concerts include not only dynamic local acts and up-and-coming musicians, but also nationally known artists like The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Smithereens, The Drifters, Casey Abrams, Coco Montoya, Marcia Ball and Orleans.

Equally as important, ArtsQuest has greatly expanded its educational offerings for area public and private schools, as well as the region as a whole, adding in new initiatives like the SteelStacks High School Jazz Band Showcase, which brings together the region’s high school jazz bands; the “Marketing Musikfest 101” class, which teaches area high schools how to book and market bands at one of the nation’s largest music festivals; and Peas & Qs, the free Saturday morning family series designed to promote early childhood development through the arts. Since 2010, the number of children who experience ArtsQuest’s programming has nearly tripled, from 12,000 annually to more than 35,000 each year.

“While we have been open for five years, we have merely scratched the surface of the kinds of arts programming and cultural experiences we can offer,” Hilgert says. “From artist development opportunities to new educational series and programs to creative partnerships with other nonprofits, we have a stable of ideas that we are excited to continue to build and roll out with input and support from our community. We can’t wait for the next five years.”

Since 2011, SteelStacks has also been a major destination for community groups to host programs and events. Over the past five years, 95 nonprofit and community organizations have presented programs on the site, ranging from educational sessions to major fundraising runs and walks. In 2014 and ’15, SteelStacks also brought the community together to celebrate the World’s Game, offering World Cup viewing parties that attracted crowds of up to 10,000 to cheer on the U.S. Men and Women’s Soccer Teams.

“It’s fitting that the 5th Anniversary of SteelStacks coincides with the 275th Anniversary of the City of Bethlehem,” says Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Tony Hanna. “The development of the SteelStacks campus by partners ArtsQuest, PBS39 and the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Bethlehem embodies many of the same attributes that went into the development of the City of Bethlehem – vision, collaboration, creativity, public engagement, perseverance, tenacity and commitment.

“We have provided our community with a public gift, a public place that is helping to reinvent Bethlehem, while embracing its cherished industrial past. In June of this year the community will be celebrating its founding 275 years ago with a Community Celebration at SteelStacks. We are honored that SteelStacks was selected as the site for this special event, where the events of the day will give us all a chance to both look back on where we’ve been and look ahead to where we want to be.”

SteelStacks Hosting 5th Anniversary Events

In honor of SteelStacks 5th Anniversary, SteelStacks and ArtsQuest are celebrating all summer long. Here are some of the upcoming highlights:

The $5 Anniversary Weekend – April 15-17
Everybody loves a birthday party and ArtsQuest is throwing cinema fans one to remember. To celebrate the opening of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, tickets for all Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas movies including the week’s feature films are only $5 (regularly $10). ArtsQuest is also bringing back some of fans’ all-time favorites from the past five years including “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” as well as classics like “Vertigo” from the Hitchock Film Series. The list of feature films will be announced Monday, April 11; the complete list of movie screenings will be posted at www.steelstacks.org/event/2522/the-five-dollar-fifth-anniversary-screenings/.

Our Hometown Heroes – Memorial Day Weekend
In honor of the “Our Hometown Heroes” program at SteelStacks, Embassy Bank and ArtsQuest are inviting the servicemen and women featured on the Our Hometown Heroes banners over the past five years to attend the Memorial Day Celebration, where they will be honored during a special service as part of the weekend’s activities.

Levitt Pavilion Birthday Bash – July 2
Kick off the Levitt Pavilion’s 5th year of awesome free music with a birthday celebration, complete with cake.

SouthSide Swing – July 22-23
It’s a swingin’ evening under the stars as the Levitt Pavilion presents two great swing acts. Did we mention we’re putting up the first-ever dance floor on the Levitt lawn?

Important SteelStacks Dates
April 15, 2011 ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks opens; cinemas host first films – “Win Win,” “Super” & “The Evil Dead”
April 30, 2011 ArtsQuest Center’s Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling hosts first concert – Steve Miller (private concert)
May 1, 2011 ArtsQuest Center’s Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling hosts first public concert – Craig Thatcher Band
June 11, 2011 PPL Public Media Center at PBS39 opens (originally named the PBS39 Public Media & Education Center)
July 2, 2011 Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks opens
Aug. 4, 2012 Visitor Center presented by St. Luke’s University Health Network open to public for first time
June 14, 2013 Visitor Center presented by St. Luke’s University Health Network officially dedicated
June 25, 2015 Hoover Mason Trestle opens
April 15, 2016 5th Anniversary of SteelStacks
For more information on SteelStacks, visit www.steelstacks.org or follow us on www.facebook.com/SteelStacks.