Your Weekend: Labor Day Means The Fair and Football

Labor Day Weekend has arrived and in the Lehigh Valley that generally means two things: The Great Allentown Fair is going on and the high school football season is getting started.

For many families, Labor Day also means one last summer weekend trip to the beach or wherever. Here are some tips on how to beat the traffic this weekend.

Still, others will choose to enjoy the long weekend in the back yard with a brew and a flame on the grill. We have some tips and recipes to keep you from breaking the bank with your back yard barbecue. Patch blogger Christina Moretz also has some suggestions to keep your family safe while the grill fire is burning.

Here are some of this weekend’s highlights:

• The headliners this weekend at The Great Allentown Fair are country singer Luke Bryan on Friday; country superstar Toby Keith on Saturday; ventriloquist/comic Jeff Dunham on Sunday; and the J&J Demolition Derby on Monday. Other events at The Fair include the swimming pigs of Robinson's Pig Paddling Porkers, the Wolves of the World Show, and Animals That Built America. Admission is $6 at the gate, and free for kids under 12. Fair hours are noon to 11 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday and noon to 10 p.m. on Monday.

• If you are a really big fan of Toby Keith, go meet him in person at the The Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection Store at Crest Plaza Shopping Center, 1516 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. in South Whitehall Township at 3 p.m. Saturday. Buy a $37 bottle of Wild Shot Mezcal and he’ll even sign an autograph for you.

• The high school football season gets under way in Bethlehem Friday night at 7 when Freedom hosts the Cavaliers of East Stroudsburg South at BASD Stadium. On the same night, at the same time, Notre Dame—Green Pond opens up at home against Palmerton, while Bethlehem Catholic opens the season at Pocono Mountain West. Liberty hosts the Little Lions of State College at BASD Stadium at 7, Saturday night.

• Friday night is Welcome Back Community School/Family Fun Night at Donegan Elementary School from 6 to 9 p.m.

• Get a night of jazz under the stars for free Friday night at SteelStacks. Dandy Wellington and His Band play the music of the 1930s and 40s Big Band era at the Levitt Pavilion starting at 7 p.m. The Barrel House Brothers then take the stage across the street on the Community Stage in front of the ArtsQuest Center. Other Levitt shows this weekend are Real Diamond, “the premier Neil Diamond tribute show,” at 7, Saturday, and Hector Rosado y Su Orchestra Featuring Frankie Vasquez—Bethlehem-based purveyors of rhumba, Merengue, Latin jazz and salsa—at 7, Sunday.

• If what you crave are a few laughs, come to the Banko at SteelStacks at 11 p.m. Friday for Mandudebro, a locally-based, nationally acclaimed comedy troupe performing “It’s Not Me, It’s You,” an improvised comedy show about your ex. Tickets are $5.

• The movies playing at the Banko this weekend are Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine and, for some late-night guffaws on Friday and Saturday, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tickets are $10, less for students, seniors and ArtsQuest members.

• Remember Hanson? Those three long-haired moppets who sang that song MMMBop that no one could get out of their heads once it went viral in 1997? Well, those boys are all grown up, still have a band and are recording and touring. They stop by the Sands Bethlehem Event Center for a show at 6 p.m. Monday. Tickets are $30 and $50.