Your Weekend: Test the Waters at the Monocacy Creek

Bring your galoshes or rain boots to the historic Burnside Plantation—the farm in the city—to get a lesson on stream science in the Monocacy Creek on Saturday morning.

The Monocacy Creek has long been an important source of water for Burnside Plantation’s farm animals, from Colonial times to today. Using basic water-monitoring techniques and hands-on discovery activities, children and accompanying family members will investigate the quality of water in the Monocacy and answer the following questions:

·       What type of life can the creek support? Fish? Insects? Something even smaller than we can see with just our eyes?

·       Is the creek a healthy water source for animals?

Following the water activity, event attendees can design a fish print banner to fly in the breeze in the last days of summer.

Back to Your Roots events, presented by the Historic Bethlehem Partnership, are held the third Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Burnside Plantation at 1461 Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. Visitors can stop in anytime. Children enjoy free admission; adults pay $7. For more information, visit historicbethlehem.org.

Also this weekend:

• One of the region’s largest juried craft festivals, The Muhlenberg Summer Festival, continues Friday and Saturday on the campus of Lehigh Valley Hospital—Muhlenberg. In addition to the wares of dozens of artisans, the festival also features live entertainment and rides for the kids. Pay one $17 price to ride all the rides Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

• Third Mask Theatre Company presents "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" for four performances at Northeast Middle School. Third Mask was started in 2010 by two Freedom High School friends who are veterans of the school's award-winning theatre program. They have been joined by students from FHS and other local high schools and colleges to bring a new theatre experience to the Lehigh Valley. Show times are 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

• See long-form improvisational comedy at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks as Mandudebro, recently selected to participate in the “District Improv Festival” in Washington, D.C., premieres a new show, “It’s Not Me, It’s You” at 11:15 p.m. Friday. Mandudebro's "It's Not Me, It's You" is a completely improvised comedy show that draws its inspiration from the story of an audience member's past relationship. The group is inviting the public to attend the show and share an interesting, tragic or even just bizarre, truthful story about a past relationship. Mandudebro will take that story as the inspiration for an original, improvised comedy show, that has never been seen before and will never be seen again.

• Wesley Church invites families-in-need to come to 2540 Center Street, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday for Backpack Give-Back Day. Each child will receive a backpack filled with necessary supplies for back-to-school as well as haircuts, hearing screenings, new socks & underwear, learn about health & wellness, see fire truck, enjoy music, exercise, meet TelaBear and more!

• It will be a day of mixed martial arts fighting as the Sands Bethlehem Event Center hosts XFE Cage Wars 25, starting at 7 p.m., Saturday. More than a dozen fights are featured plus the opening round of the XFE 155-pound tournament gets under way. Tickets range from $42 to $102.

• The Bethlehem Applebee's will be holding a pancake fundraiser Sunday morning to support the family of Matthew Green, a local school teacher that is missing, and last seen during a hiking trip in California. The breakfast will be served from 8 to 10 a.m. in the Applebee’s at 2109 Motel Drive, which is off of Catasauqua Road. There will be a 50/50 raffle and a bake sale at the event. Donations and all fundraising efforts will be used to support search and rescue efforts, travel aid for those going to the site of Matt's disappearance, and in the long term medical or other arrangements when Matt is found.

• Valley Vivaldi IV brings baroque chamber music to the Wesley Church, 2540 Center St., at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Bach's spectacular Double Concerto for two violins (Mary Ogletree and Rebecca Brown), plus works featuring harpist Frances Duffy, flutist Robin Kani, cellist Deborah Davis, and oboist Nobuo Kitagawa. Meet the musicians at the post-concert reception. Tickets are $35 and $20. Discounts for students.

• Pittsburgh rock ‘n’ roll legend Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers visit the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks stage for a special performance at 7 p.m. Sunday. Grushecky, who has collaborated as a songwriter with Bruce Springsteen, was scheduled to appear at the Levitt Pavilion on July 12, but the show was postponed because of thunderstorms. Other performers at the Levitt Pavilion this weekend include Sultans of String on Friday and Motown legends The Drifters on Saturday.