rom blueberry strudel, ice cream and pie to plenty of family fun, Bethlehem’s Blueberry Festival has a great time on tap when it returns to Burnside Plantation this weekend for the 31st year.
The biggest draw, of course, is the food, and this year promises not to disappoint. You’ll find sweet and savory crepes from Crepe Soleil, blueberry kombucha from Lehigh Valley Kombucha, fresh blueberries from local farms, blueberry ice cream, blueberry coffee cake, strudel and pierogis.
The blueberry theme carries over to drinks. In the Blueberry Brewery Tasting Tent, you can sample blueberry beer, wine, mead and Blueberry Mules from Shangy’s, Cardinal Hollow Winery, 8 Oaks Distillery and the 14th Fret Brewing Co. You can buy full servings of wine from Cardinal Hollow Winery, beer from Two Rivers Brewing and Blueberry Mules by 8 Oaks Distillery.
If you have a bottomless stomach, enter the Pie-Eating Contest for kids and adults. It will be 2:15 p.m. both days at the Community Stage. Sign up at the info tent.
New is the Blueberry Jam Open Mike 6-7 p.m. Saturday. Each performer can perform two songs; sign-ups will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Musical performers include BarrelHouse Brothers, Porter and Sayles, Copper Sky Band, Jack Murray & the Blue Tarp Wranglers and the Dina Hall Trio.
The Blueberry Festival also is packed with family fun, including the Read to Dogs program in the Lower Haas Barn, where children can read to therapy dogs in a quiet setting. Kids can bring a favorite book or choose from those provided. Other activities include pony rides, a petting zoo, making a pet bandana, dressing in Colonial clothes and playing Colonial games, and creating sand art, hex signs and Moravian paper dolls.
Dress your pet in a blueberry themed costume and enter him in the Pet Parade.
The festival runs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 21 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 22.
Tickets are $10; $5, kids; $10 for four Blueberry Brewery tastings. Online-only special ticket packages are available.
Info: 800-360-TOUR, HistoricBethlehem.org.
