Every summer for the past 35 years, it’s been a berry-sweet tradition.
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites Blueberry Festival and Market to Go returns July 16 and 19 to Burnside Plantation, with every imaginable way to enjoy in-season blueberries — along with fun for history buffs and families.
Just as it was last year, this year will have a two-day, in-person festival with food, contests and family fun (July 16-17) and a three-day market to go (July 16-19), where you can order their favorites, pick up them and take them home.
Here’s everything you need to know:
Blueberry Festival basics
When: The in-person event will run 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 16 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 17
Where: The historic 6.5-acre Burnside Plantation in Bethlehem, site of an 18th-century Moravian farm just off Schoenersville Road and along the Monocacy Creek
Can you bring your dog? Family-friendly dogs are welcome (on leash) at the festival
Blueberry treats of all sorts — including festival favorite blueberry ice cream from the Bethlehem Dairy Store — will be on the menu at the 35th annual Blueberry Festival & Market to Go.
Family Pack, $27, includes admission for two adults and two children.
Deluxe Family Pack: $35, includes admission for two adults, two children, and Paint Your own Birdhouse.
Blueberry Brewery Pass & Admission: $25 (pre-order online) includes one adult admission, tasting glass, and five tastings; $27 (day-of) includes one adult admission, tasting glass and four tastings
All proceeds help Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites to maintain 20 historic landmarks in Bethlehem.
Crowds gather at the Bethlehem Blueberry Festival & Market To Go at Burnside Plantation.
Food and other delicious stuff
At its core, this is a food festival, celebrating all the delicious ways you can enjoy blueberries.
Here’s just a sample of what you’ll be able to enjoy at the event:
Dessert Tent: In here you’ll find handmade blueberry pie, coffee cake, strudel, and ice cream. To be sure you don’t miss out, you can pre-order treats and pick them up.
Blueberry Brewery Tasting Tent: With your pass, you can sample seasonal flavors of beer, wine, and mead from local favorites, including Cave Brewing, Xplorer Spirits, and McCall Brewing Company.
Festival favorites
What’s back this year at the festival includes:
Crafts for kids in the Kid’s Club Tent
Colonial games
Live demonstrations of colonial brewing and blacksmithing
Colonial cooking demonstrations in the Summer Kitchen
The popular historic house and barn tours offered every half hour during the festival
Visit the Colonial Garden and experience an early American Kitchen Garden, with herbs, spices, flowers, and vegetables. Meet the Burnside Colonial Gardeners and learn about how the award-winning garden is maintained today.
A pop-up museum on the move with Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites Curator, Brett Peters, who will be presenting on tools of the blueberry trade, including a blueberry picker, fruit presses, and more!
Families can visit with animals at the Petting Zoo during the 35th Annual Blueberry Festival & Market To Go at Burnside Plantation in Bethlehem July 16 and 17.
Music, fun and more (and dogs!)
The festival will offer two stages of live music featuring performances by Temple Avenue Jazz, Seth Witcher Trio, Acoustic Mayhem, Rachel Marie, Andrew Dunn, Rick Weaver, Dave Fry, Miriam Clancy & Jack Murray, Seth Witcher (solo), Magnolia Sadies Vintage Dancers, Colin Wolf – Smooth Retina Glow, The Beautiful Distortion (acoustic), Rio Bossa, Jack Murray & Blue Tarp Wranglers, Big Wahu, Caribbean Band, Nick Franclik, Noah Gibney, and Free Reeds.
Kids can check out a petting zoo and pony rides from Sunset Boarding Stables
You can watch live dog skills and drills demonstrations by Neverland K9 throughout the day, as well as Canine Good Citizen and Trick Dog testing open to four-legged festival-goers.
The Alliance of Therapy Dogs group will be in the Haas Barn where children can take a break from the festivities to read their favorite book to a furry companion.
Always a favorite, the annual pie-eating contest returns (2:15 p.m. both days, children and adults). Register in advance: historicbethlehem.org/blueberry-festival/pie-eating-contest/
Culinary competition
You can watch the annual Blueberry Festival culinary contests. Adults and children will compete to see whose blueberry dessert reigns supreme. The Adult contest will be held at 2 p.m. July 16 and the youth contest will be held at 2 p.m. July 17. If you want to enter, do so by 3 p.m. July 14. historicbethlehem.org/blueberry-festival/blueberry-culinary-contest-form/
Grow your own berries
The festival offers a way for you to enjoy your own blueberries at home. You can pre-order your own blueberry bush for $20. (Limited quantities.)
Market to Go
This market started in 2020 as a new feature, to offer folks a pandemic-safe way to still enjoy the fruits (ehem) of the festival.
This year, the market will run July 16 to July 19.
Here’s how it works:
You pre-order through the Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites online store; select a pick up time and date; then go when it’s time. You can also pre-order and pick up at the festival (but you’ll have to pay for admission.)
Here’s some of what you can pre-order:
Blueberry pie from Tombler’s Bakery: $15
Blueberry strudel from the Bakery Nook, $15
Large blueberry coffee cake, $15
Blueberry bonaza box: $37 (pie, strudel and coffee cake)
Half gallon, blueberry ice cream from Bethlehem Dairy Store, $10
Blueberry sugar cookies from the Backdoor Bake Shop: $6 (9 cookies per bag)
Blueberry cheddar cheese from Keystone Farms Cheese: $10
How to order: store.historicbethlehem.org/VIP-blueberry-to-go-market/
Parking and shuttle service
Burnside Plantation is located at 1461 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem.
Parking on the Burnside festival grounds is limited to staff, volunteers, vendors and performers.
Festival parking is available next to the grounds on the east side of Monocacy Creek at the Moravian University Lot at W 1150 Mauch Chunk Road — just a short walk from the festival grounds.
Individuals with mobility issues can be dropped off on-site.
Shuttle service is available at Nitschman Middle School, 1002 West Union Boulevard, Bethlehem. With shuttles on loop available to Burnside Plantation.
Dogs are permitted at the festival, but not permitted on the shuttles.
