St. Patrick’s Day Weekend – local music, parades, and, just a bit farther, craft fairs…

Photo by Anthony on Pexels.com

The Jameson Sisters will perform Celtic music with harp, mandolin, and guitar tonight, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Harleysville at the Church of the Holy Spirit (2871 Barndt Road, Harleysville, PA). The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

A Sophisticated St Patrick’s Day concert with Ellen Tepper, harp & Terry Kane, singer and instrumentalist. We’ll include some sing along songs in Irish (and English) but no green beer!!

Also that evening – a basket raffle! Free will offering and reception to follow concert.

Steve Walker, with Boyertown band Born Crossed-Eyed, will be rocking the ski slopes with acoustic and electric sets out on the deck at Bear Creek on Saturday as part of BCMR Spring Fling Weekend, from 2 – 5 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, March 16, 2019.  To get to Bear Creek Mountain, drive down Main Street, East Greenville and across Rt 100 – it’s just 9 miles down the road; 101 Doe Mountain Lane, Lehigh Valley, PA.

This fun-filled weekend starts with our Cardboard Box Race on Saturday and continues with Pond Skimming on Sunday. If you don’t want to participate, you can spectate and enjoy live music from 2pm – 5pm and food and drink specials at the outside grill on the deck.

Born Cross-Eyed has been rocking Boyertown and beyond since 1978, capturing the spirit of a Grateful Dead concert and mixing in The Allman Brothers, The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, and their own brand of sparkling original music.

Steve Walker has two gigs lined up for this St. Patrick’s Day, Sunday, March 17th;
Flanagans Irish Pub Shillington (41 W Lancaster Ave) 10 am – 1 pm and Docs Irish Pub Gilbertsville (1080 E. Philadelphia Ave) 5 – 8 pm. (Steve Walker has also performed at Make Music Upper Perk!)

Families are welcome on Saturday, March 16th, in Allentown at the sixth Irish Cultural Community Day. The free event is held at the Allentown Fairgrounds’ Agriculatural Hall Annex from noon – 4 p.m., where there will be Celtic games, art, bagpipes, fiddle, Irish dance demonstrations, and more. There will be games and prizes for children. The Agri-Plex is located at 17th and Chew Streets, Allentown, PA.

Perkasie’s fifth annual St Patrick’s Day Parade begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 15th, at Pennridge South Middle School (Fifth Avenue, Perkasie, PA) and ends at Poppa Joe’s Grove (behind Sellersville Fire Department). Celtic games, live music, Irish dancing, Men’s Kilt Contest, food, vendors, and more can be found at the Celtic Fest in the park (Sellersville Fire Department, 1 N. Main Street, Sellersville, PA) from noon to 4 p.m. that day.

Allentown’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day! – beginning at the Allentown Fairgrounds and continuing through the West End. Pipe bands will play before the parade at 1 p.m. on North 19th Street between Tilghman and Liberty, Allentown, PA.

Sugarloaf Crafts Festival, featuring 250 artists and craftspeople, along with music, demonstrations, and workshops, takes place all weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 15-17, 2019, at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Avenue, Oaks, PA. There is an admission charge of $10 at the door ($8 online); Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Souderton Area High School’s annual Art & Soul Fest, with musical performances, dance, poetry, and more, is this Saturday night from 6-9 p.m., March 16, 2019.

Come out to see live art, musical performances, dance, poetry, open microphone sessions, Souderton High School’s musical preview, a capella, student artwork from all the schools in the district, and much more! Admission is free for children 4 and under, $5.00 for students ages 5-18, and $10.00 for adults.

And there will be a limited number of tickets available to be purchased at the door for this weekend’s high school musical performances of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Upper Perkiomen High School, 2 Walt Road, Pennsburg, PA. Friday and Saturday night shows begin at 7 p.m., Sunday’s matinee begins at 2 p.m. March 15-17, 2019.

Take a fantastic musical adventure with an out-of-this-world car that flies through the air and sails the seas. Based on the beloved 1968 film version of Ian Fleming’s children’s book, and featuring an unforgettable score by the Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one family-friendly blockbuster that audiences will find “Truly Scrumptious.”

While you are enjoying the arts this weekend, and the warmer weather, remember to mark your calendar for Friday, June 21st – this year’s Make Music Upper Perk – and help make the event a success by pledging your financial support today; any amount from $10 – $100 helps! Our March Kickstarter fundraiser ends in a few short weeks, so don’t wait!

Support Make Music Upper Perk this month!

Once again, Make Music Upper Perk is counting on community support to fund the annual music festival held all over town, for all ages, with all types of music by all ages of musicians – at no cost to the audience – this year on Friday, June 21, 2019.

This event is run and organized entirely by volunteers, and funded entirely by members of the community and music lovers. Please show your support by making a donation of any size via Kickstarter

We have set a modest goal of $750 (though more than that is needed to meet our planned budget) – Kickstarter rules says that if we don’t meet our goal, we don’t get any of the money pledged to us!

Thank you gifts this year include music CDs recorded and donated by the following musicians, who have played at Make Music Upper Perk in the past (and plan on being part of the event in 2019!);

Ralph Pagano

Tom and Betty Druckenmiller

Steve Walker

Valley Choral Society

Donors pledging $100 or more may choose to receive book art folded by Laura Yocum. The photo below shows the book art received by donors last year.

The deadline for donating to our Kickstarter fundraising campaign is midnight, March 31, 2019. However, there are a limited number of CDs and book art, so don’t wait – make your donation pledge today!