Musikfest — Local services in Bethlehem

Awesome way to enjoys lots of different music. Great choices of artists. Great food and cool vendors. The town really turns out along with visitors. Everyone's in a great mood for the great music. Drink options are a bit expensive. At the beginning of the acts they explain that the food and drink fund the whole thing so I guess that makes sense. I'll probably bring some beer next time so I'm not buying $7 beers right out of the gate. The northside has the best food and drink options and it's easier to sample more types of music as the venues are close together. The south side of town has cool venues but lesser food options and not really good drink options for my wife. A bar is great but if you ask what are girls ordering and the bartender can't help it's not really that good. Bus service to the south ends at 11:30 even though the acts run later which makes no sense. Saw Santana this year (awesome) but they didn't stage buses to get everyone out so the wait was crazy long. Organizers should figure a bus route option that cars can't use and have enough buses staged to get everyone out. Stayed for the final act on night 2 which ended at 1am. Walking back at 1am can be a little nerve racking as the path is not clearly lit and there are some shady folks out. Uber is good but everyone's ordering the same cars. Would really hope they just run the...

Pretty awful show, venue and organization of it all. 6x Steel Terrace "VIP" tickets.

Parking is by and large permitted only. There is no indication in the literature sent to let you know anymore. Can you get a permit? Parking in was awful. The recommended parking garages were closed. It seems they made a mistake and one garage was opened. Too late after creating a loop of cars, stacked deep with little place to go.

General, non-permitted parking is far off and requires a bit of a hike. The path of which is not marked. Just follow the guy in front of you?

The steel terrace is a tent pushed off to the sides of the stage. The seating arrangement is poor, circular tables tables. With such an off angle view, the stage is close but no cigar. With being so off to the side, the sound suffers too. There is a single 50" or so TV to broadcast a camera man's feed.

The barkeepers were good.

The food was buffet and mediocre, expected for large group feeding.

The ticket was sold as AJR. It was really a music festival with multiple stages. No bands were mentioned though. None were listed alongside their name on the ticket. Simply, AJR was the headliner.

Theerch table was anorexic. No kid sizes. Two AJR shirts.

The area is cool. Old steel plant with many structures remaining.

For the price, this event was a bomb....

Musikfest is the wildly popular German music festival that takes place during the first few weeks of August every year. With the exception of 2020 and 2022, I have been coming here every year since 1991 and I always enjoy it despite the crowds. The worst parts is that the crowds are absolutely atrocious a lot of the time and since it is in August, it is usually very hot outside. Stay hydrated and look for any place that has air conditioning or misting stations.

The food is expensive, but more often than not is excellent. I recommend Karl Ehmer for German meats, Island Noodles, Aw Shucks Corn, Heidi’s Strudel, Theo’s Gyros, and the stand with Leiby’s Ice Cream (I forgot the name). You can bring cash to get prepaid cards, or use credit cards, or use contactless payments all over the festival now. With this, you have a lot more options than ever before to purchase food and goods, but having the emphasis on credit cards and such I feel increased the prices go cover transaction fees, but that is just me.

I recommend going here at least once in your life, and encourage you to go every year if possible because it helps a lot of local businesses stay open as well. Many local businesses depend on Musikfest in order to keep their doors open, so I hope you’ll shop at the many local shops as well while...