BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Musikfest again will extend its run to 11 days this year, with indie-pop trio AJR's headline concert moving from the festival's normal opening night to a new preview night, officials announced.
The move of AJR's concert from Friday, Aug. 4, to Thursday, Aug. 3, was due to "an unforeseen scheduling challenge," Musikfest said in a news release.
- Musikfest will expand to 11 days this year, with headliner AJR moving from Friday, Aug. 4,to Thursday, Aug. 3
- It's just the fourth time in Musikfest's history that it has expanded to 11 days
- Tickets for the new day still will be honored, and new tickets still are on sale
But the change adds the extra day to the music festival, which bills itself as the largest free music festival in the United States.
The festival now will run Aug. 3-12.
A news release announcing the change gave no further details about activities for the extra day, and Musikfest's website offers no new information for the preview day.
Musikfest normally is a 10-day festival, spanning two weekends and the week between them. But in recent years, it has expanded to 11 days to accommodate some headline acts.
Fourth time for 11-day run
Through Musikfest’s first 31 years, the festival never used its main stage for more than 10 days. Musikfest held a “preview” night in 2011 when the SteelStacks campus opened, but there was no performance on Steel Stage.
But Musikfest changed that by adding a preview night with new wave band Duran Duran in 2015, then did it again in 2018 for Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown and again in 2019, with a preview night by Earth Wind & Fire.
For those preview nights, Musikfest also offered free performances on other outdoor stages on the SteelStacks campus, as well as food vendors.
Performance times for AJR will remain the same, and patrons should hold on to their current tickets, as all tickets will be honored at the new date of the show, Musikfest said.
People with questions can contact the ArtsQuest box office with questions or concerns at tickets@artsquest.org.
Tickets are still available for the almost sold-out show at Musikfest.org.
AJR still opening-night headliners
Musikfest announced in December that AJR would be its opening-night act.
AJR is a brother trio known for its hits "I'm Ready," "Weak," "Burn Down the House" and "Bang."
AJR headlined Allentown Fair last year.
The three brothers, native New Yorkers, use the initials from their first names -- Adam, Jack and Ryan Met (nee Metzger) – to call themselves AJR.
AJR released its debut album, "Living Room," in 2015, with its double-platinum hit "I'm Ready."
But it hit the charts in 2017 its platinum sophomore album, "The Click," and its triple-platinum hit "Weak" and the platinum follow-up "Sober Up" in 2017. Its single "Burn Down the House" in 2018 went double platinum.
It 2019 album "Neotheater" went to No. 1 on the Indie albums chart, and produced the platinum hit "100 Bad Days."
Its most recent album, 2021's "OK Orchestra," also hit No. 1 on the Indie albums chart and No. 10 on the overall albums chart and had sold gold status.
It produced the double-platinum hit "Bang," which gave the trio its first Top 10 overall hit, and its most recent hit, the platinum "Way Less Said."
