BETHLEHEM, Pa. — For the first 15 years of its 40-year existence, Bethlehem's massive Musikfest billed itself as a nine-day festival: A week surrounded by two weekends.
Then, in 1995, a "preview" night crept into Musikfest's schedule.
It offered entertainment, including an act on its headline stage, on the Friday before the festival officially started, even as Musikfest continued to insist it was a nine-day event.
By 1998, the "preview" night was permanent, and Musikfest a few years later began billing itself as a 10-day festival.
A permanent 11-day Musikfest is “not planned, necessarily, every year. But I will say that we will take advantage of it."Kassie Hilgert, chief executive officer of ArtsQuest, the nonprofit that presents Musikfest
Now, Musikfest now appears to be repeating that process.
For the past four years it's been in-person — 2020's festival was virtual because of COVID-19 — Musikfest has added a new "preview" night.
And as it revealed the first headliners the 2024 festival in the past two weeks, Musikfest said it again will include a "preview" night.
Does that mean Musikfest has quietly, permanently become an 11-day festival?
Kassie Hilgert, chief executive officer of ArtsQuest, the nonprofit organization that presents Musikfest, said a permanent 11-day Musikfest is “not planned, necessarily, every year."
"But I will say that we will take advantage of it," Hilgert said.
"It’s a minor miracle that we can book 10 consecutive headliners for [the main] Wind Creek Steel Stage," she said. "And very often with these bands ... they may miss the festival by a day or two.
"So if that’s the case, we’re definitely going to put them in there."
And — if the opportunity presented itself — the 11th day could even come at the end of Musikfest rather than being a "preview" night, Hilgert said.
'Take advantage of that opportunity'
The roots of the 11th day of Musikfest can be traced to the festival expanding to the then-newly built SteelStacks campus in South Bethlehem in 2011.
The campus offered Musikfest its first "permanent infrastructure," and that made adding an extra day to the festival easier, Hilgert said.
While SteelStacks still erects a temporary main Steel Stage for Musikfest, it can "move up the final set-up by a day," she said.
In addition, "the ArtsQuest Center’s already set up, the Levitt [Pavilion SteelStacks] is already set up. So that’s all done," she said.
The festival first added an 11th day "preview" night on the Thursday before the festival officially started in 2015.
At the time, Musikfest said that was done so it could accommodate hit British act Duran Duran's touring schedule.
Then in 2018, in what Musikfest said was in honor of its 35th year, it again added a "preview" night, with Voodoo Threauxdown featuring Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue as headliner.
In 2019, it again had a "preview" night with Earth, Wind and Fire, then, after the COVID interruption, added extra days for Darius Rucker in 2021, Boyz II Men in 2022 and AJR in 2023.
Musikfest initially booked AJR for its scheduled opening night, but in March announced it would move to a "preview" night a day earlier "due to an unforeseen scheduling challenge."
The festival then booked pop group Walk The Moon's final tour for the scheduled opening night.
“It can be a preview night — it can be a post night. It’s just that it’s happened, since ’18, that the acts are saying, ‘Hey, we can do that Thursday, but we can’t do any of the other 10 days. But certainly if someone said the Monday after Musikfest, we would do the same thing.”ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
For an act to headline Musikfest, it typically means it must have an open date on its tour that matches one of the 10 days for which Musikfest is scheduled — and is near enough to travel to Bethlehem.
Summer is a time of many tours and festivals, so competition for the top acts is keen.
So if a band can make it to Musikfest for a preview night, she said, "we will take advantage of that opportunity whenever it arises," Hilgert said.
“It can be a preview night — it can be a post night," Hilgert said. "It’s just that it’s happened, since ’18, that the acts are saying, ‘Hey, we can do that Thursday, but we can’t do any of the other 10 days.'
“But certainly if someone said the Monday after Musikfest, we would do the same thing.”
Other benefits of extra days
Revenue from Musikfest's headline shows largely pays not only for the rest of Musikfest, but also programs ArtsQuest offers throughout the year.
Musikfest also makes a substantial investment for its temporary main stage and related sound, light and staging — approaching $100,000 — so using it more than 10 days benefits the festival more.
But Hilgert said adding a "preview" night helps others, as well.
"When you think about one more hotel night stay, right? People may come in for one more night. And then they go to the restaurant for one more night. All of those things — because the festival is certainly there to support Musikfest, but part of why we put on Musikfest is to showcase Bethlehem and the small businesses.ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
“For us on the South Side, that extra half day provides an opportunity," she said. "When you think about one more hotel night stay, right? People may come in for one more night.
"And then they go to the restaurant for one more night — all of those things. Because the festival is certainly there to support Musikfest, but part of why we put on Musikfest is to showcase Bethlehem and the small businesses.
“And, in the Wind Creek Steel Stage, you’ve got small businesses in there providing food, too.”
Hilgert said ArtsQuest works "with the city year ‘round, so as soon as we know [whether there will be an 11th day], they’re like the first ones to know.
“Before we have to get the permit approved by city council, by that late in the year, we already know whether we’re going to do a preview night or not," she said.
"It isn’t like we get a preview night offer on July 4, 'cause we need time to sell tickets. So very often, when we get that offer, we either have all the dates confirmed but not announced, or it’s an act we definitely want, regardless of whether we have other openings.
"And we know soon enough in the year that we can inform the city police, fire — everyone who has to be informed: Traffic, streets, just to make sure they are aware.”
When it comes down to it, Hilgert said, “Pretty much the headliner is gonna dictate opening the South Side for a preview night."
So — because Musikfest already has announced there will be a preview night, does that mean an act already is booked for Aug. 1?
ArtsQuest Chief Programming Officer Patrick Brogan, who books headliners for Musikfest, said no act has been confirmed for the 2024 preview night, but "seven or eight" offers have been made, so one is expected.
No guarantee of an 11-day fest
Hilgert said any "preview" nights for Musikfest will continue to be confined to the South Side.
"And that’s because we are setting up the festival until Friday at 5 o’clock, especially in the historic district" on the city's North Side, she said.
"Getting 10 headliners is a small miracle. To guarantee 11 — probably not something we want to guarantee every year."ArtsQuest Chief Executive Officer Kassie Hilgert
"In the historic district, you’ve still got all the tents over there, you’re still working on getting the vendors in, the crafters," she said. "So that’s a little harder logistically to get that all done an extra day in advance."
And even at that, with the difficulty of booking 10 days of headliners, the festival is comfortable with not making "preview" night a promised feature, Hilgert said.
"That is not in the works," she said. "‘Cause as I said, getting 10 headliners is a small miracle. To guarantee 11 — probably not something we want to guarantee every year."
