BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A Latin music act has been announced as the final headliner for the 40th anniversary year of Bethlehem’s Musikfest festival.
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, a popular Puerto Rican salsa band widely known as El Gran Combo, will headline the main Steel Stage at the massive music festival in downtown and South Side Bethlehem on Friday, Aug. 11, it was announced Tuesday.
- El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico will headline Bethlehem's Musikfest festival at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11
- Tickets, at $10-$65 and $189 for Steel Terrace, go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday
- The announcement is the 11th and final headline act revealed for the festival, which this year stretches to 11 days for a run Aug. 3-13 in downtown and South Side Bethlehem
Tickets, at $10-$65 and $189 for Steel Terrace, go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday at the ArtsQuest Center box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, at www.musikfest.org and 610-332-3378.
The announcement is the 11th and final headliner announced for Musikfest this year.
Musikfest's 40th year
This year will be the 40th anniversary year for Musikfest. The festival, which typically is 10 days, will stretch to 11 days this year with a preview night, meaning it will run Aug. 3-13.
El Gran Combo played its first show in San Juan in 1962 and became Puerto Rico's most popular salsa group.
The band’s style of music has evolved through the past several decades, ranging from boogaloo and merengue to tango and bomba.
The group creates lively arrangements for piano, bass, trumpets, saxophone, congas, timbales and bongos. Catchy dance tunes include “El Menu,” “Telefono” and “Goyito Sabater.” Their most popular song, “Brujeria” has more than over 50 million streams on Spotify.
The group celebrated a half-century together with "50 Aniversario, Vol. 1," its debut for EGC records. Three-quarters of the album are re-recorded songs from the entirety of the band’s career. The album placed in the Top 10 of Top Latin Albums. The album then hit No. 4 on the Top Latin Albums chart.
Previously announced headliners for this year's Musikfest were indie-pop trio AJR on the opening preview night Thursday, Aug. 3; pop-rock group Walk The Moon on Aug. 4; rapper G-Eazy on Aug. 5, Grammy Award-winning country music duo Dan + Shay on Aug. 6; country singer Walker Hayes on Aug. 7; R&B singer Keith Sweat and Monica on Aug. 8; alt-rockers Goo Goo Dolls and O.A.R. on Aug. 9; comedian Gabriel Iglesias on Aug. 10; Maren Morris on Aug. 12; and Grammy Award-winning soft rock group Train on closing night Sunday, Aug. 13.
It will be the third straight year Musikfest has added an 11th headline act by offering a Thursday “preview” concert. It was country star Darius Rucker in 2021 and Boyz II Men last year.
