Emmaus recreation commission previews summer concerts, adds Shakespeare and local vendor theme

Alan Sylvester, chair of the Emmaus Entertainment and Recreation Commission, presented the commission’s summer schedule during the April 7 council meeting and highlighted two new items for 2025.

Sylvester said the core Concerts at the Park lineup remains largely unchanged, but the commission diversified genres across dates. He announced that the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival will present a free community performance on June 3 at 6 p.m.; the festival handles production and there is no cost to the borough. “They do a program where they basically go into communities across the Lehigh Valley, and they put on free shows,” Sylvester said.

Sylvester also described a rebranded Toons in the Triangle series called Everything Emmaus, which will prioritize bands, vendors and breweries with ties to Emmaus to promote local businesses and nonprofits. He said the commission is in talks with groups including the Kindness Project and the Animal Food Bank and that the commission will use local vendors and breweries where possible.

Council members praised the commission’s sponsorship work; Sylvester said the commission had just received an additional sponsorship from Lehigh Valley Health Network and that the flyer would be updated to reflect the support.

Sylvester asked council members for any questions; none were raised about funding or requests for borough action during his presentation.