History-o-ArtsQuest

once upon a time (in 1984)...

The very, very, very 1st 'fest poster

...a community, non-profit organization was born (it's birth name was the "Bethlehem Musikfest Association"). It's purpose- To celebrate arts and culture.

In its first year, the organization celebrated its first major milestone- it gave Musikfest to the Lehigh Valley community.

That first festival drew somewhere in the vicinity of 182,000 people to Bethlehem's downtown area, and it featured 295 performances across 6 different stages!

More than 25 years later, Musikfest annually attracts more than one million people to visit Bethlehem to experience Musikfest. The festival showcases more than 500 performances on 13 indoor and outdoor stages, and to this day remains the organization's flagship program.

fast-forward to 1993

Every year St. Nick makes a visit to
Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem

Drawing on the successes of a decade-plus of presenting Musikfest, ArtsQuest gave the Christmas City another gift in 1993.

That year, ArtsQuest unwrapped its first Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem- a holiday-themed arts and crafts market modeled after Europe's famous open-air holiday marketplaces.

Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem has flourished over the years, and has become a cherished holiday tradition in the Christmas City. So much, in fact, that in 2006 Travel and Leisure magazine named it one of the top holiday markets in the entire world!

yes, we have no bananas... imagine that.

The Banana Factory
25 W. Third St., Bethlehem, PA!

In 1998, ArtsQuest took its first steps into the world of the visual arts with the opening of The Banana Factory community arts center. Established as a place where artists can work side by side, the primary goal is making the arts accessible to everyone.

Today, the Banana Factory features 25+ resident studio artists working in a variety of mediums, two award-winning galleries, five art classrooms, the Olympus Digital Imaging Center and the GlassWorks hot glass studio. ArtsQuest also partners with more 60 different schools and community groups and annually impacts more than 20,000 young people through the activities at the arts center. Pretty cool, huh?

And about that name... The Banana Factory gets its name from the fact that the building once functioned as a distribution center/warehouse for bananas... imagine that.

you're gonna need sunglasses for this future
(because its so bright, get it?)

Bethlehem Steel's blast furnaces

Since our humble beginnings in 1984, ArtsQuest has really come a long way.

Our programs are now a major component of the Lehigh Valley's arts scene, thanks to the support of 2,000+ volunteers, 160+ local and regional businesses, corporate and private donors and our dedicated staff.

We're also actively developing a new home for the arts, at the former site of Bethlehem Steel. Before you know it, you'll be able to enjoy even more artistic offerings in shadow of the steel's iconic blast furnaces.

We need your help though- learn more about our current project- the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks- and donate today!