Something old, something new: Musikfest's 28th year comes with changes

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

New geography, new venues and new parking plans accompany a host of old favorites as 10 days of Musikfest descend upon Bethlehem for a 28th year.

Relocating four stages -- including the two biggest -- to ArtsQuest's sparkling new South Side campus presents great opportunity and new challenges, officials said.

"There certainly will be growing pains," Bethlehem police Commissioner Jason Schiffer said about the adaptations police will make in patrolling a more spread-out festival.

Police put together plans over the past year, Schiffer said, to deal with at least some of the expected headaches: transportation, clogged South Side streets and people choosing to walk across the Fahy Bridge connecting the new venues to the traditional locations in Center City and the Colonial Industrial Quarter.

Strolling across the Fahy doesn't sound like a problem, but the bridge's 5-foot-wide walking path wasn't designed to accommodate typical crowds at Musikfest, which attracts more than 1 million people.

To accommodate the festival's new reach, police are bringing in additional mounted police and Northampton County's mobile command center. Five new video cameras are slated to go online by opening day Friday.

Bethlehem police Capt. David Kravatz said Musikfest won't see additional police officers on any given shift, but the officers will be doing different things.

Mobility was given priority, Schiffer said, so more officers will be on bikes, motorcycles will be out in force and the department chose to all but eliminate what it calls "static" assignments, where officers mostly stand in one place.

"The overall theme is to remain flexible," Schiffer said.

Adding a nightly sweep

City police Lt. Mark DiLuzio said he expects trouble spots such as Main Street, dubbed "puberty platz" by police, to remain popular. DiLuzio said the festival has such a history on north of the Lehigh River that police know what to expect, where people congregate and how to patrol the grounds.

South Side will be something new.

"This year will be very unique," Kravatz said. "We will re-establish a learning curve."

Police push the Musikfest crowd out each night from Volksplatz up Main Street to Broad Street. According to Kravatz, that won't change, but South Side may get a sweep of its own.

"We might need to do two sweeps instead of one," Kravatz said.

Venues open later

ArtsQuest plans to keep the festival's South Side campus open later, according to ArtsQuest spokesman Mark Demko. The Town Square stage will feature entertainment until midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Kravatz said police have never had Musikfest shifts run that late.

Demko and Schiffer said First Street will also be open as a pedestrian-only path to and from the 24-hour Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, giving patrons of both the casino and Musikfest additional late-night entertainment options.

"That area will be patrolled," Schiffer said.

New cameras across the ArtsQuest campus, on the Fahy Bridge and in other areas will give police additional sets of eyes on the crowds at the ArtsQuest facility and congestion on the bridge.

Will the law barring alcohol on Bethlehem's bridges keep you from visiting ArtsQuest's new South Side campus during Musikfest?
Yes, me and my Musikfest mug will stay on the north side of the city.
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No alcohol off grounds

Kravatz warned festival-goers about using the bridge, especially those hoping to cart alcoholic beverages from one festival site to another.

"We're trying not to encourage that (walking across Fahy)," Kravatz said, noting that ArtsQuest will have a shuttle for transportation between south and north venues. "We don't want people walking across the bridge."

Police said open containers are only legal on festival grounds, and the city's bridges are not on festival grounds.

"We are not going to tolerate people walking all around with open containers," Kravatz said. "It will be just like any other time of the year."

Shuttle use encouraged

Demko also said Musikfest patrons will be urged to use a shuttle instead of the Fahy sidewalk.

Schiffer said police will be stationed at the ends of the bridge to stamp out attempts to walk in traffic lanes. He said traffic at the north end will also be diverted to eliminate swift right-hand turns onto Lehigh Street through the crosswalk to the bridge.

Demko said people parking at satellite lots (Martin Tower at Eighth and Eaton avenues, and at Route 412 and Commerce Center Boulevard) will get fliers each day detailing stage lineups and information on how to get back and forth from the two venues.

Drivers should also note that parking at Martin Tower means the shuttle drops you off on the north side, while parking at the Route 412 lot will get you to the South Side venues. A second shuttle, or the city's Loop bus, is required to cross the Lehigh River.

"We really want people to know about the changes and how to get around," Demko said.

Kravatz said patrons for paid concerts should give themselves plenty of time to reach the show. The intra-festival shuttle costs $2 for the day, or it is included in the $4 cost of the shuttle from the remote parking sites or a day pass from LANTA, the Lehigh And Northampton Transportation Authority.

Online parking reservations

To ease some parking concerns, the city's parking authority started offering online reservations for spots in its garages. The $10 fee is the same as paying at the garage, plus a $1.92 transaction fee, but the spot will be waiting for you when you arrive, according to the parking authority's website, bethpark.org. Click on "Event Parking" at the top.

Also, ArtsQuest offers free on-site parking for ArtsQuest members at the South Side venue. Demko said memberships are up this year but probably not just for the parking perk.

Kravatz said two things have never changed in his two and half decades of Musikfest.

"Two things you don't have to worry about is getting enough entertainment," Kravatz said, "and getting enough food."

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TRAFFIC WOES

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation doesn't plan to halt ongoing construction at the Route 378 ramp in South Side Bethlehem during Musikfest.

The $7.6 million project to reconfigure Route 378 at West Third Street began in April and is expected to run through year's end.

A PennDOT spokesman said motorists should expect delays because of lane restrictions associated with the project.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/musikfest/index.ssf/2011/07/edited_something_old_something_new_musikfests_28th_year_comes_with_changes.html