Allentown Freak Out Fringe Festival / PPL Plaza / Allentown Brew Works / The Pita King / Allentown, PA
Opening Night
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An example of Belly dancing from the Gas House Dance Hall / Catasauqua
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This Way to Egress kicking off the PPL Plaza part. One word to describe this band: different!
Saturday / The Main Show
Sarah Fulton / Matt Lewis: The reason for the Allentown Freak Out
The Pita King
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Saturday started off at 3. I did not arrive until between 5 and 6. Right at the end of the Miss Freak Out contest. Missed a few events, no big deal. One of the main events I wanted to cover was up next. The Gas House Dance Hall did a feature with various forms of dance and a very special surprise!!!!! Quick break with experience note here. With the exception of one West Coast Swing Dance event, I have never covered any form of dancing. The Gas House Dance Hall's Showcase was a first for the magazine. Onto the surprises...
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Katalin Schafer
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Katalin Schafer, a belly dancer and fashion designer from Hungary made a stop at the Freak Out. Ms. Schafer did one song performing belly dance. Another major surprise, her second song was a burlesque performance! I have only experienced burlesque one other time, 3 years ago covering the Freak Out for the first time. I have learned about the history of this art form. Ms. Schafer's performance was burlesque to a state of perfection. She started with a comedy / acting role then continued that role into the dance segment. Sorry, no photos / videos from the burlesque part. I have to leave a few surprises for you not in the article. :)
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Due to wanting to check out some of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 / Bunny Bedford (Burlesque) / Burning Hearts Fire and Light Theater, I did not have a chance to stay for the Appalacian Gypsy Tribe Band. After Burning Hearts, I wanted to check out Rocky Horror with Sweet Translucent Dreams troupe. It felt right to leave without that experience. Winding out the Gas House Dance Hall and Pita King....
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Allentown Brew Works / Burning Hearts Fire and Light Theater
Allentown Brew Works was the next and final stop. Sticking with the true Freak Out festival experience, there was a Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MSTK3K) style of Planet 9 from Outer Space. A true classic black and white science fiction movie. In case you are not familiar with MST3K, look it up, especially if you love comedy!
Following the movie, Bunny Bedford did an encore burlesque performance. Bunny is a very experienced performer, beautiful woman combined with a very friendly personality. Highly suggest you check her out in a performance! Onto the Brew Works finale!
Having experienced the fire performance 3 years ago, I was very interested and curious about the Light part. A combination of the overall atmosphere of the Silk Lounge / music / neon created an almost surreal version of reality in this performance.
Check that, surreal and almost hypnotic if you became completely absorbed in the experience. I can not really describe the reasons, when I left, the performance was THE perfect finale to the Allentown Freak Out. Even though the actual finale was at the Pita King (Rocky Horror), it would have almost seemed anti-climatic to stop by.
Overall rating / suggestion: The Allentown Freak Out proved to be THE festival of the year so far. A lot of credit to Matt Lewis / Sarah Fulton / Allentown Brew Works / Pita King. Especially for the adjustments due to rain. The only act that did not perform was Bella's Fly Grrls. They perform aerial acrobatics. The weather kind of did that one in real fast.
The Allentown Freak Out is an extremely different and unique experience, especially in the Lehigh Valley. Combining classic entertainment from over 100 years ago, with a modern flair (Burning Hearts, one example); the Allentown Freak Out has a lot of variety for the entire family. A very few performances (burlesque the main one), may not be for real young children. A majority of them are for all ages. Unlike most festivals, this one will also give you a history lesson on entertainment.
If you live in the Lehigh Valley, PA area: DEFINITELY place at least one day on your calendar! If you do not live in the area: The Allentown Freak Out is easily worth a weekend / vacation time!!!! The variety of shows and performances, history of entertainment and family fun provide beyond an excellent value for your time. Did I mention the festival is free? Giving you a few extra bucks to support the venues.
The Allentown Freak Out is an extremely different and unique experience, especially in the Lehigh Valley. Combining classic entertainment from over 100 years ago, with a modern flair (Burning Hearts, one example); the Allentown Freak Out has a lot of variety for the entire family. A very few performances (burlesque the main one), may not be for real young children. A majority of them are for all ages. Unlike most festivals, this one will also give you a history lesson on entertainment.
If you live in the Lehigh Valley, PA area: DEFINITELY place at least one day on your calendar! If you do not live in the area: The Allentown Freak Out is easily worth a weekend / vacation time!!!! The variety of shows and performances, history of entertainment and family fun provide beyond an excellent value for your time. Did I mention the festival is free? Giving you a few extra bucks to support the venues.
