Catasauqua This Week: The Music Man, Board Night, and Haunt Season

This week in Catasauqua and North Catasauqua is bookended by the stage and the school calendar: The Music Man plays the State Theatre in Easton Thursday night, October 8, and the Catasauqua Area School District closes all buildings Monday, October 12 for Columbus Day before its board of education meets Tuesday evening, October 13. Boo at the Zoo at the Lehigh Valley Zoo has now confirmed its full 2026 run across three October weekends, and both boroughs keep trick-or-treat on Halloween night, October 31, per their established pattern. Here is what is happening in and around the two boroughs this week, plus three places to eat that are new to this blog.

Local News and Community Happenings

The big local-news story this week is about the school district, not the borough halls: the Catasauqua Area School District closed on its purchase of the former Catasauqua YMCA building at 880 Walnut Street for $1.75 million. WFMZ reported the acquisition, which gives the district a substantial property near the elementary school and could factor into its long-term growth planning. For district watchers, it is the most significant real estate move locally in weeks.

Both borough councils held their October meetings Monday night, October 5, with Catasauqua's committee and workshop session at 90 Bridge Street and the rescheduled North Catasauqua council meeting at borough hall. The next Catasauqua business meeting is Monday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. on the second floor of the municipal building, and the planning commission follows Wednesday, October 21 at 6:30 p.m.; agendas post on catasauqua.org. Meanwhile, the Catasauqua/North Catasauqua Halloween Parade committee is building this year's late-October lineup, and registration details for floats, marchers, and sponsors post to the borough sites and the committee's Facebook page once the route and schedule are set.

At the Catasauqua Area School District

Families get a four-day stretch this week: classes run Monday through Friday, October 5-9, then all district buildings close Monday, October 12 for the Columbus Day holiday. The board of education's next regular meeting is Tuesday, October 13 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the District Administration Office, 201 N. 14th Street, Catasauqua, with agendas posted on the district site ahead of time. The next early-dismissal day follows Wednesday, October 21, when all buildings let out early for a faculty meeting. The downloadable district calendar on cattysd.org has the full year of holidays, in-service days, and board dates.

Fall sports continue under the Rough Riders banner through the middle of the Colonial League season. Varsity football, soccer, volleyball, and cross country are all in season, and game dates, times, and any schedule changes post on the Rough Riders athletics site at roughriderathletics.org, so check there before heading out to Alumni Field or on the road.

Things to Do in the Area

The headliner this week is downtown Easton: the national tour of Meredith Willson's The Music Man plays the State Theatre, 453 Northampton Street, Thursday night, October 8 at 7:30 p.m. It is a short drive down Route 329 and an easy evening out, with the theater's full fall season listed at statetheatre.org.

Spooky season also gets its full calendar this week. The Lehigh Valley Zoo has confirmed Boo at the Zoo for three 2026 weekends, October 17-18, October 24-25, and October 31 through November 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day in Schnecksville, so families now have all of Halloween weekend covered. In Easton, the Crayola Experience's Screamin' Green Hauntoween runs through November 1 with Halloween crafts, photo ops, and weekend trick-or-treat stations, including its Superheroes theme through October 18.

Closer to home, the boroughs' established Halloween night is Saturday, October 31, with trick-or-treat from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in both Catasauqua and North Catasauqua, a pattern the two boroughs have held in recent years with no rain date. The official 2026 announcement had not yet posted on the borough sites as of this week, so confirm on catasauqua.org and northcatasauqua.org as the date nears. And for a big finish to the month, Bethlehem's 105th Annual Halloween Parade steps off Sunday, October 25, with a rain date of November 1.

If you want an evening on the South Side of Bethlehem, Musikfest Cafe at SteelStacks has two shows worth noting from the Morning Call's fall arts preview: Tell Me Lies plays Friday, October 16 and Classic Stones Live follows Saturday, October 17, both on the SteelStacks campus about 20 minutes from Catasauqua.

Good Places to Eat Nearby

This week's picks are all new to the blog. Catty Pizza at 501 Second Street in Catasauqua is a borough neighborhood pizzeria with pizza, hoagies, and takeout; call (610) 266-2599 or see cattypizzamenu.com. For tacos and a casual counter meal, Santa Fe Taco Co at 2022 Main Street in Northampton is about a ten-minute drive from the borough; call (610) 261-4970 or see santafetaco.com.

For a sit-down dinner, Assante Ristorante Italiano at 2050 Main Street in Northampton is a full-service Italian restaurant a few doors up from Santa Fe Taco Co; call (610) 262-1301 or see assanterestaurant.com. All three are good stops before or after an evening in Easton or Bethlehem.