Residents came out to the Martin on Main music and guitar festival in Nazareth on Saturday, July 30 after a two-year hiatus due to safety precautions amongst the Covid pandemic. The seven-hour festival was a hit as couples, families, and even four-legged friends shopped, ate, and jammed to music all day long.
Martin on Main hosted over 60 musical acts on three stages during the festival in downtown Nazareth, each bringing their own flair and fans. The entertainment included two-time Grammy winner Laurence Juber, Wil & Robert, The Beautiful Distortion, Kelsey & Grace, Rod Abernathy, Keith, John, & Sue, Melody Cruz, Brian Dunne, Dina Hall, The Audio Files, The Music Makers, The Love Bugs, Fresh Duo, Noll Brothers, Jim at the Hot Cogan, Make a Joyful Noise, New Day Rising, and Jonathan Cornelius.
Nazareth Circle and South Main Street to Belvidere Street was blocked off to traffic during the event, so that vendors and attendees could line the streets. The center of Nazareth circle offered shade to the hot summer day and concertgoers collected under the trees to enjoy the sounds of singers, songwriters, and bands.
In addition to one of the festival stages, the Nazareth Branch of the Greater Valley YMCA hosted a farmers’ market in their parking lot with an assortment of vendors selling homemade treats for festivalgoers to take home, including peanut butter, pickled foods, and infused cooking oils, just to name a few.
Food truck, craft, artisan, and resale vendors lined South Main Street to Belvidere Street so that festivalgoers could purchase resale sports equipment, dog treats, pet memorabilia, toys, candles, bath bombs and salts, clothing, fitness memberships to Planet Fitness, and even caricature portraits. Then, when attendees got hungry, they could get ice cream, chicken tenders, fries, desserts, BBQ, or Red Robin, amongst other selections, offering something for everyone. For individuals over 21, Martin on Main also had alcoholic vendors offering vodka, cider, and wine for adults at the Center Square to walk around the festival with. Many of the shops on South Main Street were open for business during the festival as well.
The event was hosted by the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce, a proud partner of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce thanks in large part to Martin Guitar and the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum. Other sponsors of the event included WrenchTec, Schoolhouse Orthodontics, Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s Nazareth, Nazareth Mutual Insurance, Peters, Moritz, Peischl, Zulick, Landes, & Brienza law firm, Keystone Consulting Engineers, MorningStar Living, East Lawn Supply, Truist bank, Paramount Business Development, Nazareth Army & Navy, JP Mascaro, Nazareth Center for the Arts, and Vigilance Hose Co #1.
Headlining sponsor Martin Guitar had booths with clothing and other memorabilia for sale in Center Square, as well as an extensive display of guitars and their associated names, characteristics, and information for prospective buyers.
Martin Guitar also provided a new D-28 guitar to be raffled off, which festivalgoers entered to win with the purchase of a $10 raffle ticket. The classic D-28 guitar is valued at over $3,000 and has been the staple of many musicians’ artistry for nearly a century. The Martin D-28 is known for its rich, booming projection and high-quality tone, which has been favored by Hank Williams, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, and many others. The 184-year-old guitar maker has artfully enhanced the new re-imagined D-28 guitar to include vintage appointments such as open gear tuners, an aged toner top, antique white accents, and a faux tortoise pickguard with a newly enhanced neck profile and forward-shifted bracing that allows greater vibration of the top to modernize the guitar, while also ensuring comfort for musicians.
For more information regarding Martin on Main and future Nazareth events, check out the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.
