- The ball costs $ 139 per person and includes a four-course meal, cocktail hour, and live jazz music.
- The Speakeasy package is offered throughout the month and offers guests a secret password to access the $ 299 package features.
- Special cocktails, jazz music and dance lessons are also offered in April.
In today’s world of crisp black and white modernism, people are enjoying speakeasy-style venues more than ever – outfitted with jazz music, secret doors, and vintage clothing.
Though many bars and restaurants have dressed up for the Great Gatsby era of the 1920s, the Hotel Bethlehem, a historic hotel in downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is the real deal – and they celebrate the era through a series of events from the 1920s Years of roaring April.
The month’s events will culminate on Friday, April 28, with the hotel’s second annual Roaring ’20s Ball, where guests will be invited to dress in a 1920s theme to enjoy something cooked by Chef Michael Adams A four-course meal with a cocktail hour and an open bar to be enjoyed from 6pm to 11pm in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom while listening and dancing to the Hot Club of Philadelphia, a well-known jazz band, and watching the MagnoliaSadies perform for their authentic dance performances are known in the style of the 20s.
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“The décor will completely transform the grand ballroom and make guests feel like they’re reliving a night in the 1920s at Hotel Bethlehem,” said Brynn Levine, Hotel Bethlehem’s marketing coordinator.
During the cocktail hour, the menu features starters, including devil eggs, mushroom toast and shrimp cucumbers with mango passion fruit, followed by a first course Caesar salad, a second course a “disguised” fruit bowl, a third course Oscar steak with asparagus and mashed potatoes a fourth course pineapple upside-down cake.
There are 200 tickets available for the event, starting at $ 139 plus tax per person or $ 259 plus tax per couple. To purchase tickets, Levine can email [email protected] or call 610-625-2234.
“We had this event for the first time last year and it really started and we were sold out within a week,” said Levine. “It has been a very special event for the hotel since we opened in 1922. This year we are celebrating our 95th anniversary.”
Levine said that while planning this event last year, Hotel Bethlehem first realized that people were looking for a place where they could not only drink and eat, but also dance and enjoy good music. And since the speakeasy theme is hugely popular right now, Hotel Bethlehem realized that they already had the perfect setting as they have hosted many other balls in the past such as naval balls and debutants balls.
In addition to the Roaring ’20s Ball, Hotel Bethlehem is also offering a variety of other themed specials and events in April, including the Speakeasy Package, which starts at $ 299 and a three-course menu in the Tap Room (two-course meals, depending on availability) ) includes free cocktails and breakfast.
In true speakeasy style, guests who purchase the package will be given a secret password upon arrival that will allow them to access the speakeasy menu, which will not be shared with the public.
In addition to the speakeasy package, Hotel Bethlehem will be hosting Roaring ’20s bands like the Musette Project on April 6th, the Hot Club of Philadelphia on April 13th and the Blackbird Society Orchestra on April 27th during its Jazz Nights on Thursday all month present.as well as cocktails with special themes in the Tap Room such as the Mary Pickford with rum, pineapple juice, grenadine and maraschino liqueur and the Fresh 75 with gin, champagne and lemon juice. There will also be 20s-style swing dance lessons on Friday, April 14, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Gas House Dance Hall for $ 25 per person, which you can also purchase from Levine.
As part of the Bethlehem Hotel’s long and storied past, there is another interesting aspect that can be added to the atmosphere of the 1920s: During the Prohibition period, the hotel housed a real speakeasy in the lower lobby that was not included in the hotel’s blueprints was.
The historian of the Hotel Bethlehem came across a photo from an auction of a Prohibition-style door with the name of the hotel. Upon inspection by the managers, they found that the photo was of the current treasury, which is just a thin hallway that would have looked like a cleaning hallway during its time as a speakeasy.
To pay homage to its history, the Hotel Bethlehem hosts free 45-minute historical tours every Saturday at 10 a.m., showing photos of how the rooms and the hotel have changed over the years, as well as the signatures of the original shareholders in their Hall of History in the lower lobby.
“We are viewed as a community country club,” Levine said. “We have modernized the hotel excellently while maintaining the historical flair.”
Hotel Bethlehem Roaring ’20s Ball
Where: 437 Main St, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
When: Friday, April 28th from 6pm to 11pm
Costs: $ 139 plus tax per person or $ 259 plus tax per couple
Reservations: Email Brynn Levine at [email protected] or call 610-625-2234
Other events on the theme of the 20s: The Speakeasy package starts at $ 299 and is subject to availability. It includes a three-course menu in the Tap Room, two free cocktails, and breakfast. Roaring ’20s bands on Thursday jazz nights; Twenties style swing dance lessons on Friday April 14th from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm for $ 25 per person
Jenna Intersimone’s column “Life on board the traveling circus” appears on Tuesdays. Her blog “Life on Board the Traveling Circus” is at LifeAboardTheTravelingCircus.com. Tweet them at @JIntersimone or email them at [email protected].
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