A 400-pound, 4-foot-9-inch marshmallow chick is coming back to South Bethlehem to ring in the new year. PEEPSFEST is set to return to the SteelStacks campus for its 18th year on Wednesday, Dec. 30, and Thursday, Dec. 31, with activities running from 3 to 6 p.m. each evening.
The festival's signature moment arrives at 5:35 p.m. both nights, when the oversized PEEPS Chick descends as crowds look on, according to ArtsQuest. Fireworks will follow the drop, as reported by WFMZ. Tickets are $5 per person, with children ages one and under admitted free.
Science, Crafts and Marshmallow Recipes
Beyond the big chick drop, organizers have lined up a slate of family activities for the two-day celebration. The Da Vinci Science Center is scheduled to bring interactive science shows to the SteelStacks campus, per the same ArtsQuest announcement. A PBS39 bookmark craft station will let young guests create personalized bookmarks to take home, and Chef Julie of Levy Restaurants is set to share recipes featuring marshmallow treats.
Special PEEPSFEST tote bags are planned for guests ages 12 and under, the announcement notes. ArtsQuest Programming Director Shayna Super said the event is about bringing families together to celebrate the New Year in a way that's fun, creative and uniquely Bethlehem.
A Tradition of Sellouts
Families hoping to attend may want to move quickly. ArtsQuest says the event can sell out. The 2025 edition, which marked ArtsQuest's 17th annual New Year's Eve celebration and drew thousands to the SteelStacks campus, sold out both days, according to Lehigh Valley News. That outlet also reported that the celebration sold out in 2022 and 2023, and a 2022 report found that all 2,500 tickets for that year's 14th annual PeepsFest had sold out the day before the event began.
Last year's chick drop and fireworks finale were scheduled for 5:30 p.m. each day, five minutes earlier than the 2026 schedule calls for. Whether this year's tickets will move just as fast remains to be seen, but the pattern of sold-out crowds at SteelStacks suggests Bethlehem families have made the marshmallow chick a holiday fixture worth planning around.
