Downtown Lewisburg’s Top Ten List
1. Catch a classic film or a new release at the Campus!
The newly restored Campus Theatre is a breathtaking venue for film the way the way it was produced to be seen, on the big screen.
For regular daily listings or more information, visit here .
2. Dining with food for every palate
Check out Lewisburg’s latest addition–SUBWAY!! Visit central Pennsylvania’s restaurant hub: fine dining, local organic offerings; Thai, hand-made burgers, Italian deli takeout-or eat in, tapas, and Thai…it’s all here, with many outdoor dining opportunities. One of our favorites–take-out in the park on Wednesdays before Music in the Park.
Find Downtown Restaurants.
3. Lewisburg Festival of the Arts
The Festival is a two-week long celebration of the arts that runs from April 27 to May 12. For four decades, the Lewisburg Arts Council has heralded spring with a showcase of artistic talent that has become a must-do event for people not just from the Susquehanna Valley, but all over the state.
On Saturday, May 12, Lewisburg Live! will features live music from several bands in a about a dozen downtown venues throughout the evening from 6pm to midnight.
For detailed information on the downtown musical festival and a listing of showtimes, check here.
The Lewisburg Arts Festival is sponsored by the Lewisburg Arts Council.
For more information:
4. Engage In A Little Retail Therapy
Downtown Lewisburg has more than 50 downtown businesses, all with unique merchandise and neighborly attitudes, located in a beautiful, historic downtown. Shopping has never been so much fun!
For inspiration, find Retail Stores and check out 100 Things to Buy!
5. First Friday Gallery Walk/Visit the Downtown Art Gallery
Bucknell University had announced the launch of a second art gallery located in downtown Lewisburg at 416 Market Street, across from the Campus Theatre . The Downtown Art Gallery, an affiliate of the Samek Art Gallery, will bring together students, community members, and the best art of our time in a unique learning lab for everyone.
This year’s featured artist is Tracey Snelling, whose detailed doll-size dioramas draw the viewer into tiny personal stories at the same time they invoke larger narratives of urban sprawl and globalization. Her miniature city-sculptures recall places in lovingly morbid detail, from the 99-cent hot dog promotion in the window of a 7-11 to the accumulated grime on the side of a 90-year old hotel. Everyone can experience the child-like joy of peering into these whimsical dioramas, but there is also more going on here.
Snelling’s art applies the intimacy of the domestic gaze to the wide world outside. Her replicas of buildings and roads are not cold, fussy, perfect architectural models, but hand-made, almost sketchy personal impressions of a place. Though these places may not be specific, they always feel local, even when the local collides with the global. Her art breaks down the boundary between inside and outside: the global is local; the otherworldly is inside our house; and the museum has merged with the dollhouse. Right now, you are standing outside the worlds Tracey Snelling has made and inside the world she imagines.
The exhibition starts on March 31 and lasts through August 19.
For more information:
In addition, come participate in the First Friday Gallery Walk on May 5. Several downtown businesses will host local artists and feature their artistic creations. View detailed information on Gallery Walk events and promotions here.
6. Immerse Yourself in the Arts
Currently on exhibit at the Samek Art Gallery:
Progress in Works features the work of four Senior Bucknell Studio Art majors. 
The artists Christina Huang, Samantha Lajterman, Cara Poli, and Hannah Roman will present works in a variety of media, from video projection to printmaking, and from photography to painting. The works on display represent the fruits of their year-long Senior Projects course, which is designed to encourage the artists to produce a large, cohesive body of work. The title of exhibition thus plays off the term commonly used by artists in the midst of producing such a body of work, and by reversing its order we may affirm the achievements of these four artists.
Little by Little features the work of the Department of Art and Art History’s three Graduate Assistants, Anikke Myers, Jessie Horning, and Aaron Meyers. These artists will be presenting impressive bodies of recent work that, too, take form in a variety of media including performance and installation. The title here reflects all three artist’s individual preoccupations with incremental gestures.
For more information on these exhibits, free and open to the public, visit here.
Year round, The Arts abound: Art supplies, Art galleries, Stroll through the Arts, the Lewisburg Arts Festival, Lincoln Center caliber performances at Bucknell’s Weis Center For the Performing Arts, art flicks at the Campus Theatre, art & dance lessons, poetry readings, live theater, Bucknell’s Samek Art Gallery and Artists receptions. Don’t miss the Sidewalk Chalk Festival that turns downtown sidewalks into one giant outdoor canvas for children of all ages, sponsored every July by the Lewisburg Arts Council.
For more information:
7. Play, Play, Play!!
Would you expect anything less than phenomenal parks and play spaces from the home of Playworld Systems, Inc., an industry leader in commercial recreation and playground equipment manufacturing? The *Lewisburg Area Recreation Park, on St. Mary’s Street *just west of Route 15, features a state of the art skate park, Life Trail, rock climbing and play for all ages courtesy of Playworld Systems. Plus, swimming pools, a picnic pavilion, a meandering stream and families of ducks. Hufnagle Park, in the center of downtown Lewisburg, is the site of live music events at the gazebo, community activities, games on the lawn and a children’s playground. Soldier’s Park, at the east end of town, just before the bridge that leads out of downtown, is a shady, quiet, river-front park. The newly completed Buffalo Valley Rail Trail begins just west of Rt. 15 and continues 10 miles west to Mifflinburg through beautiful farmland. Check the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority (LARA) website below for sports opportunities, like tennis, volleyball, and basketball, lessons and recreational trips. If you’d rather watch, catch a Bison basketball game in Sojka Pavilion or any other of the many sporting events on the Bucknell Campus.
For more information:
- Bucknell Sporting Events
- LARA Recreation Schedule
- Buffalo Valley Rail Trail
- www.playworldsystems.com
8. Re-Live History
Take a self-guided tours of Lewisburg’s National Register Historic District, preferably as the streetlights turn on at dusk on a warm spring evening. Make sure to read the copy—our map maker is quite clever! Visit Lewisburg’s museums and remember to check their websites for upcoming exhibits: *Willliam Cameron Fire Company Museum *documents the history of the company and showcases antique fire fighting equipment.Slifer House Museum is a beautifully preserved Victorian mansion designed and built for Eli Slifer that features an extensive collection of Victoriana. The Packwood House Museum an art and antiques collection from around the
The Dale/Engle Walker House is a preserved central Pennsylvania farm from 1787. Original limestone house was part of the Underground Railroad. Site includes three interpretative stations detailing the home’s rich history, nature trails and birding opportunities. Tours available Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. from June to October
For more information:
- Historic walking tour map
- Historic tree map
- www.sliferhouse.org
- www.packwoodhousemuseum.com
- www.unioncountyhistoricalsociety.org/EVENTS.html
- William Cameron Museum, 570-524-2295, 11 Buffalo Road, Lewisburg, PA 17837
9. Antiquing
Check out Lewisburg’s newest antique gallery–Dandy. The Art of Fine Living at 202 Market Street! You can spend a whole day poking in Lewisburg’s antique shops. Antiques at 221 Market Street has an antique watch specialist who can repair anything. The shop features a wide variety of antique men’s and women’s watches and jewelry from the Victorian Era to Art Deco, plus general antiques. Wilson Ross has an eclectic mixture of antiques and collectibles with a specialty in vintage clothing, and a little bit of everything else. Roller Mills Co-op on St. Mary’s Street is a restored mill with three floors of antiques. Street of Shops, located on Water Street has a mixture of old and new, and a basement flea market. On Sundays, there’s also a huge flea market at The Silver Moon 1 mile north of Lewisburg on Rt. 15, along with antiques. Check the business directory for store hours.
