What's Happening in Coplay: Week of September 28, 2026

This is the newest Coplay community update for the week of September 28, 2026 and the first days of October, with fresh local news, events, and school happenings in Coplay Borough and the surrounding Lehigh Valley. In this edition: the Coplay Public Library's Book and Bake Sale, the opening weekend of SteelStacks Oktoberfest, peak u-pick apple season at orchards right around the borough, and the Whitehall-Coplay School District items that matter in the week ahead. Everything below was checked during web research on September 17, 2026; times and venues can change, so confirm with the organizers before heading out.

If you are reading this from further out, the recent guides still point the way: our week of September 21 edition covered the American Club cash and gift card bingo and the Celtic Classic weekend, What's Next in Coplay: Late September and October 2026 lays out the fall festival calendar at a glance, and the mid-September guide carries the Saengerbund and Lions Club notes. This week's post adds the newest items and fresh dates on top of those.

In the Borough: Library Book and Bake Sale Kicks Off October

The Coplay Public Library's fall Book and Bake Sale is set for Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3, 2026, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM both days, per the library's programs page at coplaypl.org. It is the library's biggest fund-raiser of the season, a reliable way to stock a fall reading stack and pick up baked goods while supporting library programs in the borough.

The library keeps its regular rhythm going through October as well, with recurring Story Time and Crafts on weekday mornings and a Teen/Adult Coloring Group. The monthly public library board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 8 at 7:00 PM in the Borough Council Chambers at the Coplay Borough Office on South Fourth Street, and residents are welcome to attend.

Around the Valley: Oktoberfest Season Opens

The anchor event of the week is the opening weekend of Oktoberfest at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, running Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4 (with a second weekend October 9 through 11). Free to enter, it fills the SteelStacks campus with German food and beer, live music, four biergartens, wiener-dog races, and the annual steinholding championship. It is about a twenty-minute drive from Coplay and pairs well with a Saturday trip to historic Bethlehem.

The same weekend, the Lehigh Valley Zoo hosts Ottertoberfest on Saturday, October 3 in Schnecksville, and Grim's Orchard and Family Farms in Breinigsville runs its big Fall Festival on Saturday and Sunday, October 3 and 4 with hayrides, a corn maze, a pedal-cart track, and pumpkins. Harvest Fest returns to historic downtown Bethlehem on Saturday, October 10 from noon to 5:00 PM as a free street festival with live music, local shopping, and family activities.

Peak Apple Season Close to Home

Late September into October is the height of pick-your-own apple season, and Coplay sits right in the middle of it. Gogle Farms on Mulberry Street in Coplay offers pick-your-own apples and pumpkins through the fall along with a farm store, wagon rides, and fall events; call ahead at (610) 262-4275 to confirm what is ripe.

Strawberry Acres on Clearview Road in Coplay opens its pick-your-own apples and pumpkins around late September through Halloween, with an on-site farm market and bakery and hayrides on fall weekends. Newhard Farms Corn Shed on Mauch Chunk Road in Coplay is a long-running local farm market for fresh produce through the season, and just across the township line, Lazarus Farm Market on Rural Road in Whitehall stays open weekdays and Saturdays with produce, meats, eggs, and honey. Farm hours shift as the season turns, so a quick call before a longer drive is always the safe move.

Whitehall-Coplay School District: Games and Board Notes

Coplay is served by the Whitehall-Coplay School District, and the marquee item this week is on the road: the Whitehall Zephyrs, in their 100th season and first year in Class 6A under head coach Andy Marino, travel to Louis E. Dieruff on Friday, October 2 at 7:00 PM, then head to Emmaus on Friday, October 9 at 7:00 PM. With home games in the weeks before and after, the schedule is listed on the district and team pages at whitehallcoplay.org and on the district's public calendar.

On the governance side, a revised school board meeting schedule takes effect October 12, 2026, with regular board meetings held in the Board Room at the Education Center on Zephyr Boulevard. The board's October committee meetings are set for Monday, October 26 starting at 5:00 PM, with Finance and Personnel followed consecutively by Education and Student Activities, then Operations and Transportation. Building-level events are added to the district's public calendar as they are scheduled, so checking it weekly is the most reliable way to catch new items that have not been announced anywhere else.

Marking the Calendar for Halloween

A couple of dates worth saving now, since they will fill up fast. The Coplay Halloween Parade marches along Chestnut Street toward the Coplay Saengerbund on Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00 PM, and the Saengerbund follows up with its Common Bond Halloween Bash on Friday, October 30, open to the public, which coincides with Coplay's trick-or-treat night. Whitehall Township runs Haunted Hayrides in the Whitehall Parkway on Fridays and Saturdays from October 2 through October 31, and its annual Halloween Parade is set for Thursday, October 22. Full details on the borough parade are carried on the Ironton Rail Trail events page.