No Kings III: Mayor Tuerk and Rep. Tiburcio to join Bethlehem Rose Garden ‘Palooza’

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — After two marches drew crowds large enough to spill into city streets, a local activist organization is taking a different approach this weekend — swapping the route for a bandshell.

Indivisible Lehigh Valley Bethlehem held its first No Kings march on June 14, 2025, and a second on Oct. 18. Organizers say each drew more people than the one before.

Now the group, known as ILVB, will host No Kings Palooza, a protest and festival, from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Bethlehem Rose Garden, 725 8th Ave. The event is part of a nationwide day of action organized by Indivisible, with more than 3,000 No Kings III events scheduled on March 28 across the country and around the world.

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk is scheduled to address the crowd, along with Deirdre Van Walters, an actor, poet, playwright and U.S. Army veteran who serves as president of Basement Poetry.

Organizers also confirmed a last-minute addition to the speakers’ list: Ana Tiburcio, a Democrat who won the 22nd state House District seat in a Feb. 24 special election in Lehigh County. Sciorra said Tiburcio plans to deliver remarks and translate portions of her speech into Spanish. Tiburcio did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.

Tuerk, Allentown’s first Hispanic mayor, said he plans to attend a No Kings protest on Cedar Crest Boulevard before heading to the Rose Garden.

Ginny Sciorra, an ILVB organizer, said Tuerk’s bilingual ability was a factor in inviting him. “He speaks Spanish, which, given the ICE circumstances, is great because he can address Spanish-speaking people,” she said.

In a phone interview Thursday, Tuerk said his participation is both personal and political. His family is Cuban-American, with relatives who left the island after Fidel Castro’s rise to power. He said the current political climate in the United States echoes the history he grew up hearing about.

Tuerk said he intends to deliver a message of inclusion rather than partisan advocacy. “The idea that we shouldn’t have kings is not a Democrat idea,” he said. “That is an American idea.”

He added that he hopes to speak directly to Latino voters — including those who supported President Donald Trump in 2024 — and make clear they are welcome in the coalition pushing back against what he called a drift toward autocracy.

Sciorra said the shift away from a march format came down to money. After the No Kings II event in October drew a crowd large enough to flow into the street, she said, Bethlehem police required barricades and additional officers along the march route. Sciorra estimated the cost at roughly $10,000.

“We just didn’t have that money,” she said.

Sciorra said the cost wasn’t the only problem. The street closures removed what she described as the point of a march in the first place: visibility to passing traffic.

Once streets were closed, passing drivers could no longer see the demonstration. “Part of the purpose of a march is that more people are aware — people driving by and honking,” she said. “All that was gone once they closed the streets.”

Organizers say the festival format is intended to draw a broader crowd than a march would. Protesters will gather on the sidewalks surrounding the Rose Garden, facing three heavily traveled arteries: Union Boulevard, Broad Street and 8th Avenue, which feeds off Route 378.

Brooke McDermott, ILVB’s lead organizer, said the location was chosen specifically because it puts demonstrators in front of high volumes of passing traffic — recreating the energy of a march without the street-closure costs.

Inside the park, live music — what McDermott described as concert-quality sound — will be performed by Bill Medei, the Gospel Choir of the Lehigh Valley and Poor Man’s Gambit. McDermott said every musical act will incorporate call-and-response or chanting elements so the crowd inside the park and protesters on the sidewalks stay connected.

Poetry slams will take place at the bandshell, colonial reenactors will mingle with attendees throughout the grounds, and an activity area supervised by elementary school teachers will be available for children.

Organizers are also selling T-shirts and red caps to help fund the group.

ILVB is an all-volunteer organization that runs on donations. McDermott said the city has been supportive of past events, waiving costs associated with use of the Rose Garden and its bandshell.

For Saturday’s event, organizers are paying for four police officers to be stationed at the park’s high-traffic corners to manage vehicle flow and keep attendees safe.

McDermott and Sciorra both credited Police Chief Michelle Kott with building a department focused on community engagement. Sciorra said organizers were told the department operates under a community-based certification program adopted by only a handful of departments in the country.

No Kings Palooza is co-sponsored by the Lehigh County, Northampton County and Bethlehem City Democratic Committees, For Our Future PA and the Lehigh Valley Young Democrats.

Earlier in the day, the Northampton County Democratic Committee will host a separate No Kings III protest from 10 to 11 a.m. along the sidewalk where Emrick Boulevard connects with William Penn Highway in Bethlehem Township.

Parking is available at the William Penn Highway Park and Ride. Organizers note there is no protest at Emrick Boulevard and Freemansburg Avenue on that day.

Indivisible, the national organization coordinating the day of action, expects 9 million people to participate in No Kings III events nationwide, according to the ILVB press release.

Those unable to attend in person can watch the Rose Garden event live on ILVB’s YouTube channel. Registration and more information are available on the No Kings Palooza event page.