Sunday, July 24, 2005

THE SOUNDS OF SUMMER. The Chicken Lady (a woman covered in feathers who does the chicken dance) comes out of retirement for opening weekend of Musikfest ( Aug. 5-14 ), a 10-day performance extravaganza in Bethlehem, Pa. Silly dances not your thing? There are 300 other acts on 13 stages to chose from. Themed days include Nawlins music (Aug. 9), beach music (Aug. 11), techno (making its Musikfest debut Aug. 10) and Clay Aiken on the same day. For those longer of memory (not to say tooth), George Clinton, Donna Summer and the Beach Boys also croon some tunes.

Aug. 5, 5 to 11 p.m., Aug. 6-14, noon to 11 p.m. Most stages are free; headliner performances require tickets. About 3 1/2 hours from the Beltway in Bethlehem, Pa. 610-332-3378,http://www.musikfest.org.-- Anne McDonough