The Knauss Homestead Preservation Society is partnering with Sunset Salsa to present Sunset Salsa at the Homestead, a free community event inviting guests to spend an evening dancing, learning and enjoying music against the remarkable backdrop of the historic 1777 Knauss Homestead in Emmaus.

The event will take place Saturday, September 26, from 5–9 p.m. at the Knauss Homestead, 152 East Main Street in Emmaus. The evening will feature salsa dance instruction followed by several hours of dancing and music as the sun sets over the Homestead grounds. Food will be available for purchase, along with a cash bar.

Sunset Salsa is a Lehigh Valley-based cultural events organization that creates large-scale community experiences at distinctive venues throughout the region. Its partnership with the Knauss Homestead brings together two seemingly different worlds — contemporary music and dance with one of the area’s oldest historic settings — around a shared idea of bringing people together. Their previous event, held at the Allentown Municipal Golf Course in July was a huge hit, with over 200 in attendance.

“What excites me most about Sunset Salsa is creating unique experiences that bring people together in ways that simply haven’t happened here before,” said Austin Negron, founder of Sunset Salsa. “The Lehigh Valley has a growing and vibrant community that is eager for experiences like this close to home, and our goal is to connect that community with the remarkable places already around us. The Knauss Homestead has been part of our region’s story for nearly 250 years, and we couldn’t be more excited to gather there, create new memories and help more people feel more connected to a place worth preserving for generations to come.”

Admission is free and no previous dance experience is necessary. Guests are asked to preregister in advance to help organizers and participating vendors prepare for the evening.

A New Way to Experience History

Sunset Salsa is about more than dancing. It represents a larger effort by the Knauss Homestead Preservation Society to rethink the way the community experiences local history through new partnerships and community events.

Built in 1777, the Knauss Homestead has stood in Emmaus for nearly 250 years. Rather than treating the property solely as a place to look backward, the Preservation Society is working to make it a place where new memories are created — bringing people together through music, food, art, education, celebrations and experiences that connect a historic setting with modern community life.

“We want people to understand that preserving history doesn’t mean putting it behind glass,” said Maggie Fischer, Vice President of the Knauss Homestead Preservation Society. “The best way to ensure that a place like the Knauss Homestead survives for another 250 years is to give people reasons to love being here today. If someone’s first memory of the Homestead is dancing salsa under the setting sun, we think that’s pretty wonderful.”

The juxtaposition is intentional: the sounds and energy of salsa dancing filling the grounds of a Colonial-era Pennsylvania homestead built while the American Revolution was still being fought.

Sunset Salsa is part of the Society’s growing effort to introduce creative programming that welcomes new audiences to the Homestead while supporting its mission of historic preservation and education. As the Homestead approaches its 250th anniversary in 2027, the Society hopes to demonstrate that historic places can be more than destinations for learning about the past — they can remain vibrant gathering places for the communities around them.

Guests are encouraged to bring friends, come ready to dance and enjoy a September evening that is decidedly different from the traditional historic-site experience.

As the Homestead approaches its 250th anniversary in 2027, the Society is expanding its programming with a simple goal: Preserve the past by making it meaningful to the present.

About the Sunset Salsa

The Sunset Salsa Company, led by Bethlehem-native Austin Negron is a Lehigh Valley-based cultural events organization that creates large-scale community experiences at distinctive venues.

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