Freedom High School Student T’Byus Briggs Secures Musikfest Debut in 5th Annual F.A.M.E School-Wide Contest
T’Byus Briggs turns silver into gold and wins this year’s F.A.M.E competition after being last year’s runner-up
Bethlehem, PA, Thursday, May 8, 2025 – Freedom High School students take the reins to decide on and choose bands to play at this year’s Musikfest in a marketing class powered by ArtsQuest and the Bethlehem Area School District, called Marketing Musikfest.
Bethlehem is home to the world’s largest open-gate music festival, otherwise known as Musikfest. Hundreds of free performances are available to the public during Musikfest on 15 free stages, as well as paid big-name acts on the WindCreek Steel Stage at PNC Plaza. As part of the Marketing Musikfest class, students ran the F.A.M.E. contest for the 5th consecutive year, setting up a bracket of student musicians to compete against each other in a vote on social media.
After finishing as last year’s runner-up, T’Byus Briggs made a strong comeback to win this year’s F.A.M.E contest. T’Byus has been singing for multiple years, mostly focusing on the R&B genre. When being interviewed by students in the class, he said some of his inspirations included Michael Jackson, Chris Brown and Usher.
The first band signed to play at Musikfest by the students is Ballistic Berry, a pop rock band from Asbury, New Jersey. The second band they signed would be Alter Ego, a hometown band with a classic rock and indie vibe. These bands were hand selected and carefully crafted to fit the themes and genres of Musikfest.
This year, the class worked diligently to piece together the perfect lineup with a combination of the F.A.M.E contest winner and booking small bands. The schedule consists of multi-talented musicians that range from Ballistic Berries and Alter Egos classic rock all the way to T’Byus Briggs’ R&B style. To see the lineup this year’s class selected over the school year, visit Musikfest on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at the Plaza Tropical stage.
2025 Freedom HS Marketing Musikfest Band Lineup
4:00 p.m. – T’Byus Briggs (F.A.M.E. Contest Winner)
5:00 p.m. – Ballistic Berry (Pop/Rock)
6:00 p.m. – Alter Ego (Classic Rock/Indie)
For additional information on Freedom’s Marketing Musikfest program, please follow us on our social media:
Instagram: @FHS_AtTheFest
Twitter: @FHS_AtTheFest
TikTok: @Marketing_Musikfest
About ArtsQuest
ArtsQuest’s mission is to provide access to exceptional artistic, cultural and educational experiences using arts and culture as key elements of economic development for our urban communities. ArtsQuest™ supports this mission via the presentation of performing and visual arts, film, arts education classes and outreach, youth programming and cultural events. Through festivals such as its flagship event, Musikfest; the ArtsQuest Creative Factory powered by PPL; and the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks arts and cultural campus, ArtsQuest’s programming reaches more than 1.9 million people annually. The organization’s programs and events, of which nearly 40 percent are free to attend, have a combined economic impact of more than $136 million annually in the region.
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