It's a birthday a century in the making.

The grandstand at the Great Allentown Fair has been front and center at the fair for 100 years now.

They call this stage the "Home of the Stars" and over the years, it has hosted many of them.

Thursday night the grandstand itself was the star.
It's a happy birthday to a place that's seen more of them than most of us ever will.

"Everybody should have a birthday party.  But you're 100 years old and you look this good and you're still in service and you're still all the rage, boy it's a great party," said Bonnie Brosious of the Great Allentown Fair.

From the Beach Boys almost 30 years ago to the bands of today and some groups,  like Journey, who are back for a second act, the old grandstand has seen its share of stars.
"Everyone from Johnny Carson to Liza Minelli to Diana Ross and the Supremes.  Whoever was the biggest at the time was at the Allentown Fair," said Brosious.
Orginally opened as a horse track in 1911, the randstand began hosting night shows in 1925.

With 7,000 seats and great acoustics, fans like its intimate setting.

"It offers spectators an opportunity to see bands they like in a slightly smaller venue," said Jonathan Jakum of Germansville.

Friday night features country break-out Sugarland just weeks after the band's performance at the Indiana State Fair where a temporary stage collapsed killing seven people and leaving dozens of others injured.

Allentown Fair organizers insist despite its age the grandstand is checked regularly and is structurally in great shape.
"That was a terrible disaster, and it makes everyone aware that when you have a major event and thousands of people together, there's always something that could happen and that you don't want to see happen," said Brosious.

One thing to remember the stage that collapsed in Indiana was temporary.

The grandstand stage here has a permanent roof held with high-tension cables to anchor it.