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| - I was lucky enough to be in Pittsburgh the same weekend as this annual arts festival that not only celebrates new and developing local artists but celebrates theatre, dancers, and musicians as well. The festival was founded way back in 1960 and has since featured such musicians as Norah Jones, Wilco, the Black Keys, Sonic Youth, etc. This year there were a few headliners that would have been fun to see but I missed most of the big names and mostly heard snippets of some latin music.
The art is quite original and beautiful and stretches to hundreds of booths littered around the park and the grounds of the Wyndham Hotel where I happened to be staying. Most of the artwork is a bit pricey. Noted, I was informed from my sister and her friends that used to attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh that most people in booths want to gain notoriety and not necessarily sell all of their works, which is why they mark them so high. But it was wonderful to observe it all and I really really REALLY wanted to walk home with towels that said: "E is for Empanada", "M is for Matzo ball", "B is for Bagel", "R is for Rugelach", "P is for Pierogi", and "T is for Taco". I don't think I'm forgetting any because I seriously wanted one of everything but they were $14 each.
There also were plenty of booths for food. A little bit pricey but most street food is up there. I split pierogi with my sister and I was kind of disappointed. It was home-made tasting but I've never ate pierogi saturated in a puddle of melted butter. Detroit, little known fact, is also home of the pierogi and paczki. It's one of the largest Polish and Eastern European communities in the nation and we eat our freaking pierogi with sour cream. I also tried a shrimp quesadilla and for $10 it was alright. . . . the popped kettle corn that one dude in our group managed to get for free was amazing. This entire thing is kind of fun and neat though and I love that it supports emerging artists. It's not really about the $$ after all.
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