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| - The Arts Fest is definitely one of my favorite Pittsburgh summer traditions. Held at Point State Park, there's something to see and do here for pretty much anyone, regardless of age or background. For my part, I enjoy browsing the wares of the artists, both from PGH and elsewhere, and speaking to them about their craft. Although not all of the music is up my alley, I have watched a few acts perform here, and if nothing else, it makes for a pleasant acoustic backdrop for the festival.
This year, I visited the Arts Fest twice--once last Mon. to see the PGH Symphony Orchestra perform, and once on Fri. to check out the art booths. During both visits, CM and I were accompanied by friends, and during both visits, it rained. While I realize that rainy late afternoon/evening weather is to be expected in June, we were really hoping that we'd be able to see the PSO perform on the outdoor main stage this year while having a picnic dinner. Instead, the PSO performed at their home venue, Heinz Hall, where we'd seen them perform during a previous year, and we had our dinner beforehand. Even if you're not a huge fan of classical music, I highly recommend attending the PSO's performance at Arts Fest because the pieces they play are on the shorter/lighter side, they're an excellent orchestra, and it's free. This year, they played several pieces from Carmen (which, incidentally, CM and I saw a few months ago performed by the PGH Opera), a piece from Porgy and Bess, and a few other operatic pieces. As usual, the performance was delightful, despite the rainy weather.
On our visit this past Fri., we took advantage of the food trucks parked along Penn Ave. near the park, with CM and I hitting the PGH pierogi truck, and our friends hitting the BRGR truck. I will be writing a separate review for the pierogi truck, but suffice it to say that we were quite satisfied with our food, and, unlike the concession booths at the festival, it was reasonably priced. In previous years, I bought food at the concession booths, and I wasn't terribly impressed, esp. given the price--hence why we decided to try the food trucks this year. Fri. is the main day for the food trucks, but a couple of them were there during the weekend, as well. As for the booths, as usual, they offered a nice mix of paintings, photos, jewelry, woodworking, and stained glass. At the time that we went, several booths were closed, but this may have been because we were there close to closing time (8pm). The booths rotate, depending on when you attend, with the maximum number being open on Sat./Sun. afternoons, which is when I usually attend. However, the advantage of attending on Fri. evening is that there weren't as many other guests, which made for a more relaxing visit than I'm accustomed to.
Although I think the Arts Fest is the best large festival in PGH, I don't feel that a full 5 star rating is warranted, because I do feel that there's room for improvement. Specifically, as Larissa mentioned, it does tend to get a bit repetitive year after year, esp. if you're not super into arts and crafts or the music offered. Even the activities and food seem almost identical year to year... Another criticism is that the ratio of local artists to non-local artists seems rather low. I imagine that the organizers decide which artists to showcase based on creating a good mix of offerings, but it would still be great to see more local talent. Also, as others have mentioned, the art tends to be on the crafty/decorative side, and isn't exactly edgy. If you're a more hardcore fan of the local art scene, I'd recommend checking out Art All Night in Lawrenceville, which is held in April. Overall, however, Arts Fest definitely makes for a fun outing, and I recommend checking it out at least once, esp. if you're relatively new to PGH or happen to be visiting at the time it's held.
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