Before moving out of Pittsburgh for some summer employment, I dragged my roommate here for Cinema in the Park. We saw the movie Million Dollar Arm, and it was a super fun outing. Some suggestions:
-Skip the before hand concert. This concert starts at seven, and there is no reason to get there at seven. The group we heard was unimpressive, and you won't want to waste time doing this.
-There is no "start time." We saw the city advertising an 8:00 start time, but the movie starts at dusk. So we sat until 9:30. This meant almost 2 hours of listening to the one-man band.
-Bring a picnic! We stopped at Uncle Sam's before hand to grab subs and brought bottled drinks. Make sure to grab napkins and anything else you need for your picnic.
-Bring a nice big towel or blanket to eat on, jackets or blankets, and bug spray. It starts to cool off at night, and there were a lot of bugs.
This is a really fun night for a group of graduate students or young professionals who want to have fun but are on a budget. There is plenty of parking, or you can take the bus to CMU and walk through campus.
I'd like to touch on the irony of people complaining about CMU students studying here, yet we don't complain that park people use CMU's bathrooms. It's called a public space for a reason, y'all. Anyone can come here. There will be homeless people with their stuff at the movie. Be open-minded, and you will enjoy your night!