Three Rivers Arts Festival Starts Today

18 day Downtown Festival Has Big Impact on City Merchants

Today marks the opening day for the 47th Three Rivers Arts Festival, an 18 day event spotlighting regional and national artists. The festival takes place throughout downtown at multiple venues and is expected to attract over 600,000 people into the city.

This year also marks the debut of the 4th River Project, a series of new programs intended to push the edges of mainstream art at the festival.

In an article in today's Pittsburgh Tribune Review, a spokesperson for the festival estimated that the impact on Pittsburgh's merchants would be dramatic.
"For every $1 we spent on programming in 2004, there was a $19 impact on the city of Pittsburgh's merchants," said festival spokeswoman Lindsay Clark. "Considering we spent over $1 million that year, that's very promising."
All of the money spent on the festival is raised through vendors, sponsors or donations, and the festival pays the city for the additional services it requires.

This weekend's main stage acts include:
Friday: Raul Malo at 7:30pm in Point State Park with special guest Autumn Ayers at 6:00pm.
Saturday: Buckwheat Zydeco at 7:30pm in Point State Park with special guest MonGumbo at 6:00pm.
Sunday: Soulive at 7:30pm in Point State Park with special guest Poogie Bell Band at 6:00pm.

I hope that you can all make it downtown over the next couple of weeks to enjoy the music, art, food and the spectacular setting.

Read More about the Three Rivers Arts Festival and find festival schedules at:
Three Rivers Arts Festival Website
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
The Pitsburgh Post-Gazette