Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Will Celebrate 25 Years By Illuminating City Parks
The Conservancy is partnering with LUXE Creative to bring dynamic light installations and block parties to six public parks during the first weekend in October.
LIGHT DISPLAYS FROM THE MAYMOUNT JAPANESE GARDEN IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA WILL SERVE AS INSPIRATION FOR THE INSTALLATIONS THAT WILL ILLUMINATE PITTSBURGH PARKS DURING THE “MAKING YOUR PARKS SHINE” EVENT.
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a weekend event that’s going to be lit.
No, really — there will be lights. In collaboration with LUXE Creative, a local event and creative services agency, the Conservancy will illuminate six city parks on Friday, Oct. 1, and Saturday, Oct. 2. The event, “Making Your Parks Shine,” will be free and open to the public and will include block parties with live music, local food vendors and family-friendly activities.
While the Conservancy usually celebrates its milestones with gala events, this year it decided to do something different.
“Due to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, we thought it would be best to create an event that welcomes all Pittsburghers to safely join us in celebrating 25 years of making Pittsburgh’s beloved green spaces shine by actually lighting them up,” Catherine Qureshi, the Conservancy’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
IMAGE COURTESY PITTSBURGH PARKS CONSERVANCY
Block parties on Friday will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Walled Garden in Mellon Park, the Patricia Rooney Memorial Fountain in Allegheny Commons Park and Schenley Plaza. They will also happen on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at August Wilson Park, McKinley Park and the Frick Environmental Center. All six parks will be lit on both nights, regardless of whether they have block parties.
In addition to celebrating the Conservancy, “Making Your Parks Shine” will honor the organization’s donors and volunteers and reflect each park’s respective neighborhood.
“Our parks are important keystones of our communities. They promote connection to each other and nature, wellbeing and equity,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said in the press release.
Registration for “Making Your Parks Shine” is not required, but people attending block parties are encouraged to RSVP by visiting the Conservancy’s website.