Pittsburg, PA
Construction begins at Point State Park for NFL draft
NFL draft construction is underway in Point State Park, closing off a portion of the park as crews start setting up for what will be a major part of the “NFL Draft Experience.”
Fences are beginning to surround the park lawns. The portion of the trails along the Monongahela River near the Fort Pitt Museum is completely closed off, with access to the museum and Fort Pitt Block House open.
The southbound side of Commonwealth Place is also closed to allow for a staging area, leading to traffic, at times, around the Wyndham Hotel.
A walk through the park on Saturday meant dodging forklifts that were bringing materials around. Meanwhile, people continued to enjoy a nice day at the park, having picnics, resting, or just looking at the rivers.
KDKA-TV’s crew even found one man, Conrad Lloyd, hanging out in a tree.
“Most times I come here when it’s not icy or snowy because I feel like it’s a nice way to feel like a child again,” Lloyd said.
From his perch, he had a view of all the construction. KDKA-TV watched as parents kept their kids away from a platform.
“I just hope they are practicing the best they can with safety because I think there are a lot of crazies downtown who wouldn’t be afraid to steal a forklift,” Lloyd said.
Safety was also on the minds of the crews. They told KDKA-TV it’s the reason the main lawn would be closed starting Sunday as construction intensifies. A Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources spokesperson confirmed there would be additional closures on Sunday, but did not specify exactly where.
“I did not know that, and that is not the best,” Lloyd said. “It’ll be annoying, I guess, at the very least. I will be treeless for a few weeks.”
“It’s a bummer, but we’ll just wait it out, get back here once it’s open again,” River Samek, who was enjoying the park with his family, said.
A map on the NFL OnePass shows that access will remain open in some capacity to the fountain at the point in some capacity.
The map, however, did show that there would not be easy access to the Fort Duquesne pedestrian bridge, forcing people to walk to the Roberto Clemente Bridge if they want to cross from one part of the NFL draft footprint to the other.
The Gateway Clipper will also run across the Allegheny River, but a source familiar with the city’s planning told KDKA-TV it won’t be running for the entirety of the draft.
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor was asked about draft construction in the morning. Roads are being reconstructed, and fencing and signs are going up, he said.
“We’re using weekends to do a lot of it because there’s not as much traffic downtown as there would be during the week,” O’Connor said.
A summer full of music kicks off this weekend with Pittonkatonk. There are some amazing things to look forward to this year: Free county concerts include shows from Heavy Heavy and the Women in Jazz Festival at South Park, plus Pittsburgh Opera and Arrested Development at Hartwood Acres. The first Turn It Upstream Festival on June 26 features top-tier local acts like Beauty Slap and NASH.V.ILL. And ’90s nostalgia buffs can enjoy the Spin Doctors and Joan Osborne at the Three Rivers Arts Festival.
As always, find even more things to do in Pittsburgh in our Weekend and Monthly Event Guides.
Pittonkatonk
May 8-9, Vietnam Veterans Pavilion, Schenley Park
Pete Spynda’s Pittonkatonk — a celebration of world music, horns and drums — has opened the local outdoor festival season since 2014. This year’s lineup includes Colombian star Yeison Landero, the Undertow Brass Band and local artists Timbeleza and the Eagleburger Band.
There will be more than 350 musical acts on 32 stages, along with visual artists, comedians and poets in Millvale — and it’s all free. The two-day event includes classical music at St. Nicholas Church — and almost every other kind of music — all over the borough Friday night and all day Saturday.
Allegheny County Summer Concert Series
All shows start at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted
South Park Amphitheater (All shows on Friday):
- June 5 River City Brass
- June 12 Jimmie Ross & The Jaggerz
- June 19 Coltt Winter Lepley & The Briar Valley Rangers
- June 26 Red Wanting Blue
- July 3 Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (8:15 p.m.)
- July 10 The Heavy Heavy
- July 17 Orleans
- July 24 Ruthie Foster
- July 31 Don McLean
- Aug. 7 Matthias Lattin & Dylan Triplett
- Aug. 14 Women in Jazz Festival, featuring Su Terry, Deanna Witkowski Trio and Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet
- Aug. 21 Tamburitzans
- Aug. 28 Summer of Love Revue
- Sept. 4 Reb Beach
Hartwood Acres Park Amphitheater (All shows on Sunday):
- June 7 Pittsburgh Opera
- June 14 Melinda & The Night Sky
- June 21 Yacht Rocket
- June 28 Tito Puente Jr. and Nestor Torres
- July 5 America’s 250th Anniversary Celebration, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (8:15 p.m., $30 suggested donation to benefit the county Department of Human Services)
- July 12 The Fixx
- July 19 Cyril Neville
- July 26 Arrested Development
- Aug. 2 The Wood Brothers
- Aug. 9 Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
- Aug. 16 The Lemon Twigs
- Aug. 23 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
- Aug. 30 Blasey Plays the Beatles
- Sept. 6 Buzz Poets
This is TRAF’s first year at its new permanent home on Penn Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets. Aside from the shows listed below, also featured during TRAF at Arts Landing will be the world premiere of Squonk’s “Joy Machine,” running Friday, June 5, through Sunday, June 7; and Bandaloop’s “The Sky Is Not the Limit,” on Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13. Additional festival highlights include the Artist Market, Juried Visual Art Exhibition, Giant Eagle Creativity Zone and Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival Dance Battle.
- June 5 Spin Doctors
- June 6 The Pharcyde
- June 11 Buffalo Rose
- June 12 The War and Treaty
- June 13 Delfeayo Marsalis and The Uptown Jazz Orchestra
- June 13 (daytime) The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
- June 14 (evening) Joan Osborne
Check back with NEXT in early June for a full preview of what to expect from this year’s festival.
Summer Fridays, a $5 concert series at the picturesque former home of the Frick family, returns for its 12th season on June 5.
- June 5 The Stemtecs Band
- July 24 The Polkamaniacs
- August 28 Donora
The Farina Foundation will be at each night of Summer Fridays collecting instruments for a donation drive.
There’s no All Out Festival or Pride on the Shore with nationally known performers this year. But a consortium of local groups, including TransYOUniting and QBurgh, has put together a more low-key Pride celebration. Check their site for entertainment updates.
This free festival produced by Stop the Violence Pittsburgh is now the largest Juneteenth celebration in North America. Expect entertainment for the “grown folk” in Market Square, featuring Final Draft on June 19, Keith Washington the next night and Evelyn Champagne King closing it out on June 21. The lineup at Point State Park might appeal to younger fans: Lloyd, Musiq Soulchild and Fabolous. There will be a vendor market, food and more, as well.
Upstream Pittsburgh, which promotes clean water by protecting watershed ecosystems, celebrates its 25th anniversary with a music festival/fundraiser featuring Beauty Slap, NASH.V.ILL, Colatura and other artists. Along with the music, there will be guided walks and activities highlighting Upstream’s local impact. Tickets here.
Indie-pop singer Michigander headlines the free music event this year, supported by Ratboys, Jobi Riccio, and local artists Cam Chambers and Kahone Concept. There are free rides on the PNC Carousel until 9 p.m., too.
The Blues and Roots Festival has morphed into the Pittsburgh Music Festival with a new location along the Allegheny River. The lineup includes local stars like Gathering Field, Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, Billy Price with Bill Toms, and the Sun King Warriors. As in the past, proceeds benefit Band Together and Autism Pittsburgh. Tickets go on sale May 15. More information here.
It’s the North Side’s version of the Millvale Music Festival (or vice versa). There will be three days of free, local music on outdoor stages, in bars and at the Elks Club, along with family activities. The schedule and lineup have not yet been announced.
Rock Reggae and Relief
Aug. 8, Market Square, Downtown
The festival returns to Market Square after switching to Stage AE last year. This year’s lineup includes UB40, G. Love & Special Sauce, The Elovaters, and more. Proceeds will benefit Cafe Momentum, which offers paid internships and job training for young people exiting the justice system. Buy tickets here.
Headliners include Ally the Piper, Screaming Orphans, Eileen Ivers & the Brigideens as well as locals Bealtaine, the Low Kings, Jim Lamb and more. Look for kids’ activities, ceili dancing, Guinness, Harp, whisky, scones and the like. Tickets available here.
A free outdoor festival with some of the best-known names in jazz. Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bilal and many more played last year. The 2026 lineup will be announced soon.
More music
Major events like the city’s Fourth of July celebration, Picklesburgh and Barrel and Flow will also feature live, outdoor music. Both WYEP and the City of Pittsburgh will host neighborhood concerts, and Hazelwood Local is bringing back its Summer Sounds on Hazelwood Green. Municipalities including South Fayette, Monroeville, McCandless and many others have summer concerts too.
Pittsburg, PA
NASA astronaut from Western Pa. returns to Pittsburgh for 1st time since suffering unprecedented medical event in space
This time, the warm-up was brief. After getting off to one of the chilliest starts (tied for 2nd coldest first 3 days when it comes to daily average temperature) on record in May, we saw two above-average days over the past two days.
We won’t make it three with temperatures today cooling down behind widespread morning rain. We’ve already seen our high temperature for today, with Pittsburgh seeing a daily high of around 62 degrees. That was our midnight temperature, but sometimes they adjust it slightly up or down due to the number being sent out technically happening around 8 minutes before the top of the hour.
Temperatures will be in the 50s for the rest of the day. Skies will be mostly cloudy with variable but breezy winds of around 15mph this afternoon.
It’ll be damp and cool. You’ll certainly want long sleeves this afternoon if you are outside for any extended period of time.
When it comes to rain chances, rain will be fairly consistent through around 8 o’clock, then become more scattered for the rest of the morning.
This afternoon is looking dry for pretty much everyone. I can’t totally rule out an isolated shower in the Laurel Highlands.
After today, our next rain chance comes Friday morning with the potential for an isolated shower or storm. There will be a better chance for rain on Saturday, with rain once again confined to the morning hours.
Saturday afternoon is looking dry. Mother’s Day is also looking dry for most of the day, with rain showers arriving after 4 p.m.
Highs will hit the low 70s ahead of the rain chance.
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