Pittsburgh’s South Side Street Fest is officially underway, aiming to create a safer and welcoming South Side.

The South Side has developed a reputation for chaotic weekends during the summer. That was not the case on Saturday night.

Most people who spoke with KDKA-TV offered largely glowing reviews of the event, adding that they feel safe, and that is the hope. Leaders hope that this event goes a long way to change the behavior and perception of the area. 

The South Side Street Fest aims to fill East Carson Street on Friday and Saturday nights this summer from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. between 12th and 18th streets. Of note, the event is only for those ages 21 and up, and IDs will be regularly checked.

At the entrance, metal detectors were in use, like those at PNC Park or Acrisure Stadium. There were some lengthy lines to get into the festival, and like a sporting event, you can’t bring in guns, oversized bags, or outside alcohol. 

Festivalgoers can, however, buy alcohol inside the permitted area, such as a bar, but they are not permitted to openly bring alcohol in the street. There are specific places on the street where you can buy alcohol and walk around with it. 

Multiple vendors were also out for the late-night festivities.

“It’s been great. Very peaceful, very relaxing. Got a little bit of sugar, so sweet,” Beth Burton said.

“This is definitely a bigger turnout than I expected, but this is just great. Vibes are great out here,” Joey Fitzhenry said.

Justin McCord, however, was one of the few who said he wasn’t the biggest fan of the event layout.

“It’s chaos, but it’s controlled chaos. Like, there’s no fighting. But I don’t know. We are kind of barricaded in. It’s a little awkward, you know?” McCord said.

McCord added that the long lines and repeated need to show IDs were two things he took issue with. If those could be rectified, he said, he might return to a future edition of the festival.

Ohio’s law requiring children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps must be restored, a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

The decision comes as a blow to NetChoice, which has won court victories against identical digital identification laws in other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia. The trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies said the Ohio decision went against “clear national consensus” and that it intended to keep fighting.

“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” said Paul Taske, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.

Netchoice brought suit against Ohio’s law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.

The Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit’s panel disagreed. In a 2-1 decision, it found that the law was not unconstitutional and sent it back to a lower court to have a block on the law’s enforcement vacated.

“At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement,” Judge Eric Clay wrote in the lead opinion. “That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them.”

Judge Alice Batchelder concurred, writing that “a statute is not vague just because it has a wide berth.”

Known as the Social Media Parental Notification Act, the Ohio law was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July 2023.

The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children’s mental health, with then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, now a U.S. senator, said at the time that social media was “intentionally addictive” and harmful to kids.

The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines, so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.

Republican Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson called Thursday’s ruling “a win for Ohio families.”

“The court agreed that parents –- not social media companies –- should get a say in what kids see online,” he said in a statement. “We have an obligation to keep our children safe, and today, the most dangerous place for our kids is the internet. This decision gives parents the tools to be involved and provide oversight.”