PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — This year’s Pittsburgh Pride festival will no longer be held at Point State Park after organizers say they were ‘denied access.’

The festival will now be held at Allegheny Commons Park West on the city’s North Side on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 with a block party marking the closing of the festival in Bloomfield on Sunday, June 2. 

Earlier this year, it was announced that the festival was set to be held at Point State Park for the first time, but those plans have now changed. 

“It is with a heavy heart that we face the denial from Point State Park this year,” said Dena Stanley, co-founder of the Pittsburgh Pride Group. “However, we are excited to return to Allegheny Commons Park West, a venue that has long embraced our community and provided a vibrant backdrop for our celebrations.”  

Stanley says that despite needing to change locations for the festival, organizers remain committed to the celebratory and inclusive atmosphere that Pittsburgh Pride has become known for.

“We are fully committed to preserving the celebratory spirit and inclusive atmosphere that Pittsburgh Pride is known for,” Stanley saId. “We invite everyone to join us in commemorating love, diversity, and acceptance at Allegheny Commons Park West.”  

Schedule of events for 2024 Pittsburgh Pride

The opening celebration of the festival will take place on Friday, May 31 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Allegheny Commons Park West and will feature more than 30 local artists.

The festival will continue on Saturday, June 1 at Allegheny Commons Park West following the Pittsburgh Pride March.

Participants in the march will begin lining up at 10 a.m. near the Greyhound bus station on Liberty Avenue. The march will begin at Noon and arrive at Allegheny Commons by 1 p.m. 

The park will open at 11 a.m. that day with more than 40 artists scheduled to perform starting at 2 p.m. 

Pittsburgh Pride 2024 will wrap up on Sunday, June 2 with a block party in Bloomfield from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. near Trace Brewery with live entertainment, food, activities, and more than 30 artists performing throughout the afternoon and evening. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been quite busy through the free agency period and the draft, much like many other teams have been. However, the team has made numerous strides to improve its roster, which includes signing former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson and trading for former Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

Though grading or predicting how draftees will do can be viewed as premature, the Steelers did do a good job at boosting their offensive line. The team plans to run the ball with effectiveness, and putting together a stellar offensive line is the sure-fire way to ensure running lanes are opened up to aid a good rushing attack.

Though the Steelers beefed up the offensive line through the draft, one area where the team still needs work is at wide receiver. Receiver George Pickens had a good year with 1,140 receiving yards, but the next closest was Diontae Johnson, who secured 717 yards.

Johnson has since been traded to the Carolina Panthers, leaving the receiving room the Steelers currently have as majorly lacking. The dropoff from Johnson’s 717 receiving yards falls to 370 yards, which belonged to running back Jaylen Warren.

The Steelers clearly need help at wide receiver, and they have since been attached to huge names and rumors. The biggest rumor is that they were actively attempting to trade for San Francisco 49ers star receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk leading up to the draft.

Steelers general manager Omar Khan has since addressed these rumors. He appeared on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee show to discuss Pittsburgh making a play for a big receiver.

Khan was asked by McAfee if there was any truth to the Steelers attempting to land these receivers. Khan simply stated, “I heard about it [rumors about trading for 49ers receivers]… but there is nothing going on.”

Khan could be playing the role of the naive general manager when he knows full well who the Steelers are attempting to land, or they truly might not be trying to trade for anyone at the moment. Training camp and preseason could lead to the team exploring options at wide receiver far more, though it would be believed Khan would attempt to land someone far before that.

Apart from the rumors that Aiyuk and Samuel could still be traded, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is also a possibility. Higgins stated he wanted a trade after the Bengals were unwilling to give him a new contract. He did recently state that he expects to be with the team in 2024, and his not being traded right before or during the draft means Cincinnati likely feels the same.

The Bengals are also a division rival of the Steelers, so it would be highly unlikely they would allow Higgins to go to the team they would be directly competing with for a playoff berth in 2024. Still, Khan could come up with a deal for Higgins that Pittsburgh would be hard-pressed to pass on. Either way, Khan could be throwing up a smokescreen to throw other teams off the trail of the Steelers landing a premier wide receiver.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — About 1,000 graduating seniors from Pittsburgh Public Schools celebrated the journey to higher education on Tuesday.

It’s a big decision when it comes to life after high school graduation, but a group of students from underserved communities who gathered at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall on Tuesday worked hard to make that dream come true.

Each graduating student gets $20,000 for four years to use at any accredited post-secondary institution in Pennsylvania. 

“I’m going to have a lot of my family here and I’m very happy about graduating,” said Westinghouse Academy senior Sai Penn.

The Pittsburgh Promise held a big Senior Celebration Day for nearly 1,000 graduating seniors from Pittsburgh Public at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall to mark the occasion for these student’s post-graduation plans.

Pittsburgh Promise coaches work inside four PPS schools, including Carrick, UPREP at Milliones, Perry and Westinghouse. 

Penn said to her coach, “Thank you so much for all the help you’ve given me. I’m very much grateful for it.”

Coaches make sure students have personalized post-high school plans. 

“It feels good to support students with their dreams, it feels good to be their coach and help them figure out what they want to do with their life aspirations,” said Promise coach Emmanuel Walker.

Each student has a minimum GPA of 2.5 and an attendance of 90%. Collectively, The Pittsburgh Promise recipients can attend more than 150 institutions of higher learning. 

“The Pittsburgh Promise is not the organization, nor the scholarship, nor the coaching — the Pittsburgh Promise is the child,” said The Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghurbril. 

Preparing for, planning for and paying for higher education — that’s the promise kept for more than 1,000 students in the city.

The Pittsburgh Promise will continue funding students with scholarships through the graduating class of 2028, which carries them through 2033. After that, they will work on policy work as well as continue coaching.