Top Ten Things to Do in Pittsburgh in July
This month's best bets in the ’Burgh.
photo by matthew little
July 15-16/ The Porsche Club Car Show, a longtime favorite feature of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, is honoring the 40th anniversary of the Porsche 928 with a collection of vintage 928s, including two of the initial 11 preproduction models of the car. (Bob O’Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park, Squirrel Hill; 412/559-3500, pvgp.org)
June 29-July 2/ The 43rd Annual Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival is a four-day event celebrating art in its many forms. The festival includes fiction readings, storytelling, theatre and music from polka to jazz to country and rock. The feature attraction this year is an Arnold Palmer tribute by gumball artist Franz Spohn, who will supervise as visitors complete a mural of Palmer using 18,090 gumballs. (252 Twin Lakes Road, Latrobe; 724/834-7474, artsandheritage.com)
Photo by Mark Garvin
July 7-16/ Before “Hamilton” dominated Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda gained a fair bit of attention for his musical “In the Heights,” which presents a snapshot of life in a Dominican-American neighborhood in New York. (Benedum Center, 237 Seventh St., Downtown; 412/456-6666, trustarts.org)
photo via shutterstock
July 4/ The famous fireworks bursting over the Point is the kicker to a long afternoon and evening of Independence Day activities Downtown. Celebrate America Pittsburgh, presented by the EQT Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta, includes more than a dozen events at five main locations around the Golden Triangle, including six concerts at the main stage, expos and demonstrations throughout Point State Park, re-enactors and performances at the Fort Pitt Museum, a “Kids-Zone” and a Riverhounds game. The U.S. Air Force will perform a patriotic flyover at 6 p.m. The fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m. (Point State Park, Downtown; celebrateamericapgh.com)
photo by Doug Duerring
July 27/ Even though the Carrie Furnace no longer produces iron, metalworking continues on its grounds. The Rivers of Steel Arts three-hour Metal Taster workshops offer an introduction to the craft of working with molten metal. All participants will make a design cast in solid aluminum. (Carrie Furnaces Boulevard, Swissvale; 412/464-4020, rosarts.org)
Mondays/ Feeling overwhelmed is a persistent ailment of modern times. Meditation with a Monk at the East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh teaches ancient practices for calming the mind. (130 S. Whitfield St., East Liberty; 412/363-8232, carnegielibrary.org)
July 17/ Amid the pop juggernauts, hair-metal theatrics and nascent hip-hop that defined the radio in the 1980s was a strain of popular music that was small in its day but has grown in stature with each passing year. It was smart, angry, sad, rebellious and adventurous, and it used many forms of music, including folk, punk, pop, rock and electronic. Among its leading lights were the Violent Femmes and Echo & The Bunnymen, who now have teamed up for a North American tour that will be making a stop at Stage AE. Although different in sound, the two bands share a spirit and place in history. (400 North Shore Drive, North Shore; 412/229-5483, promowestlive.com)
photo BY Kevin Fernando
July 13/ The beauty of a garden comes not only from its sights and smells but also from its sounds. The Night Hike through the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden presents opportunities to hear and possibly see creatures of the dark. (799 Pinkerton Run Road, Oakdale; 412/444-4464, pittsburghbotanicgarden.org)
PHOTO by Lamont Perkins
July 7/ The popular Unblurred: First Fridays on Penn gallery crawl gets a whimsical summertime addition with the Garfield Night Market, a monthly outdoor bazaar now celebrating its fifth season. (North Pacific Avenue, Garfield; 412/441-6950, garfieldnightmarket.org)
July 13/ The program for A Hallelujah at Love Café, a Pittsburgh Festival Opera performance at the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, suggests a tour of recently departed Leonard Cohen’s life and world, in addition to a tribute to the work and legacy of the singer-songwriter. Daphne Alderson and an ensemble of guitar, accordion and bass will cover Cohen classics such as “Famous Blue Raincoat,” “Joan of Arc” and “Suzanne” but also songs by his fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and fellow Greenwich Village musicians Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Buffy Sainte-Marie. (605 Morewood Ave., Shadyside; 412/326-9687, pittsburghfestivalopera.org)
