The 65th annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, returns to the Cultural District, May 31-June 9, offering 10 days of free art and music. Artists from around the region and nation join the previously announced lineup of featured music concerts. Performances on multiple stages, gallery exhibitions, public art, creative activities for all ages, the popular Artist Market, and more are posted at TrustArts.org/TRAF, sortable by day and genre.
“We’re thrilled to welcome visitors back to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District with an updated layout for this year’s festival,” said Sarah Aziz, Interim Vice President of Programming and Manager of DEAI Initiatives for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “These 10 fleeting days will be fun-filled, thought-provoking, inclusive, and memorable. Thank you to all our community partners, especially Dollar Bank, whose generosity helps make this Festival a one-of-a-kind celebration in Pittsburgh every summer.”
“We’re proud to again be the title sponsor for the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, bringing 10 days packed with free art and music for all ages,” said Jim McQuade, Dollar Bank President & CEO. “With its emphasis on local and diverse art and artists, as well as nationally touring performers, this festival is a great opportunity for us to honor our commitment to bring communities together. We hope you will bring your family, friends, and neighbors for a great time in the Cultural District!”
UPDATED LAYOUT
The 2024 festival footprint, located in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District for the third consecutive year, expands the audience viewing area for featured concerts and incorporates one of the city’s iconic Three Sisters Bridges. Free and open to everyone, guests can enjoy concerts at the Dollar Bank Main Stage at the intersection of Fort Duquesne Boulevard and 9th Street. The adjacent Rachel Carson Bridge (9th Street) will feature the Green Mountain Energy Stage halfway across the span with Artist Market booths connecting the two performance locations. A map is published at TrustArts.org/TRAF. All locations are within 1/3 mile in Pittsburgh’s 14-block Cultural District.
LINEUP HIGHLIGHTS
The popular Artist Market returns with more than 300 artists from around the region and nation selling fine art and fine crafts. Spanning both sides of Fort Duquesne Boulevard like last year, the Artist Market is now expanded onto the Rachel Carson Bridge (9th Street). Artists will change over multiple times throughout the festival’s 10-day run.
The annual Juried Visual Art Exhibition is a cornerstone of the festival showcasing exceptional new art by regional artists selected by a guest panel in a blind jury process. This year’s show, Furry Friends, located in SPACE Gallery (812 Liberty Avenue), celebrates the diverse ways in which animals enrich our lives, challenge our perspectives, and inspire our creativity. Artists’ works will explore the profound and complex connections between humans and animals—be they companions, pets, wildlife, or creatures of myth or imagination.
Cirque Kikasse presents SANTÉ! (Cheers!). The dynamic circus show with high-level acrobatics, contagious energy, and breathtaking balancing takes place on an extraordinary food truck. The troupe's mission is to prepare the truck for service by unveiling their unique installation. The troupe will arrange furniture into a balancing tower 30 feet off the ground, playfully (and inefficiently) clean the truck and trampoline, and cause the popcorn machine to overflow. The fun concept is carried out by a virtuosic circus performance. Cirque Kikasse runs 12-1 pm and 3-4 pm on the festival’s final two days, June 8-9, in the Giant Eagle Foundation Backyard at 8th & Penn.
The Giant Eagle Foundation Backyard is also home to this year’s Giant Eagle Creativity Zone. Some of Pittsburgh’s most creative arts organizations and community partners will offer hands-on activities for all ages each day, 12-6 pm. Nearby, the Backyard Stage will be active daily, hosting more than 15 performances by regional musicians.
The Green Mountain Energy Stage, located halfway across the span of the Rachel Carson Bridge (9th Street) will offer twice-daily entertainment for guests shopping in the Artist Market including live music, literary readings, and other activities over the Allegheny River.
The Backyard Stage and Green Mountain Energy Stage performance schedule complements the Dollar Bank Main Stage, which features previously announced headliners Pokey LaFarge, Los Lonely Boys, Martha Redbone, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Nicole Zuraitis, Ozomatli, Say She She, Doom Flamingo, Sugarhill Gang & the Furious Five, and Ben Folds along with an opening act each weekday evening and full slate of performances on weekends.
A Sudden Gust of Wind, a popular new commissioned public art project by the interdisciplinary Pittsburgh-based and internationally renowned artists Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis, will remain on display with 200 sculptures installed within the branches of over 90 trees throughout the Cultural District. Community Flying Days during the festival will provide guests with kites, free of charge, with details on how to participate to be announced soon.
Several of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s gallery spaces will be activated, too, from 12:30-6:30 pm each day. 40 Years Later: Revisiting the 1984 Three Rivers Arts Festival will allow guests to experience the nostalgia of the summer of 1984 in 707 Penn Gallery. A vibrant period marked by cultural milestones, political tension, and a sense of optimism was captured by five nationally renowned photographers whose work is on display. Life is Nice but Odd and Strange at the Same Time, an exhibition of over 100 works by VaultArt Studio’s resident artists with disabilities, will take place at 820 Liberty Gallery. Wavy Wednesday: Where Did Your Christ Come From?, now open at 937 Liberty Gallery, will run through the end of the festival. It’s the second solo exhibition of Pittsburgh-based artist Kamara Townes, known professionally as Wavy Wednesday. Making its ninth annual appearance at the festival, Anthropology of Motherhood, which is an exhibition exploring the culture of care, will take place inside the Byham Theater. Its location is convenient for visitors shopping at the Artist Market or seeing a show on the Dollar Bank Main Stage since it is not just an art space, but also an interactive amenity and place of respite for families with young children.
All events are subject to change. Lineup changes and additions will be continuously updated at TrustArts.org/TRAF.
