Sharing The Best of Pittsburgh and Southwest Pennsylvania
We love unusual festivals and events in Pittsburgh, and when we heard about Mars Exploration Days, hosted in the borough of Mars, we knew we had to check it out when it came back around in early June.
This one was everything we hoped for, and then some.
Read moreMars Exploration Days Celebrates the Planet Mars in Mars, PA
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland is one of the pride and jewels of Pittsburgh. Each season the conservatory unveils a new show that features impressive artistic displays as well as unique seasonal flowers that will have you coming back time and time again.
The Summer Flower Show in 2019 is themed “Van Gogh in Bloom” and features some of this master's wonderful works re-imagined with flowers as the medium!
As with previous shows, we do not like to give everything away in our reviews. Instead, we're only featuring a select few of our favorite rooms and are leaving the rest for you to enjoy on your visit!
Read morePhipps Conservatory's Summer Flower Show – Van Gogh in Bloom
Carnegie Mellon University's Spring Carnival is a tradition that dates back more than a century and is a three-day event that takes place each April.
Sometimes it is hard to say no to traditions, and CMU knows how to really honor theirs!
If you are planning a visit to this one, the following is what you can expect.
As the cold of winter begins to leave Pittsburgh, there is one thing we always look forward to in order to ring in the start of spring – Phipps Conservatory's Spring Flower Show!
2019's Spring Flower Show has the theme “Gardens of the Rainbow” and highlights the colors of the rainbow as well as other unique aspects of color theory- making this one of the most vibrant shows in recent memory!
We were fortunate to visit Phipps Conservatory shortly after this show opened as guests of Phipps and we wanted to share some of our favorite rooms and exhibits with you today.
As with all of our museum posts, we're only sharing a selection of our favorites because you truly must visit for yourself to experience it all!
Read morePhipps Conservatory's Spring Flower Show – Gardens of the Rainbow
Any time I think of Mars, PA, it is almost always in tandem with at least one Martian reference of some sort.
As such, I wasn't too surprised to find out that Mars hosts a semi-annual Mars New Year celebration to honor the planet's roughly 687-Earth day revolution around the sun.
While the actual three-day festivity is taking place a few months after the official new year (which occurs on the Mars spring equinox in the northern hemisphere), the borough hosts an annual dinner as close as possible to the exact Martian New Year (most recently on March 23, 2019).
With a line-up of speakers and Martian references aplenty, we were pretty excited to attend this one as guests of our friends at Butler County Tourism.
Read moreMars New Year Blast Off Dinner – A Celebration of Mars, In Mars
Much like our goal to visit every Pittsburgh brewery, we're also on a mission to go to all of the annual beer festivals in Pittsburgh.
And, like our growing brewery scene, the list of festival options is so long such that we'll be checking out new ones many times a year for quite some time.
In this one, we did not want to do a review of every beer festival out there (you can find all of those on our site already), but instead want to look at them from a different angle. You see, beer festivals come in many different styles, offerings, and ambiances, and what you're looking for may influence your festival choice completely!
So whether you're looking to try a themed festival, or want an absurd amount of local beer, or perhaps even want to enjoy something completely different, the following may be for you.
Read moreWhich Beer Festivals in Pittsburgh Are Right For You?
The Good Wood Barrel-Aged Beer Festival is an annual event hosted by Wigle Whiskey and East End Brewing.
While on the smaller end of beer festivals, this one packs a punch as all beers served have been aged in barrels- our kind of niche beer festival in Pittsburgh!
Read moreGood Wood Barrel-Aged Beer Festival – A Delicious Winter Beerfest
During the holiday season there are so many events and concerts that vie for your attention, but The Pittsburgh Symphony's Holiday Pops concert is one that should definitely be on your list to attend.
This family-friendly concert has something for everyone with special guest performers and a fantastic variety of holiday music.
Read moreCelebrating Christmas With a Holiday Pops Concert by the PSO
We first had pierogies from the Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church at the Pittsburgh Pierogi Festival. We had heard the glory of the church's famed dumplings, but never quite made it happen until fate intervened and put us all at the same festival.
It was truly love at first bite.
When we visited the church's table at the festival they were handing out cards for their Christmas pierogi sale, and we knew we would have to return to buy more- and that we did!
Read moreSeasonal Pierogies at the Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church
The Nutcracker is a classic ballet that is a Christmas tradition for many. With familiar music, hundreds of colorful and dramatic costumes, and a story full of wonder, it's easy to see why this ballet keeps people returning to performances year after year.
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has been performing The Nutcracker for decades, and yet each year there are new twists to enjoy.
Read moreA Holiday Tradition at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker