Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival Grows Into Separate Weekend

English: The source of the Ohio River at “The Point” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The Allegheny River (left) and the Monongahela River (right) join to form the Ohio here. The West End Bridge crosses the Ohio in the foreground. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like a maturing adult, the Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival is moving out on its own.

“At first, there was a natural synergy,” says J. Kevin McMahon of the first three years of the festival, when it was held on a weekend with the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival. “But we found we were competing with ourselves.”

He is the president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the organization that organizes the jazz festival. He has watched the festival grow during its first three years to the point where he and other planners decided it was time to move it to its own weekend — June 20 to 22.

It has drawn enough people — jazz fans, not simply strays from the arts festival — that it deserves to be on its own, he says. It adds another exciting weekend to the city, he says, and allows employees of the Cultural Trust to concentrate on the jazz festival rather than dividing their efforts.

Read more: http://triblive.com/aande/music/6252901-74/says-festival-locke#ixzz356TYLxQU
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Pittsburgh Preparing For Eventful Summer

English: The source of the Ohio River at “The Point” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The Allegheny River (left) and the Monongahela River (right) join to form the Ohio here. The West End Bridge crosses the Ohio in the foreground. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Olympic hopefuls, furry friends and an internationally acclaimed salsa band are just a few of the attractions projected to draw tourists to Pittsburgh this summer.

VisitPittsburgh, a tourism industry nonprofit, gathered business professionals Thursday at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel to coordinate this summer’s events.

Craig Davis, VisitPittsburgh’s president and CEO, said the idea of the third annual luncheon is to get those in the hospitality industry on the same page.

“When we bring it and put it all on one script, you get into a situation where — perennial favorites coupled with big conventions and Buccos baseball — these are reasons for people to come into town,” Mr. Davis said.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/05/09/City-preparing-for-eventful-summer/stories/201405090081#ixzz31F2vQAZ4

Frothy Point: Pittsburgh’s Iconic Fountain Makes A Welcome Return

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Golden Triangle‘s biggest outdoor party starts Friday with a big exclamation point on it — the iconic, 150-foot fountain that will spring back to life after being dormant since 2009.

Repairs and upgrades to the fountain were the last and most expensive part of a $35 million renovation of Point State Park that has been years in the making.  The $9.6 million fountain project included moving pumps and electrical systems to higher ground and out of a flood plain and installing a new granite ring, restored outer basin and LED lighting.

The graceful spray marks the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio, and it is both beautiful and refreshing.

The timing of the fountain’s return is not coincidental but deliberate, announced months ago jointly by Riverlife, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/editorials/frothy-point-the-citys-iconic-fountain-makes-a-welcome-return-690480/#ixzz2VS6NXBzG