Category Archives: Annual Events

Dirty Dozen: The Best Pittsburgh Sporting Event You Probably Haven’t Heard About

From the 2012 Dirty Dozen bike ride - why not take the tandem bike out for a spin on the 13 steepest hills in Pittsburgh?

From the 2012 Dirty Dozen bike ride – why not take the tandem bike out for a spin on the 13 steepest hills in Pittsburgh?

I have been known to head out to watch some of the more unusual sporting events that have stopped in Pittsburgh.  For the record, watching the weighin for the Bass Masters tournament live was far more exciting then one would think.  A few years ago, in my effort to participate in all things Pittsburgh, I convinced a few friends to join me on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to stand in the freezing cold and snow to watch the Dirty Dozen bike race.

The Dirty Dozen bike race has been taking place on the hills of Pittsburgh on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for the past 31 years and will take place for the 32nd time this Saturday.  The race was started by Dan & Tom Chew and Bob Gottlieb back in 1983 as a way to show off the steepest hills in town.  You can read more about the history of the Dirty Dozen bike race here.

 

Dirty Dozen Bike Race Details

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Race starts at the Bud Harris Cycling Track on Washington Blvd (In Pittsburgh terms, this is the place on Washington Blvd where if you are as old as I am, your took your driving test here)

  • 8-9am Race Registration
  • 10am Race Starts

Registration details are available here.

If you want to watch the race…Tips for Spectators

The race is fun to watch but please be careful! For many of the hills there is not a lot of extra space for spectators and spectator parking.  From my experience, it is hard to get to every hill.  If you want to watch. I would pick a few hills to visit to watch the race.  That way you will have plenty of time to get from one hill to the next and not have to worry about rushing.

If your only going to go to one hill… you will probably want to check out Canton Ave in Beechview.  This is hill number 9 and I am guessing the riders won’t get there until after noon.  While there aren’t published times for the race, I’d keep an eye on Twitter #DirtyDozen – I am sure there will be some spectators tweeting the race and you can get a sense of where the riders are on the course.

A complete route guide with driving and bicycling directions is available online here.

Rick Sebak on the Dirty Dozen

From the 2011 program It’s Pittsburgh and a Lot of Other Stuff by Rick Sebak.

Read more about the Dirty Dozen…

Watch the 2014 Dirty Dozen Livestream

According to this press release the Pittsburgh based Cycling Fusion will have 9 cameras livestreaming the Dirty Dozen bike ride.

2014 Art All Night Lawrenceville

2014 Art All Night is coming to Pittsburgh this weekend

Art All Night, Pittsburgh’s annual free art event, pops up in Lawrenceville this weekend for its 17th year. The completely volunteer-run event is held non-stop from 4pm on Saturday, April 26, 2014 until 2pm on Sunday, April 27, 2014.

2014 Art All Night Lawrenceville

Never heard of Art All Night? The idea behind the censorship-free, non-juried event is to encourage participation from all types of artists. Everyone is welcome to come, share, and experience a variety of local art and activities.

Besides original artwork, Art All Night features a live auction, various participatory and collaborative activities, live entertainment, and on-site artwork. Children’s activities are available on 4-8pm Saturday and 10am-2pm Sunday.

All artists, regardless of age or skill-level, can submit one piece of artwork to the event. Art must be dropped off between 10am and 2pm on Saturday, April 26 and must be ready to hang or otherwise displayed. Photo ID is required for both drop off and pick up, which is on Sunday, April 27 from 2:30-5:30pm. More information and an online registration form can be found here.

Volunteers and donations are what make Art All Night happen each year, so both are encouraged! Each year, a dedicated and talented team of volunteers offers their free time to make the event as incredible and fun as possible. You can sign up for 2-hour shifts before, during, and after the event, for all sorts of tasks, so please do if you have the time!

Check out Art All Night on Facebook (including the official Facebook event), on Twitter at @ArtAllNight, and Instagram at ArtAllNightLawrenceville, and don’t forget to hashtag your posts with #ArtAllNight, #AAN17, and #ImAnArtAllNighter.

The event is held at 97 40th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201, which is a warehouse on the corner of 40th and Willow St in Lawrenceville. Parking might be tough so consider taking public transportation, car-pooling, or catching a Lyft (get $25 off your first ride with that link). Hope to see you there!


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8 Things to Store Around Town for Pittsburgh Events

If you’re visiting Pittsburgh for the 1st or 500th time to attend a big event, you might travel with supplies and equipment. Luckily, you can use Spacefinity.com – an online marketplace to connect with friendly neighborhood residents to store your stuff around town. Here’s a list of some of the big annual events and the stuff you can put in storage:

  1. Art – Over 10,000 visual and performing artists have presented work at the Three Rivers Arts Festival since the event started in 1960. With all of the creating, planning, and organizing, who has time to worry about tables, chairs, and finding a place to put everything? Discover a nearby garage to store your art supplies before the festival.
  2. Bikes – BikePGH organizes an annual event called BikeFest which leads up to Pedal Pittsburgh, Western PA’s Largest Bicycle Ride with around 3,000 participants. Also, the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile bike trail that connects Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., (then joining C&O Canal Towpath to Washington D.C.), was completed earlier this summer. Find a space to store your bike and pick it up when you’re in town for a ride.
  3. Boats – Every year, over 500,000 spectators visit the Three Rivers Regatta – a boating and water sports festival held at the Point over the 4th of July. Find a space to store your boat before, after, or during the festival in a warehouse, garage, or open lot.
  4. Cars – The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix attracts more than 250,000 people to Schenley Park each year for the nation’s largest vintage sports car racing event. All proceeds from the event go to the Autism Society of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Valley School. Store your classic car in a nearby garage and get ready to race on the city streets for a good cause.
  5. Costumes – The world’s largest furry convention, Anthrocon, draws a crowd of over 5,000 people to Downtown Pittsburgh every year. Join the costume-clad community as your favorite anthropomorphic animal character or check out the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival and journey back to the age of knights and maidens. Before you travel back to being a present day human, find a place to store your costumes.
  6. Golf Clubs – Did you know that the Oakmont Country Club has hosted more combined USGA and PGA championships than any other course in the U.S., including eight United States Opens, five U.S. Amateurs, three PGA Championships, and two U.S. Women’s Opens? Visit Pittsburgh for the upcoming 2016 U.S. Open Championship in Oakmont and keep your golf clubs in nearby storage for when you’re ready to play a round.
  7. Tailgating Equipment – Tailgating is a time-honored tradition before big a Steelers, Pirates, or Penguins game, but you’ll need to bring tailgating gear: grills, coolers, food, drinks, chairs, tables… and if you’re driving or flying in from out of town, it’s inconvenient to bring those items with you. Instead, store them in a garage near a grocery store and pick everything up on the way to the game.
  8. Giant Rubber Ducky – The Rubber Duck Project will launch the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts with a 40-foot-tall rubber duck in the Allegheny River from September 27 – October 20, 2013. According to this Post-Gazette article, “because of its size, the duck is constructed from scratch in the city that it’s visiting.” So if you’re a giant rubber duck artist who needs a warehouse, Spacefinity lists some spaces available for such an occassion.

The Spacefinity team launched the online marketplace for space in August 2013. Currently, we have 65 Spacelords listing garages, warehouses, basements, spare rooms, outside lots, and even an airplane hangar in Pittsburgh. Find space or list space today at Spacefinity.com! Questions? Contact Jackie Vesci at jackie@spacefinity.com.

Pittsburgh Zine Fair & Weekend Treadings

pittsburgh-zine-fair-poster

Treading Art has been putting together an amazing list of weekend events around Pittsburgh.  Each week we feature one of the events from their Weekend Treadings list.

This weeks Treader’s Choice event is the Pittsburgh Zine Fair on Sunday at the Union Project.  Check out all of Treading Art suggestions for this weekend here.

Whether you’re into zines, cool affordable art or just want to meet some new and interesting people, we suggest you head over to The Union Project and do all three! But first, check out HOMUNCULUS reading at Assemble on Saturday evening.

Pittsburgh Zine Fair
Sunday, September 22nd
The Union Project @ 801 N Negley Ave – Highland Park
2-8pm // FREE

You can read more about the 2013 Pittsburgh Zine Fair over on Geek Pittsburgh.