Grab the blankets, picnic baskets and lawn chairs because the free outdoor music and movie season is back in Pittsburgh.
This weekend marks the beginning of both the 2013 Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Citiparks summer music and movies series.
The Allegheny County Summer Concert Series kicks off with the Pittsburgh Opera performing at Hartwood Acres Park at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Citiparks begins its series with the Charles Wallace Band playing at Riverview Park at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8 followed by a screening of “American Graffiti” at sundown.
Tim Ishman, assistant director of Parks and Recreation, said the movie series is a great way to take in the city at night.
“These are G-rated and PG-rated movies that we show at our parks,” Ishman said. “I encourage people to bring a picnic lunch and sit down and enjoy the great evenings we have available to us here in Pittsburgh.”
Throughout the summer, Citiparks will be showing movies such as “Jack Reacher,” “Madagascar 3” and “The Goonies” at seven parks throughout the city.
Ishman said there is also a downtown concert series to entertain city workers on break.
“We have a Mellon Square concert series, which is done in town here with some favorite local bands to entertain the crowds during lunch hour,” Ishman said. “And we also have the Reservoir of Jazz, which is done at the lawn at Highland Park in August. It has some of Pittsburgh’s finest jazz musicians.”
The Allegheny County concert series often attracts big names. This year’s lineup includes Rickie Lee Jones, Sixpence None the Richer, pop star David Cassidy and Pittsburgh mainstays Rusted Root.
Allegheny County will be screening “The Lorax,” “The Hunger Games” and “Oz The Great and Powerful” at different locations throughout the summer as a part of its Movies in the Parks series.
All concerts and movies are free and open to the public with the exception of the Pittsburgh Blues Festival and the Allegheny County Music Festival.
Visitors are encouraged to bring their own food, blankets and chairs, but are prohibited from bringing barbeques, glass bottles and alcohol.
Concerts and movies run through September.
