Project Pop Up is back again this week with the third Night Market in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl. This event will feature many food and craft vendors along with a curling demonstration outside its new location with the musicians' group Symbiotic Collusion on 7th Street.
Jeremy Waldrup, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, the sponsor of Project Pop Up, said this event will be slightly smaller than the last, but will still offer the same quality of talent.
“We’ll be having 11 vendors at this market, it’s a little bit smaller than our last, we had about 22 at our last--it was outdoors, so we had a lot more space--but these are some great food and craft vendors,” Waldrup said.
A mix of returning and new vendors such as Bluebird Kitchen, Stak Ceramics, and Pittsburgh Pie Guy will be in attendance. Waldrup said many have benefited greatly from their participation in past events.
“A number of them have signed leases in the space now, so they’re hoping to call downtown home for a long time. And then, a lot of these new vendors that have been a part of the Night Markets, they continue to come back; they’re excited about just the energy it provides them. Not many of these folks have the opportunity to showcase their wares in downtown Pittsburgh,” Waldrup said.
The new indoor space will feature Symbiotic Collusion’s artist-in-residence Derek Reese and live entertainment by the Chamber Light Players string quartet. The learn-to-curl demonstration will be set up outside with one major modification: there will be no ice.
Waldrup said curling was the perfect activity to offer for the time of year and nature of the event. “'Tis the season, it’s cold outside, it’s a little snowy, and we thought this would be a great thing to do,” Waldrup said. “We wanted to bring life to the corner of 8th and Penn. We’ve done bocce out there before, so we’re trying to stick with that theme,” he said.
The Night Market will be open from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday, January 25.
