Like any annual event, the First Night Pittsburgh celebration boasts a lot of continuity from year to year. The 30th iteration of this family-friendly New Year’s Eve event is no different. But there are some new wrinkles.
As always, First Night features live music, dance, art exhibits, kids’ activities and more in dozens of indoor and outdoor venues throughout the Cultural District. It still starts and ends with fireworks, with a big community parade down Penn Avenue in between.
And as has been the case since 2021, this Pittsburgh Cultural Trust event, sponsored by Highmark, is free. Last year’s First Night welcomed an estimated 10,000 attendees, said Sarah Aziz, who directs First Night for the Trust.
Notable novelties include the ribbon-cutting for the reopening of the Clemente Bridge, which has been closed for renovation for nearly two years. The ceremony includes the launch of a new lighting project on the Three Sisters bridges.
A new work of public art will also premiere in the Backyard at 8th and Penn. Local artist Duncan MacDiarmid’s Firetree Project is a 24-foot-tall copper and steel sculpture incorporating bells and meant to symbolize hope for the future. Aziz said visitors will be encouraged to write their wishes for next year on pieces of paper. “All those wishes will go into the Firetree project, and there will be a show where it is lit,” she said.
Other highlights include music headliner Lyndsey Smith, a Pittsburgh native and soul singer formerly of Lyndsey Smith & Soul Distribution. Smith moved to New Orleans in 2019, but she’s back for the holidays and will take the main stage at Penn and Stanwix from 10:45 p.m. to midnight. Other mainstage acts include reggae group The Flow Band and Zuzu African Acrobats.
First Night begins at 6 p.m. Other attractions include the annual Sing-Off Competition; continuous screenings of vintage cartoons featuring Betty Boop, Popeye and more at the Harris Theater; entertainment by Giggles the Clown and O’Ryan the O’Mazing; Japanese sword-dancing by Tadashi Kato; and street magic with Mr. Messado and the Harmon Brothers.
Other musical acts include Dwayne Dolphin at the newly renovated Greer Cabaret Theater and Lounge, and the South Hills School of Rock outdoors at the Backyard at 8th and Penn.
There are also guided backstage tours of the Byham Theater and Benedum Center. And Trust art galleries, including Wood Street Galleries, Liberty Gallery, and 707 Gallery, will be open.
The evening concludes with the countdown to midnight and Future of Pittsburgh Ball rising, with fireworks to follow.
