It’s October and it’s the weekend. We have a few ideas of how to spend it.
Phantom Fall Fest
Kennywood’ s Halloween-inspired experience Phantom Fall Fest debuts Friday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
The West Mifflin Park has combined two events it held in the past – Phantom Fright Nights and Happy Hauntings.
There are daylight activities for families and scarier experiences for others at night.
Kiddieland, Thomas Town and other family areas will be open but will close at 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. There will be five haunted houses and four scare zones.
The festival will feature more than 30 rides, themed activities and new food choices. A new food and drink lineup will include turkey legs, pumpkin funnel cakes, seasonal beers, specialty cocktails, and a host of special dining selections around the park.
The popular Potato Patch will still be open.
Tickets start at $24.99.
Details: kennywood.com
Movie night
Row House Cinema’s drive-in film experience is back, starting Friday in the Strip District. The Lawrenceville theater is collaborating with The Terminal in the Strip District for a second year of outdoor viewing.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Films begin around 8 p.m.
The movies will be shown on a 40-foot screen Fridays and Saturdays in October at the corner of 21st and Smallman Streets in a parking lot.
Tickets are $34.50 per car.
The schedule includes “E.T.”on Friday and “The Wiz” on Saturday.
Guests can pre-order popcorn and candy. There will also be a selection of beer from a different local brewery each weekend.
Details: rowhousecinema.com
Pompeii
Guests can meet Aphrodite, the 2,000-year-old life-sized marble statue of the Greek goddess, this weekend.
She will be featured in “Pompeii: The Exhibition,” which opens Saturday at the Carnegie Science Center on the North Shore.
More than 180 artifacts are on loan from Naples National Archeological Museum in Italy.
Joining Aphrodite will be gladiator helmets, armor, weapons, a ship’s anchor, lamps, jugs, other household objects, furniture, jewelry, medical instruments and tools.
The exhibition tells the tale of a city hidden until its discovery more than 250 years ago. On Aug. 24, 79 A.D., the Roman city of Pompeii was frozen in time from an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
World Heritage Exhibitions of Medina, Ohio, helped bring the exhibition to Pittsburgh.
Tickets are $19.95-$32.45.
Details: carnegiesciencecenter.org
Doors Open Pittsburgh
The Fairmont Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh will be among the buildings open for the public to explore during Doors Open Pittsburgh on Saturday.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
It provides behind-the-scenes access to a diverse assortment of over 30 buildings in Downtown. The sites include government offices, theaters, churches, galleries and hotels, among other spaces.
Guests are invited to visit as many as they want and in any order.
Tickets are $15.
Details: doorsopenpgh.org
Tickets are on sale now to experience Downtown #Pittsburgh like never before on Saturday, October 2!
Access a diverse collection of iconic and newly designed buildings. You decide which buildings you want to visit and in what order. #BeNebby https://t.co/WOBSpXkA22 pic.twitter.com/rpQJLYNcEu— DoorsOpenPittsburgh (@doorsopenpgh) September 20, 2021
Music — from blues to punk rock
The fourth annual Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival is happening at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Downtown, on Friday and at Highmark Stadium on the South Side on Saturday. On Friday Hall of Fame singer Mavis Staples is scheduled to perform at 8 p.m.
The second day of the festival opens at 11 a.m. with a day of live music featuring Grammy Award-winning Robert Cray Band, Morris Day and the Time, Rare Essence, Third World, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, and Dumpstaphunk. Everyone will be required to show proof of receiving a covid-19 vaccination at least two weeks prior. Masks are strongly encouraged.
Tickets start at $37.50.
In another genre: The Punk In Drublic Craft Beer & Music Festival is from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday at The Lots at Sandcastle in Homestead.
It will feature punk rock music and regional craft beer, with performances from NOFX, Pennywise, Less Than Jake, Sick Of It All, Get Dead and Stolen Wheelchairs.
There will be up to three hours of craft beer tasting.
Tickets start at $49.50.
Details: aacc-awc.org or punkindrublicfest.com
