Pittsburgh Irish Festival canceled over crowd size concerns

The Pittsburgh Irish Festival has been canceled, due to “the difficulties of navigating the covid-19 global pandemic,” organizers say.

Instead, the 30th anniversary of the festival will take place from Sept. 10-12, 2021.

This year’s festival originally was scheduled for Sept. 11-13 at the Lots at Sandcastle in West Homestead.

“The safety of our team, volunteers, patrons, vendors and entertainers is of utmost concern and, based on information gathered, we do not believe we can safely gather our 25,000+ crowd in September,” organizers said on the festival Facebook page.

“While this decision was incredibly difficult, we know that the Pittsburgh Irish Festival and other live events will bounce back stronger than ever,” said executive director Mairin Petrone. “We are grateful for our community’s understanding and commitment to our mission of preserving and promoting the Irish culture in our area.”

Anyone who has purchased an advanced ticket online will be contacted directly with the options of receiving a full refund, transferring their ticket to the 2021 festival or donating the purchase price to the festival.

Anyone who received a complimentary ticket or voucher as part of a promotion can use it in 2021.

The festival will continue to offer its Live Stream Irish Music Series, which has featured more than five live music, comedy, cooking, storytelling and children’s performances on the Facebook page, garnering more than 400,000 views since stay-at-home orders began. Organizers also plan to expand into new areas of the Irish culture.

All performances and streams occur on the festival’s Facebook page. The full streaming schedule and all past live performances are available on the festival website.

Details: pghirishfest.org