Editorial: Taylor Swift and Juneteenth prove peaceful, joyful fun is still possible

Pittsburgh does love a party, and there’s no party like a huge arena concert.

On Friday and Saturday, the city welcomed fans of one of the biggest stars in the world when Taylor Swift brought her “Eras” tour to Acrisure Stadium. To say the turnout was heavy is an understatement. The second night broke attendance records at the venue the Steelers have famously sold out for years.

It was a big show with big-money impact on the region in terms of hotel rooms, restaurants and bars.

But what about the impact on public services?

With two stadiums staring at each other from the banks of the Ohio River, the opportunity for giant concerts is always there — especially when one is a football stadium that doesn’t have games all summer. And hey, with the Pirates’ record over the last few decades, you could probably plan ahead for a big event in October and not worry about the team needing the diamond.

That has prompted some huge concerts, some where the parking lot tailgating seemed to almost eclipse the performances in the stadiums.

You can argue whether that has given Pittsburgh a reputation for drunken, trashy, brawling events or whether certain artists — and fans — have gotten that reputation in the city. Maybe it’s a little of both.

A 2018 Kenny Chesney concert that only left 25 tons of trash strewn about the North Shore seemed downright successful compared to his 2013 event with 30 tons and his 2016 event with 48 tons. Luke Bryan’s concert promoter was billed by then-Mayor Bill Peduto when things got particularly messy in 2014.

And that doesn’t count crime, fights and EMS calls for drugs or alcohol.

The Swift concerts left trash. When you have 140,000 people (plus parking lot overflow) for two days, you produce garbage. But it was less than other events, according to many. There were some medical emergencies but only a handful of ambulance transports for things like allergies and dehydration.

Was there alcohol? Some. Swift is 33 now, and many of her fans have grown up with her. But were there the kind of arrests that seemed more like a bar fight than a summer concert? Not really.

Some of this might be about fan base. Yes, Swift draws a younger crowd, particularly a lot of young girls. Many showed up in groups with at least one mom. It’s hard to trash the joint with a chaperone.

But that wasn’t all that was going on in Pittsburgh, or even the North Side, over the weekend. There was also the Juneteenth Homecoming Celebration at Point State Park on Friday and the Juneteenth Parade winding through the city Saturday.

It was, overall, a weekend of joy. It was fun. Remember fun?

Pittsburgh was able to celebrate with exuberance. It didn’t devolve into violence. It didn’t erupt in excess and vice. And after years of escalating crime and deaths that shouldn’t have happened at a party or a holiday or a random Saturday morning, it was all the more joyful to have this bright spot shine through.