The 25th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy lights up inexperienced areas

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will light up the night in six city parks.

Making Your Parks Shine, presented by PNC and UPMC Health Plan, includes lighting installations from LUXE Creative, a Pittsburgh event and creative agency.

The October 1-2 event features block parties, live music, local food vendors, and family-friendly activities, including games that glow in the dark.

“Pittsburgh has a great appreciation for light and LUXE is going to do such a great job,” said Alana Wenk, director of communications and marketing for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. “The lighting will be quite extensive. It will look so bright. “

Block parties will take place on October 1st from 6pm to 9pm at the Walled Garden in Mellon Park, the Patricia Rooney Memorial Fountain in Allegheny Commons Park, and Schenley Plaza. The October 2nd block parties will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at August Wilson Park, McKinley Park, and the Frick Environmental Center. Guests can register via each park’s web link to stay up to date.

All six parks are illuminated on both evenings. The event is free of charge.

Courtesy Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is hosting “Making Your Parks Shine,” an October 1-2 event in six parks with lighting installations like this one created by LUXE Creative, a Pittsburgh event and creative services agency.

The event is intended to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the conservation area for the maintenance of the parks. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy was founded in December 1996 by a group of citizens studying the deteriorating conditions in Pittsburgh’s historic city parks.

The non-profit organization is working to restore and improve the city’s parking system. It has raised more than $ 130 million and completed 22 major park improvement projects, and has programs for more than 7,500 children annually.

“We have held gala ceremonies over the past few years in honor of conservation milestones,” said Catherine Qureshi, president and chief executive officer of Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, in a statement. “With the developing Covid-19 pandemic, we thought it would be best to organize an event that welcomes all Pittsburgh residents, so that we can light up Pittsburgh’s beloved green spaces for 25 years by actually making them Bring light. “

Martin Potoczny, founder and CEO of LUXE Creative, said in a statement that he is “excited to be part of this exciting, one-off creative project to highlight Pittsburgh’s beautiful parks with artistic light installations”.

“We set out to create a collection of immersive, inclusive, city-wide visual celebrations of the amazing work the Parks Conservancy has done for the city of Pittsburgh parks in its 25 years of service.”

The celebrations give the reserve an opportunity to honor its donors, volunteers and staff who have made the organization successful over the past 25 years.

“Our parks are important cornerstones of our communities. They promote interconnection and nature, wellbeing and justice, ”said Mayor Bill Peduto, recognizing the reserve’s 25-year partnership in creating inviting parks across the city.

Wenk said this way of celebrating the parks is an opportunity for anyone in Pittsburgh to visit one of the parks, and also a way to experience a park they have never been to before.

“People really relied on the parks during the pandemic,” said Wenk. “And this event will be a way to continue enjoying these outdoor spaces while staying safe.”

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a contributor to Tribune Review. You can contact JoAnne at 724-853-5062, jharrop@triblive.com, or on Twitter.