Three Rivers Arts Festival Takes Over Downtown

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Three Rivers Arts Festival kicked off Friday afternoon in Downtown Pittsburgh.

The 10-day festival opened at noon as the music started at the stage in Point State Park, the vendors opened up their tents and the smell of lobster burgers started wafting through the air.

"Our famous lobster burgers; we're here every year," said one foodmaker. "We've got lobsters, we've got special seasoning, spices but what really makes it the best food in the park is we hand make it fresh all day long."

Tents, tables and stages have been going up over the past week, and hundreds of artists moved into Gateway Center and Point State Park Thursday.

One vendor, Scott, is here all the way from Phoenix, Az.

"They are glass flowers. You can build your own custom bouquet," he said of his art. "We've got about 40 different colors of flowers. You screw them right on to the stems. Pick your base color that you like and build your own bouquet."

Organizers say the festival is growing.

"The Artist's Market will start right outside in Gateway and Point State Park. This year, we were able to expand it," said Maguerite Jarrett-Marks, executive director of the Three Rivers Arts Festival. "We got more entries than we ever have before, and so now we're going to have artists in Point State Park through the whole time, we use to have them just on weekends."

The festival also extends through the Cultural District.

The festivities run through June 10.

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