Allegheny County Council paves the way for the return of Picklesburgh

The Allegheny County Council paved the way Tuesday evening for Pittsburgh to become Picklesburgh once again.

Council unanimously granted a temporary license to the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to bring the festival to the city’s Andy Warhol Bridge from Aug. 18-23.

“Every year, it gets better and bigger,” Council President Pat Catena said of the event. “After taking a year off due to covid, I’m looking forward to getting back there.”

Councilman Robert Palmosina asked if the festival — specifically the bridge closure — would have a negative impact on traffic for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Aug. 21 preseason game.

“The Warhol Bridge will be closed, but we have about 900 other bridges,” Councilwoman Olivia Bennett said. “As someone who’s lived on the North Side, I can tell you that people will find a way to get to the game.”

During the 2019 festival, the vendors, entertainment and — of course — all things pickle-based required county police and other security to close the bridge multiple times to additional pedestrian traffic, letting in groups of 50 as other guests came off the bridge.

Fresh off of national accolades, having won a USA Today reader poll for the top specialty food festival in the country, the 2019 festival also nearly doubled in size, spilling past the bridge to the riverside lanes of Fort Duquesne Boulevard.

Details for this year’s festival have yet to be posted at Picklesburgh.com, as organizers waited to see if the 2021 temporary license would be approved.

Council Vice President Bob Macey said he’s looking forward to it.

“This is another event that really makes this region stand out,” Macey said.

For the latest festival information, see Picklesburgh.com.