Pittsburgh's Picklesburgh sets new attendance record

By any measure, the seventh edition of Picklesburgh was the largest ever held, officials said.

During the three-day festival, crowds took full advantage of a larger footprint that encompassed the Rachel Carson (9^th Street) Bridge and the riverfront along the 10^th Street Bypass.

“This was definitely the largest event we’ve had for Picklesburgh,” said Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which produces the event.

“The event grew by 30% from a space perspective and it was full all weekend long,” said Waldrup. “One of my colleagues said this was like the goldfish theory– the goldfish will grow as large as the bowl that you put it in.”

Waldrup said they determined the event set a record based on feedback from vendors.

“We’ve had many vendors who have been with us since year one who had record sales,” said Waldrup. “We also look at the amount of water that we sell, the amount of merchandise that’s sold. Those sorts of things all were larger than any year that we’ve had in the past.”

But when does a success story become too much of a good thing? At certain points, Picklesburgh organizers had to limit the number of people who could be on the bridge at one time, Waldrup said, requiring some people to have to wait outside the festival. It’s not the first year that this has happened and some folks were discouraged by it.

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“It’s certainly the case, we get it. We’re certainly working to address those concerns and we encourage people to come during off times,” Waldrup said. “Friday afternoons tend to be a great time to check out the festival. Everybody wants to be there Saturday at two o’clock in the afternoon (but) if you’re looking to avoid crowds, that might not be the best time.”

Waldrup also said that Picklesburgh organizers continue to be struck by the sheer numbers of people from outside of Pittsburgh who have made the festival a summer destination.

“We had someone from London fly in for this event,” he said. “We had volunteers come in from Detroit who had seen it on social media and said ‘we want to be a part of this festival.’ That shows how much of a peculiar phenomenon this festival has become. It was a huge success.”