National recording artist and recent Queen frontman Adam Lambert leads the entertainment at this year’s Comcast Light Up Night in Pittsburgh.
Lambert will perform during the event at the Main Stage on Fort Duquesne Boulevard. The Nox Boys and Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers will open the show.
“Pittsburgh, I will see you on Comcast Light Up Night celebration,” Lambert said Wednesday via video message during a press conference at the Senator John Heinz History Center. “I will be on the main stage. See you there.”
The 59th annual Light Up Night takes place Nov. 22 throughout Downtown Pittsburgh.
“We welcome Adam to this 59-year tradition,” said Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, host of the event. “It’s a community event that brings back the nostalgia of the past with a look toward the future.”
Other entertainment includes funk band Beauty Slap at the BNY Mellon New Music Stage on Penn Avenue.
The EQT Jazzmasters Stage will offer MCG Jazz Presents: Celebrating the Music of Fred Rogers, with special appearances by Daniel Tiger.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will host several free 30-minute concerts beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Heinz Hall. A dance party by live deejays at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s pop-up art experience will take place at 133 7th St.
The City-County Building is offering tours from 6 to 9 p.m. The location will also host the annual gingerbread house display and competition in the lobby. It had previously been held at the PPG Wintergarden.
There will be seven official tree lighting ceremonies, which begin at noon with the dedication of the crèche at the U.S. Steel Tower and conclude with the 7 p.m. lighting of the Highmark Christmas Tree.
Mayor Bill Peduto said the event is a time for families, especially children. Peduto was in the holiday spirit as he joined Santa Claus to compare beards and sing Christmas carols with students from Brightside Academy.
Here's Mayor Bill Peduto singing with Santa Claus (Peduto is the one on the left), as the city unveils its plans for Light Up Night. pic.twitter.com/GU3CNSAPBg
— TribLIVE.com (@TribLIVE) November 6, 2019
The Peoples Gas Holiday Market in Market Square continues for an eighth year. It opens Nov. 22 and runs through Dec. 23.
Santa Claus will arrive on Light Up Night and flip the switch for the more than 150,000 lights and a 35-foot sphere tree synchronized to holiday music. Money from photos with Santa will be given to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Since its inception $300,000 has been donated, said Peoples president and CEO Morgan O’Brien.
The nearby MassMutual Pittsburgh Ice Rink in PPG Plaza will be open until midnight. At 5:30 p.m., more than 300 people will carry light memorials dedicated to someone touched by cancer. The ceremony ends with the lighting of the 65-foot plaza Christmas tree.
The evening will conclude with the BNY Mellon fireworks finale at 9:30 p.m.
