‘Very uniquely Pittsburgh’: Picklesburgh festival set to kick off on July 16
4 The Record host Carlos Flores sat down with several of the people behind this year’s Picklesburgh festival and learned about the event’s past and future. He also asked if there’s advice for festivalgoers during the closure of part of the Parkway East
Today on For the Record, it’s just been amazing to see the way the city’s embraced this event. It’s one of Pittsburgh’s signature traditions, Picklesburg. Picklesburg is part of the vibrancy of downtown Pittsburgh and it’s part of what makes Pittsburgh so special. We take *** look at what’s in store this year. There’s really something for everyone, whether you like pickles or not. And we ask if the closure of the Parkway East will create extra challenges this year. We’re encouraging folks to take mass transit. Uh, there are plenty of alternative ways, uh, to get in. For the Record, starts now. Welcome to For the Record. I’m Carlos Flores, and the countdown is on to prime time. Picklesburg is set to be *** big deal in the city starting on Thursday, July 16th and continuing through the 19th. Today I sit down with the folks behind the big event and learn about its history and to find out what’s next. Let’s start with my sit down with Jennifer Owen, CEO of Fly Space Productions. Picklesburg has been around for quite some time, but it really is now picking up *** lot of steam in its second decade. Talk to me *** little bit about that first Pickleberg Picklesburg you remember back in 2015. 0 man, I remember standing on the corner of the bridge saying, I really hope people come. Uh, it was about 11 a.m. right before we opened, and all of *** sudden the line started forming, and we thought, oh my goodness, I think we might be onto something here. Um, but it’s been amazing to see how it’s been growing over the years, you know, I went back and looked at it. Our very first picture. Nicholsburg, we had one bridge with just about 40 tents on it and tens of thousands of people came, which blew us away. Now the footprint is over 2 miles long. We have nearly 70 food vendors that are going to participate this year. It’s just been amazing to see the way the city’s embraced this event. Uh, uh, to that point, the fact that it has grown so much now that we’re kind of heading into this back half of this back half decade. Talk to me *** little about the excitement and the differences you’ve kind of noticed that now Picklesburg is the people, *** thing that people look forward to going to every year versus kind of discovering along the way. Yeah, Picklesburg is part of the vibrancy of downtown Pittsburgh and it’s part of what makes Pittsburgh so special. Who else gets the credit for being able to say that we celebrate pickles than Pittsburgh? It’s the perfect match. Um, but it’s been really amazing to see the way that the world has kind of seen Pittsburgh and Picklesburg become entwined. We’ve met people from all over the place. We’ve had folks come from Japan and Australia, all over the country just to celebrate pickles here in Pittsburgh. So it really is drawing folks here and getting to see *** different side of maybe what you’d see on *** Steelers weekend or something else happening in the city. Um, it’s been really great, and, and, and to that point, I’m always very curious because when I first heard about it I was like, oh, OK, that’s, that’s interesting. Let me, but like what do you feel is in your, in your opinion the draw? Is it the pickles themselves or the fact that it’s just such ***, I guess, *** whimsical fun festival? It’s unlike anything else that you’ll get to participate in, and that’s what makes. It’s so special for Pittsburgh, um, because we get to be *** little bit kooky, get to do something *** little bit silly, and go out and have pickle beer and put *** hot dog inside *** pickle and eat it on *** stick and get on *** mechanical pickle because we don’t do mechanical bulls at Picklesburg. We do *** mechanical pickle, um, so, you know, it’s this opportunity to kind of let loose *** little bit and do something that’s *** little bit goofy, *** little bit silly, but also at the same time really gives us *** sense of place and that’s exciting and it’s, it’s. I was saying earlier it’s *** well conducted orchestra on site. The number of people that are involved, the number of organizations that are involved, the way that the city and all of the stakeholders come together to make this thing happen is really what it makes it so special because it wouldn’t happen without all of those people coming together and making it, making it true. And what I found very interesting about this particular festival or any festival to say the least, is kind of where do you kind of go from where you are? What’s that next step. Look like and it, it’s, you can say something involving pickles is almost the sky is the limit and you really all kind of done that we put the pickle in the sky so there’s that. I guess what’s it been like over the last couple of years producing this year over year and really just trying to top what you’ve already accomplished? Oh, that’s exactly it. Every year we’re trying to make it more guest friendly, safer, more fun thinking of what is the next crazy idea that we could come up with that helps celebrate pickles. In *** little bit of *** different way that we haven’t seen before and every year I think that the team has come together and put together some really amazing things this year the expanded footprint is part of that. We have always heard, hey, it’s really crowded at Picklesburg and so every year we try to make it bigger and wider and have more opportunity for people to participate and we’re doing that again this year. Every year we think we’ve cracked it and then people surprise us and say, hey, I’m coming back and it’s great. So we’re really excited for this year to see how that all works out. I think that. We’re constantly trying to make it better in different ways, um, whether that is holding off the rain, which you know we don’t really have much control over, but how do you handle it once it does happen on site? How do we make sure that no matter what people walk away having *** great experience at Picklesburg? and you mentioned some of the uh the opportunities or the things that people can experience, whether they be the vendors, whether it be the mechanical pickle, but of course I can’t, we can’t talk about Picklesburg without the food itself, star of the show, pickles. Talk to me *** little bit about the, uh, the, the kind of food that we’re gonna. Be expecting. I know it’s *** lot of creative ideas and honestly, what are you looking forward to the most? Well, so the very first year that we started this, it almost felt like *** county fair. We’re like, let’s bring pickles in jars and it’ll be that sort of experience and very quickly it became, let’s see what crazy things we can do with pickles. Have you ever had pickle ice cream? No, at Picklesburg you can. Um, and so there’s some really amazing food that’s going to be on site pickle egg rolls, pickle pierogis, pickle pizza, um. We have somebody that puts pickles inside, I’m sorry, hot dogs inside *** pickle, and you can eat it instead of *** bun. Um, so there’s the really the creative juices are flowing, forgive my pun, we, we’re really into puns at Picklesburg, um, but the, the, the creative brine is flowing, uh, about what you can do with *** pickle, and it’s not just cucumbers either. There’s *** lot of pickled items whether that’s onions, kimchi, all sorts of things. So we, we encourage anything pickled come. Try it at Picklesburg. Is there *** personal favorite you had? I know you’ve had plenty of years to test out *** lot of items. Is, is there one that really sticks out? I am *** fan of just give me *** nice crisp cold pickle. That I can just, you know, get that crunch right into it, uh, that’s, that’s what gets it for me. I also really enjoy ***, *** nice cold pickle beer, um, at the end of the day with our teams to celebrate how the festival comes together. Still ahead on For the Record, I think that it’s just something that is very uniquely Pittsburgh and people will love and I hope stays *** tradition forever. More on the Picklesburg traditions and how they’ve become the bread and butter of this annual event. Welcome back to For the Record. And as we continue our focus on all things Picklesburg, I want to bring in Marin Patron, *** longtime Picklesburg vendor who was with the festival at its start. You have to me one of the most interesting kind of backstories when it comes to Picklesburg in general. You were kind of on the ground floor when it kind of came to its inception back in 2015. What did you think your role really kind of was at that time? So I was the marketing and special events manager for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and uh myself and our VP of special events and development, Russell Howard at the time were challenged uh with activating downtown *** unique and fun way during *** time when not that many people were in downtown and. He came to me and said, let’s start *** pickle festival, and I said I hate pickles. I wasn’t sure it would be *** good idea and boy was I proven wrong. The city embraced this concept and I still remember the day that we announced it. So my role was to work with our operations team, work with Russell and the team at Fly Space Productions on creating this vision that we had, and we, we did. We put it together and we really all, I think we’re surprised at the success, and I’m thrilled that it’s still happening. Uh, and I guess knowing that there were *** level of doubts per se going what are you talking about, but knowing the success it really kind of has, what do you feel has really kind of clicked for people who really enjoys *** festival like this? I, I think it’s fun. I think it’s great that the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership keeps the event free so that anyone who wants to come can afford to come and experience whatever part of Picklesburg they’re interested in, whether it’s the kids’ activities, the merchandise, the food, the music. There’s really something for everyone. Whether you like pickles or not like me, and so I think that it, it’s accessible. I think it’s funny. I think that there’s so many jokes to be had about Picklesburg. I think there’s *** great selfie opportunity to show your friends with the, the inflatable balloon or any of the pickle products that you try, and I think that it’s just something that is very uniquely Pittsburgh and people will love and I hope stays *** tradition forever. And, and that’s awesome first and foremost, but I also am curious because I, from what I understand you are *** vendor as well. Talk to me *** little bit what do you vend? What kind of got you started with something like that, and how has it really kind of evolved since you started? Yeah, so when I left the PDP, I was, uh, moving to Philadelphia and I talked to the team and they said, would you be interested in having *** booth for the Pittsburgh Irish Festival, which I’m the executive director of, and it’s, we’re *** nonprofit, so we use this as *** fundraiser and our festivals in September so it’s *** really great opportunity for us to promote, create awareness, and, and do *** fundraiser for our organization. And so we have challenged ourselves year after year to come up with different things. So our booth is called the Ideal Pickle. It’s very ideal, and we do everything from *** large pickle on *** stick to pickles wrapped in bacon, pickles stuffed with cheese, pickles with hot dog inside, which is what we call *** dog in *** dill. And my personal favorite, we put the hot dog inside of the pickle. We wrap it in bacon, and that’s called the meat monster. And folks come to our booth every year to conquer the meat monster, and uh we even did *** foot-long one year of it and we rang *** bell when people had it. And it was really *** fun, exciting experience for people to try something new and we try to introduce something new every year too, and I think. Uh, PDP does *** great job challenging the vendors to come up with unique and creative ideas, and people come from all over to participate and all over to try, and I think it’s on us as vendors to continue to provide *** unique experience year after year. And, and I, I think what I, I find about your perspective that’s extremely unique not only as *** vendor itself, but you have *** front row seat to the evolution of the crowds, of course. In 2015 there was *** lot of curiosity of kind of like is this gonna work knowing that you’ve had that front row seat, what does that change really look like for you and how does that make you feel knowing that this has caught on so well? So the first thing I feel is proud and proud of something that I even had *** small part in creating and participate in. The other thing I feel is happy for Pittsburgh and proud of the PDP because I. Believe that having *** vibrant downtown ripples into *** vibrant city of Pittsburgh, *** vibrant Allegheny County, and, and really Western Pennsylvania and the tri-state area and beyond. And so Pittsburg results in not only *** huge economic impact locally, but our tourism impact is fantastic. And so I, I think that that’s my biggest takeaway is how great it is that this tradition has continued. I would say as *** vendor watching the crowds come, as *** person who’s fundraising for *** nonprofit, super thrilled, of course, as you can imagine, um, but it’s been really fun to see some of the same faces year after year, but then also people who are just making it for the first time. I think after COVID people started traveling again and so we’re seeing people from all over the country, all over the world. Excited to celebrate pickles with us and what do you feel could be the future of *** festival of of this size or this growing size? So it’s an interesting question because you start to wonder at what point have we outdone ourselves and there’s no more creativity we can have with pickled products with this event and I think the reality is that it will, even if nothing ever changes, people will still come to support this event year after year as *** family. Family tradition or I’ve seen bachelorette parties walk walking through the streets of Pittsburgh trying different things and sampling pickled beer and then celebrating in downtown afterwards. I think that we have to keep changing but also maintain those things that people have come to love and has become tradition for them. Still ahead, our organization is committed to making downtown *** place for everyone. How the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is relishing the impact of Pigglesburg in the steel City. Welcome back to For the Record, and as we gather perspectives on Picklesburg, there is one that’s very important to share. Jeremy Waldrop, the head of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. Take *** look. Uh, we’re talking about *** huge festival, one of, I guess I would say, ***, *** key, uh, festival for the city of Pittsburgh. It’s grown to that for sure. Kind of talk to me about how this festival in particular with Picklesburg and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership really have kind of allowed this event to shine. So our organization is committed to making downtown *** place for everyone, and when I arrived about 15 years ago, the. Downtown was in *** bit of *** transition and folks were really focusing on how do we bring folks into downtown on nights and weekends and so we were looking at. July when the pirates are out of town, the convention center could be slow, the cultural district can be *** little quiet. We’re like, what can we do? We saw Pierogi Fest and the success that it had over at Stage AE that year and we were like, hey, we could do something like this. So we were sitting around *** conference room table, *** former colleague of mine, Russell Howard, he was like, hey, I think that we should do something with pickles, and I was like, Pickles? What are you talking about, man? And uh it kind of started germinating there, you know, no pun intended and uh another colleague, Lee Frank, she’s like well we have to call it Picklesburg and I was like, alright, I think we’re onto something. Then Russell came back over *** weekend of deliberations and he said, hey. I think we need *** giant inflatable pickle, and I was like, dude, are you serious? Like this is not something we need in our life. But sure enough, *** couple of weeks later we’re pitching the idea of let’s go and buy *** 35 ft giant inflatable pickle. We’re gonna have *** food festival. It’s gonna be called Picklesburg, and we were off and running. We grabbed some partners, um, our friends at Flyspace, we started talking to the city and the county, and people were kind of scratching their head *** bit, but, uh. It worked and, and, and of course it y’all kind of had that ball rolling ever since, since 2015, but there was *** point, uh, that everything kind of froze. The world kind of stopped per se, and of course we’re talking about the 2020 pandemic and while that pickle festival that Picklesburg wasn’t able to happen that year, talk to me about how that kind of energized folks in some way, or do you feel like it energized folks to really kind of jumpstart this next chapter back post-COVID? I think people really missed the opportunity to come together in. In space, right, and downtowns are built for that. We bring people together, almost 100,000 people *** day to work. Uh, this is where we come to celebrate. This is where we come to protest is downtown’s where people come together, so it had *** significant impact on our community. But what it did also was really, I think, just show folks the importance of coming together into one space and, uh, with the kind of. Viralness of TikTok, um, it grabbed hold of our festival in *** pretty unique way and it really took what was *** good, I’ll say super regional festival and turned it into *** national event, um, the ability of young folks to come and get their selfie and do some crazy videos online. Uh, sparked this viral nature that that really kind of caught us off guard. Uh, we knew that we had something special, but, but social media took it to the next level, and it’s been something that you’re kind of hanging on to and trying to ensure that you create *** great space for everyone, um, while also dealing with just the, the huge success. And I, I was curious, was there any concern over that year in 2020, knowing that you have been building something for the last five years or so, knowing you had to come to *** complete halt? Was there *** concern that it would have been that, that would have been the peak for you all? No, we knew that, uh, basically everything that we do from *** programming perspective was more important than ever, so we doubled down, uh, we expanded the footprint, uh, created more space, and that’s been something pretty much true to form every year for the last 5 years or so. Uh, when you come to Picklesburg, it’s *** bit different. We’ve changed the format. Uh, we’re, we’re back to 2 bridges again this year, but we’ve also incorporated the newly renovated market. Square and the new downtown gem Art’s Landing into the food festival footprint. That’s *** tongue twister there, um, and we’re looking to bring the best experience for patrons that they’ve ever had, uh, with respect to this event. Uh, we’ve got more space, about the same number of vendors, uh, more shade, uh, we’re bringing in some misting technology because it is July and we just, uh, experienced *** big heat wave, so, so we’re ready. And, and, uh, of course we got, we gotta talk about the dollars and cents behind it. Of course y’all put on *** ton of events throughout the year, and it’s supposed to kind of generate this level of traffic for the city of Pittsburgh from an economic perspective. What does this festival really bring? Well, there are hundreds of folks employed for the festival. Our organization, our partners at Fly Flyspace hire. Probably close to 400 folks ourselves, uh, when we talked to our friends at Visit Pittsburgh who do some economic analysis, they are saying almost $20 million in economic benefit to the region. It’s almost *** million dollars in sales tax alone, um, but I think what it also does is it’s the ability to highlight. Local restaurants and entrepreneurs in ways into *** crowd that they would never get to on their own, so we’re really proud of our continued partnership with local businesses and really trying to find ways to pull through kind of Pittsburgh specific businesses and companies that that make this event special and I, I want you to kind of maybe zoom out just *** little bit with me here. Uh, it’s, it’s been *** big year for the city of Pittsburgh. I mean you have pickles. That’s coming up, pride that it just kind of came and went, uh, the 4th of July, which was huge just last week, and we could, we can’t ignore the elephant in the room with the NFL draft making its way and out of its way in Pittsburgh. Talk to me about where does this summer really kind of rank or this year, and we’re not even halfway done yet in the history books for the PDP. Well, I think downtown is back, right? Like we have solidified our space as the. Neighborhood for everyone. We’re not just for the people who work and, and, and live in downtown Pittsburgh, but we are the place for our community to gather and we can handle it, right? There was *** lot of people freaking out about traffic and getting in and out of the draft. It worked seamlessly. Uh, you mentioned the Three Rivers Arts Festival Juneteenth, Pride. Um, we just had incredible Fourth of July celebrations, and then that’s what our city’s built for, so we’re excited. To give folks another reason to come downtown, hopefully they fall in love. We have 14 restaurants participating in Taste of Picklesburg. So if you don’t like crowds or you don’t wanna get on one of these bridges, uh, this weekend, you can come down tomorrow, tonight even, and, and, and, and experience Picklesburg in your own way. And, and we hope that you fall in love with one of those restaurants and you come back time and again. You’re watching For the Record. We’ve got this week’s final word right after this. Welcome back to For the Record, and this week’s final word, I asked the head of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership about the future of Picklesburg and his advice for festivalgoers who will have to navigate the Parkway East closure. We’re ready for it. Uh, I think we’re encouraging folks to take mass transit. Uh, there are plenty of alternate ways, uh, to get in, and it’s also, you know, *** relatively slow time in downtown Pittsburgh. Uh, it’s great because you can come in in the evenings when traffic’s gonna be, uh, *** little less. So, uh, uh, uh, we get it. It’s gonna be *** headache. Folks coming from the east are gonna have to scratch their head *** bit and be like, how am I getting here? But this. Discourage you at all. Uh, you have 4 days this year to make it happen. If I were you, I would look at our Thursday and Friday afternoons. They tend to be some of the slowest times in the festival, so hopefully you can catch some down traffic and, and scoot right in, uh, get your, get your pickle, uh, flavors, uh, taken care of and, and, and get out. And uh of course we gotta get to the festival per se and of course it’s an opportunity to really kind of celebrate all that, but we can’t not talk about next year and the years to come. Where do you, where do you feel like this festival can go from here? Well, this is our largest. Footprint ever, um, and we’re gonna continue to expand and make *** great experience for everybody that’s involved. We want people to get in and out of the festival easily. We want them to be able to queue up and, and, and, and get their products quickly, uh, but we’re really looking to the community for inspiration. Um, there are things you didn’t know you needed at this festival, and we’re looking for our restaurants, our chefs to, to come back with things that are even bigger and better. I personally can’t wait for uh Mancini’s, uh, Pittsburgh roll, which is some Icely’s chip ham, uh, of course, pickles, uh, some cheese that came about 3 years ago to the festival, and it’s, it’s one of my favorites, but I’m excited to see what’s next this year. And I want to thank Jeremy Waldrop and all of our guests for joining me this week, and that’s all for today’s For the Record. Thanks for watching. We’ll see you next Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m.
‘Very uniquely Pittsburgh’: Picklesburgh festival set to kick off on July 16
4 The Record host Carlos Flores sat down with several of the people behind this year’s Picklesburgh festival and learned about the event’s past and future. He also asked if there’s advice for festivalgoers during the closure of part of the Parkway East
Updated: 11:00 AM EDT Jul 12, 2026
The annual Picklesburgh festival is set to be held from July 16-19 in Downtown Pittsburgh.The event kicked off in 2015 and has grown with each passing year.On Sunday morning, 4 The Record host Carlos Flores spoke with several people behind the annual celebration of all things pickle.“There’s really something for everyone, whether you like pickles or not,” said Mairin Petrone, the founder and CEO of Petrone Events, LLC. “I think that it’s just something that is very uniquely Pittsburgh.”Jennifer Owen, principal at Flyspace Productions, said, “Picklesburgh is part of the vibrancy of downtown Pittsburgh and is part of what makes Pittsburgh so special.”The event includes lots of pickle-related food options, including pickle egg rolls, pickle pierogies and pickle pizza.“I also really enjoy a nice cold pickle beer at the end of the day with our team to celebrate how the festival comes together,” Owen said. This year’s Picklesburgh festival also includes an expanded footprint, including incorporating the newly renovated Market Square as well as the new Arts Landing.Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown, also offered advice for Picklesburgh-goers navigating the 25-day Parkway East closure that began on July 10.“We’re ready for it,” Waldrup said. “I think we’re encouraging folks to take mass transit. There are plenty of alternative ways to get in. And it’s also a relatively slow time in Downtown Pittsburgh. It’s great because you can come in in the evenings when traffic’s going to be a little less. You have four days this year to make it happen. If I were you, I would look at our Thursday and Friday afternoons. They tend to be some of the slowest times in the festival, so hopefully you can catch some down traffic and scoot right in.”WATCH THE FULL EPISODE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
PITTSBURGH —
The annual Picklesburgh festival is set to be held from July 16-19 in Downtown Pittsburgh.
The event kicked off in 2015 and has grown with each passing year.
On Sunday morning, 4 The Record host Carlos Flores spoke with several people behind the annual celebration of all things pickle.
“There’s really something for everyone, whether you like pickles or not,” said Mairin Petrone, the founder and CEO of Petrone Events, LLC. “I think that it’s just something that is very uniquely Pittsburgh.”
Jennifer Owen, principal at Flyspace Productions, said, “Picklesburgh is part of the vibrancy of downtown Pittsburgh and is part of what makes Pittsburgh so special.”
The event includes lots of pickle-related food options, including pickle egg rolls, pickle pierogies and pickle pizza.
“I also really enjoy a nice cold pickle beer at the end of the day with our team to celebrate how the festival comes together,” Owen said.
This year’s Picklesburgh festival also includes an expanded footprint, including incorporating the newly renovated Market Square as well as the new Arts Landing.
Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown, also offered advice for Picklesburgh-goers navigating the 25-day Parkway East closure that began on July 10.
“We’re ready for it,” Waldrup said. “I think we’re encouraging folks to take mass transit. There are plenty of alternative ways to get in. And it’s also a relatively slow time in Downtown Pittsburgh. It’s great because you can come in in the evenings when traffic’s going to be a little less. You have four days this year to make it happen. If I were you, I would look at our Thursday and Friday afternoons. They tend to be some of the slowest times in the festival, so hopefully you can catch some down traffic and scoot right in.”
WATCH THE FULL EPISODE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE