From the NFL Draft to the return of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, there are a lot of reasons to visit the Steel City this year.<\/p>\n
Channel 11\u2019s Alyssa Raymond spoke with the city\u2019s tourism group about the events making this Pittsburgh\u2019s banner year. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biggest opportunities that we have to really tell the Pittsburgh story is really throughout the year, but in particular at the NFL Draft,\u201d said Jerad Bachar, VisitPittsburgh president and CEO. <\/p>\n
2026 \u2014 the year of the much-anticipated NFL Draft in Pittsburgh \u2014 is finally here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a great opportunity for us to reintroduce in some cases but also to introduce for the first time Pittsburgh to fans all over the world,\u201d Bachar said. <\/p>\n
Overall, Bachar calls 2026 an incredible year for the Steel City. It kicks off with a home Steelers playoff game. <\/p>\n
\u201cHotels are already starting to report thatthey\u2019resold out for next weekend,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Then, in March, the Atlantic 10 Men\u2019s Basketball Championship. The 59th Carnegie International comes back in May, the longest-running international art exhibition in North America.<\/p>\n
And, Anthrocon returns for the 20th year on Fourth of July weekend. <\/p>\n
\u201cArts Fest will be at its new home in Arts Landing. Picklesburgh. The list is quite extensive, so we\u2019re really excited and the culmination of all of this coming around 4th of July, and because of PA 250 it\u2019s going to be a bigger celebration than we\u2019ve ever seen before,\u201d Bachar said. <\/p>\n
Something else to celebrate \u2014 Pittsburgh making National Geographic\u2019s list for the best places in the world to travel in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cNational Geographic was the biggest win we\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Bachar said. \u201cOur return rate for people who have been to Pittsburgh for the first time is well over 70-80%, where people come back to Pittsburgh because they\u2019ve fallen in love with the destination.\u201d <\/p>\n
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