Project Pop Up - Don't Miss It!

by Brian Kurtz, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership

Who says that a 12 degree day in January isn’t the right time to have another Night Market in Downtown Pittsburgh? Surely not I! We are bringing the collection of new and returning vendors to Project Pop Up: Night Market III this Friday. Only we won’t be taking over a parking lot – rather extra space that Symbiotic Collusion (SyCo) offered us inside 131 7^th Street (between Bosa Nova and Tambellini’s) during the Gallery Crawl on Friday January 25^th.

Vendors will be selling jewelry, paintings, illustrations, clothing, hot chocolate, accessories, natural products, ceramics, pies, coffee, sculptures and baked goods (from Downtown’s award winning Bluebird Kitchen!) from 5:30 - 9:00. The Chamber Light Players string quartet (a group of SyCo) will keep everyone entertained. Don’t think elevator music but instead classic and modern hits from your everyday playlist. We at the PDP are excited to be cohabitating with SyCo and their Artist-in-Residence Derek Reese, who will be on hand to talk about his installations while selling a few pieces.

Our full vendor list is available on the Night Market III webpage.

In addition to Night Market III, we have partnered with the Pittsburgh Curling Club to present Project Pop Up: Outdoor Curling at the corner of 8^th Street and Penn Avenue. Members of the club will be on hand to demonstrate the art of curling (sans ice) as you push the kettle on wheels towards the target. So no one gets too cold, we are bringing in standing heaters and a warming station with Yelp Pittsburgh who will be giving away hot chocolate and gloves to participants.

When it’s this cold I like to do nothing but eat until I get warm so the Cultural Trust has worked to bring in a few of Pittsburgh’s own Food Trucks! We’re bringing in tables and chairs so you can sit and eat your street food under the standing heaters. If it’s going to be cold and snowing, we might as well embrace our climate and have some fun with it!

While you’re moving from place to place along the crawl route, make sure you stop by the other Project Pop Up: Downtown participants including Boutique 208 at 208 6^th Street, Fraley’s Robot Repairs at 210 6^th Street, Dream Cream Ice Cream at 539 Liberty Avenue (They now have “Dream Steam” – hot chocolate with a scoop of your favorite ice cream!) and Awesome Books at 929 Liberty Avenue.

It’s going to be snowing and cold for sure, but we’re giving you plenty of opportunities to warm up with Project Pop Up. I hope you take the chance to stop by Night Market III – we’re #21 on the official Gallery Crawl map – and Outdoor Curling to see what we have to offer. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!