PICKLESBURGH FEST WILL DOUBLE IN SIZE THIS YEAR
Picklesburgh returns with expanded footprint and more pickles for everyone
Pittsburghers love their pickles. So much, apparently, that when fans gather to celebrate the tangy fermented food in all of its glory, they can’t be contained to just one bridge.
Which is why this year’s ode to the pickled cucumber — affectionately known as Picklesburgh — will be twice as big as the 2018 event.
When the three- day festival opens at noon on Friday, it will not only span the Roberto Clemente Bridge as in years past, but also will spill over onto the riverside lanes of Fort Duquesne Boulevard between Stanwix and Seventh streets, Downtown. That will allow for a recordbreaking 60 vendors dishing up everything from pickle soda and dill pickle- flavored prime rib jerky to dill pickle salmon sushi and chocolate- covered pickle Oreos. Many will offer free samples.
You’ll be able to buy a wide variety of pickle- related merchandise, too. Conover Organic Farm and McLaughlin Distillery are among more than a dozen local companies offering small- batch edible pickled products — pickle Sriracha relish and dill pickle cashews in the case of the Washington County farm and pickled moonshine for the Sewickley distillery — while shops like Pittsburgh Pottery and Blissed Out Design will scratch your pickle itch with pickle- and Pittsburgh- themed coasters, ornaments, mugs and other gifts.
One of the event’s most popular souvenir T- shirts reads “I’m Kind of a Big Dill.” The same could be said of the fest itself, which is co- sponsored by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and pickle- maker Kraft Heinz.
Launched in 2015, the festival in March was named the Best Specialty Food Festival in the U. S. in a USA Today’s reader’s poll. And the competition was fierce, with long- running events like the Pismo Beach Clam Festival in California and Miami’s South Beach Seafood Festival among the fellow nominees.
The fest’s popular pickle juice drinking contest undoubtedly garnered some of those winning votes. It pits 100 contestants against one another in a gut- busting race to see who can down a quart of pickle juice the fastest. The winner not only is crowned Mayor of Picklesburgh, but also takes home $ 500 — and, we assume, a stomach ache. Joe George of McKeesport was last year’s winner, gulping 32 ounces of brine in 6.06 seconds without hurling.
This year’s 10 preliminary rounds, with 10 contestants each, will be held Friday and Saturday, with the championship round at 2: 45 p. m. on Sunday You can preregister at picklesburgh. com/ contest.
Being the ultimate summer party, the fest also features live bands each day, a “Lil Gherkin Kidsplay” children’s activity area and dozens of pickle- related demonstrations over the weekend at the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette Demo Area. For instance, you can see me demonstrate how to make easy refrigerator dill pickles, and then turn the slices into buttermilkbattered fried pickles and the brine ( and whiskey) into pickleback Jell- O sliders at 3 p. m. Friday.
Also new this year: Kraft Heinz will give away commemorative, limited- edition gold plastic pickle pins at its booth under its signature 35- foot inflatable dill pickle balloon, while supplies last.
Picklesburgh runs from noon to 10 p. m. Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 6 p. m. Sunday. Admission is free. For more info, visit picklesburgh. com.