Caribbean block party Kayafest sets its festive, food-fueled return
Dust off your feathered skirts and Samba steps — Kayafest is coming back to the Strip District.
After a two-year break due to COVID-19, the food and music festival is scheduled for May 29 at its typical spot, between 20th and 21st streets — or, from Kaya to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, along Smallman Street.
During the one-day block party, one side of the street will be lined with Kaya’s island-inspired street food and drinks. Pulled pork, chicken skewers, Jamaican hand pies, hot dogs with Caribbean toppings, street corn, and al pastor, chicken and tofu tacos can be washed down with rum runners, pineapple-forward cocktails and, from the festival’s sponsors, I.C. Light Mango and White Claw Hard Seltzer.
The outdoor party runs from 3-10 p.m. with live music kicking off at 4. According to Kayafest organizer Jen Fisher, who is specialty division operations manager with Big Burrito Restaurant Group, variety was key to the lineup.
“The focus this year was for each band to be a different genre of music: Music you hear in the restaurant all year long,” she said.
Local surf rock three-piece band The Yeggs kick off the lineup, followed by Keystone Vibe (a “mellower Sublime”), and Grammy Award-winning drummer Poogie
Bell, performing with his funk-jazz fusion group Poogie Bell Family Band, set up headliner the Raelyn Nelson Band. Kayafest mainstay, Truth and Rites, will close out the night.
And don’t forget Pittsburgh Samba Group — accompanied by Brazilian drum team Timbeleza — known for taking their stage performance into the crowd to turn Kayafest into a miniature Carnival of Brazil.
Though Kayafest is always a party, this year’s event has an extra dash of celebration.
“We feel like life is being blown back into the Strip and into Kaya,” Ms. Fisher said. “It just feels like it’s a celebration, almost like victory.
“We got through this, we’re coming out strong, and we’re getting the vibe right for Pittsburghers this summer.”