Jennifer Hudson To Headline Pittsburgh Pride Festival This Weekend

PITTSBURGH, PA - Superstar performer Jennifer Hudson and a mobile zip line on Liberty Avenue will be among the highlights of this weekend’s Pittsburgh Pride festival.

The city’s largest LGBT event, which last year attracted an estimated 125,000 people, will take place from noon to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday on Liberty between Sixth and 10th streets, Downtown. The free event will feature more than 150 vendors and entertainment on three stages.

New to the Pride festival this year is the 300-foot zip line that will send people soaring over Liberty Avenue at 21 mph. It will be open from 7 to 11 p.m. on Friday, noon to 11 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Zip line tickets cost $10.

Hudson, who won a Grammy Award for her 2008 debut album and an Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role in “Dreamgirls.” will headline Pride in the Street on Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. The concert is standing room only and open to those 18 or older or accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 25. Pride in the Street tickets cost $45 for general admission or $150 for VIP.

The festival also will feature a chauffeured Pride pub crawl of LGBT-friendly bars Downtown and in the Strip District, Lawrenceville and Shadyside. Tickets for the Pride pub crawl, which takes place from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, cost $30.

Sunday’s events also include the Rise Up For Our Rights Rally beginning at noon at PPG Paints Arena, The rally will be followed by the EQT Equality March.

Photo by David Torciva via Creative Commons.