Memorial Day Weekend 2023: Things To Do Around Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum annually stages one of the region's best Memorial Day celebrations and this year likely will be no exception.

The free event, which begins at 11 a.m. on May 29, begins with a ceremony paying tribute to fallen Pennsylvania service members. Following that will be free museum tours and family-friendly activities including crafts, face painting, a bouncy house and contests with prizes.

3WS radio personality Mike Frazer will host the celebration, which also will feature food and drinks for sale.

The Soldiers & Sailors event is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country. It's a highlight of the three-day Memorial Day weekend running May 27-29 this year.

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• Sandcastle water park opens its 2023 season on May 27.

• Kennywood open daily for the season; hours will be 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on May 27-28 and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on May 29.

• Riverlife's Pittsburgh Riverwalk and Chalk Fest will occur May 27-28 on Isabella Street on the North Shore. The event will feature more than 20 chalk artists from 13 states, as well as two from the Ukraine. There also will be live entertainment, local brews and food trucks.

• Dormont Pool, one of the region's largest swimming pools, opens for the season on May 27.

• Kayak Pittsburgh's new North Shore location opens for the season on May 27. You'll now kind the kayaks on the North Shore Trail below Acrisure Stadium.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.