Memorial Day Weekend 2024: 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 event begins on May 27 at 11 a.m. with a ceremony honoring fallen Pennsylvania service members. Following that tribute, there will be free tours of the museum and family-friendly activities including crafts, face painting, a bouncy house and fun contests with prizes.

Food and beverages will also be available for purchase. 3WS-FM will host the day's events.

Camp Chase Fife and Drum Corps, which performs Civil War music in period costumes, will perform patriotic military music during the day and will end the day's event with a concert.

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

• Lawrenceville Memorial Day Parade: Will feature more than 65 marching bands, veterans organizations, classic cars, local sports mascots and more. The event begins May 27 at 10 a.m. at 36th and Butler Streets and ends at Allegheny Cemetery. Parade participants then will continue through the cemetery to the Soldiers' Memorial in Section 33 for a special service that begins around 11 a.m.

• Sandcastle water park: opens its 2024 season on May 25.

• Kennywood: The West Mifflin amusement park begins daily operations for the season on May 23. To commemorate Memorial Day, veterans will be provided free admission and discounted admission for up to four guests from May 23-27. The park's annual Bites and Pints festivities begin May 24.

• Dormont Pool: One of the region's largest swimming pools opens for the season on May 25.

• Riverlife Chalk Fest: See some of the best chalk art and live entertainment to benefit Riverlife on the North Shore. The May 25-26 event is free.

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.