Monroeville Jazz Fest a hit with crowd

Dillon Carr
Friday, Aug. 23, 2019 12:21 p.m. | Friday, Aug. 23, 2019 12:21 p.m.

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Lillian Dedomenic | For the Tribune-Review

Local artist Catriona Kirk painted a Pittsburgh chair as part of the Pittsburgh Pull Up a Chair campaign during the Jazz Festival in Monroeville. The chair will have a “Jazz” theme when complete.

Lillian Dedomenic | For the Tribune-Review

Fans throughout the area came with blankets, chairs and picnic baskets to enjoy some of the best jazz music Pittsburgh has to offer at the 17th annual Monroeville Jazz Festival. The event, held at Monroeville Community Park, kicked off with a group of young musicians, Kind of Blue, who were followed by Steeltown Horns, Benny Benack and the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra. Spotted dancing among the crowd on the hillside of the Tall Trees Amphitheater are Pam Riccobon and Ariella Riccobon.

Lillian Dedomenic | For the Tribune-Review

Fans throughout the area came with blankets, chairs and picnic baskets to enjoy some of the best jazz music Pittsburgh has to offer at the 17th annual Monroeville Jazz Festival.

Monroeville’s 17^th annual Jazz Festival took Monroeville Community Park West by storm as more than 3,000 people served as the audience for several musicians who played the venue throughout the day.

“Even with the rain that came in at the tail end,” said Debbie Iszauk, event manager for Monroeville Foundation, the festival’s sponsor. “We ran out of parking and the food trucks were running out of food at the end. It was a good day.”

The free festival kicked off at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 17.

Acts included headliner Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, Kind of Blue, Steeltown Horns featuring Lyndsey Smith and the Benny Benack Band. Each act performed in the park’s Tall Trees Amphitheater.

Also present during the event was Monroeville artist Catriona Kirk, who volunteered her time to paint a chair. The chair is one of 90 chairs that will be auctioned off at a fundraiser in 2020 as part of Visit Pittsburgh’s “Pull Up A Chair” campaign. A beneficiary of the “chair-ity” event has not been identified.

The number of chairs featured stems from Pittsburgh’s 90 neighborhoods, but the number of chairs going up for auction could exceed that number, according to VisitPITTSBURGH’s website. The goal of the campaign is to “showcase the inclusive, welcoming and friendly nature of Pittsburgh residents in a creative way.”

The festival featured local food trucks, beer from Pittsburgh’s Full Pint Brewing Company and wine from the Strip District’s R Wine Cellar. It was MC’d by WESA’s Bob Studebaker.