Expanded Picklesburgh continues this weekend in Downtown Pittsburgh

Pickle lovers and brine chuggers rejoice, for this is your weekend to be in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Picklesburgh, the three-time No. 1 best specialty food festival in the nation has begun.

Festivities kicked off around noon Friday along the Boulevard of the Allies, between Stanwix and Smithfield streets.

Tens of thousands of people marked the opening day celebration.

Picklesburgh continues noon-10 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.

There is pickle everything, from beer and wine, to desserts, to juice drinking contests, and a plethora of pickle apparel.

Katie Teyssier of Scott took in the sites and had a few cocktails with her friends. She and a couple others had pickles painted on their faces.

“What more pickle can we have?” she said. “Go out with your friends, see some large pickles. All the pickle you could get.”

The pickle juice drinking contest is one of the festival highlights. It includes five rounds Friday and Saturday with 10 contestants each round. Competitors try to drink 32 ounces of liquid dill as fast as possible. Winners then return at 2 p.m. Sunday for the championship.

The winner gets a belt, $500 in cash and the title of “Mayor of Picklesburgh.”

Brady Huff, 28, of Pittsburgh was one of the qualifiers Friday evening. He finished in nine seconds during his round.

“I’m not a huge pickle fan, but today I was,” Huff said after the competition. “I’m a big beer fan. With four years of college, I was prepared for this contest.”

It was Huff’s first time at the event. The title of mayor intrigued him.

“I really enjoy it here,” he said. “It’s a great place. Everyone’s having a great time. I was ready to go and happy to win. If I hold the mayor of Picklesburgh title then I will be honored to wear it, and I will hold it till next year and someone else can take it.”

Pickle juice drinking qualifiers pic.twitter.com/mZ47OadLNH

— Mike D. (@MikeJdiVittorio) July 21, 2023

The drinking contest was presented by Pittsburgh Pickle Co. and emceed by Rachael Rennebeck and John Chamberlin of the YaJagoff! Podcast.

Rennebeck said this is their fourth year being involved in Picklesburgh.

“I think it’s really cool to see how much it’s expanded and how we can put our own vibe to it,” Rennebeck said. “Kind of bring something else each year because you don’t know what to expect now that it’s even bigger. I think this year, it was cool to see at 12 o’clock is was like a ghost town. At 12:05, you almost couldn’t move.”

Picklesburgh was moved to the Boulevard of the Allies to create more space for vendors and guests.

Last year, it was held along the Allegheny Riverfront, expanding beyond the original locations of one of the sister bridges that connect Downtown to the city’s North Shore.

Rennebeck commended the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s decision to move the festival.

“They really have their finger on the pulse on what makes sense and how they can make it better each year,” she said. “They listen to the people to see what they think about it. Every time there’s been a change, it’s been better.”

Lauren Herb of Munhall and Alyssa Dziadyk of Elizabeth Township were dressed for the occasion. They had on pickle costumes and were in line to get pickle pizza.

“We just love costumes,” Dziadyk said. “We had a Halloween party that was ‘SpongeBob’ themed, and I got a pickle. We’re like, ‘OK. We’re going to use it for Picklesburgh’ and she bought one. I’ve been here last year. This is her first time.”

Some of the hidden gems include the Mancini Pittsburgh roll with Isaly’s chipped ham, Heinz pickles and cheese baked into their famous bread rolls.

The Pittsburgh Pirate parrot and several pierogi racers were taking photos and mingling with the crowd. People were also testing out their pickle-punching power courtesy of the Army National Guard and punching bag machine.

Non-pickle foods included funnel cake, chicken on a stick, soft pretzels, kiwis; various honey spreads from Bumbleberry Farms, and much more.

More details are available at picklesburgh.com.