Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Media Contact:
Robin Elrod, Director of PR and Communications
elrod@trustarts.org | (412) 471-8716
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh Assets: https://photos.trustarts.org/?c=918&k=cb75493616
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Announces
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022
Headliner Byron Nash, Giant Inflatable Rabbits from Australia,
and 30 Other Pieces of Visual and Performing Art
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh returns to the Cultural District with an expanded outdoor footprint
New this year, all events are free and open to everyone – free tickets required for select events
Friday, December 31, 2021 | 6 p.m. – midnight
Cultural District, Downtown Pittsburgh
Today, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced the performing and visual art pieces to be featured at Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022. This year’s featured events will be outdoors across four stages and other activity spaces such as the New Year’s Eve Parade presented by Giant Eagle featuring Studio Capezzuti puppets, with visual art galleries and select indoor performance spaces free and open to the public.
As always, Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022 presents an arts-focused, family-friendly celebration of the New Year throughout the 14-block radius of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. The evening begins with the Dollar Bank Children’s Fireworks and a performance from the winner of the Williams Sing-Off Competition at 6 p.m. on the Dollar Bank Stage and culminates in a headliner performance from Pittsburgh-based axe-man Byron Nash, Julz Powell, and Justin Brown in The Byron Nash Trio and the Future of Pittsburgh Grand Finale at midnight. Throughout the event’s six hours, guests can look forward to all types of art, including comedy, dance, music, magic, theater, visual art, and more, as well as hands-on activities for every age.
“A highlight of this year’s event, Intrude from Parer Studios in Australia is a true spectacle,” says Sarah Aziz, Director of Festival Management for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “You do not want to miss these gigantic, illuminated rabbits that will take over the 8th Street block of the District! With the largest measuring 50 feet tall (yes, that’s almost four building stories high!), the public art piece will be inflated and deflated daily, signifying when the three rabbits wake and go to sleep.”
Intrude, presented as part of Highmark First Night Pittsburgh and the EQT Children’s Theater Festival, will be on view in the Eighth Street Lot and Trust Oasis at 133 7th Street from December 31, 2021 through January 28, 2022, its closing coinciding with the Cultural Trust’s Winter Gallery Crawl on that date.
Parer Studio created Intrude as an opportunity to juxtapose the rabbit’s fairytale-like innocence with the great destruction and imbalance they are causing in Australia. The visual humor of the piece lures audiences into the artwork only to reveal the more serious environmental messages which form the basis of the work. The artist, Amanda Parer, compares the larger-than-life rabbits to our impact on the natural work – big and in plain sight, but still chosen to be ignored.
Select indoor performances at Liberty Magic, Bricolage (937 Liberty), and the Harris Theater require a free ticket for entry due to limited capacity. Free tickets can be reserved at TrustArts.org/FirstNightPGH for these events.
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh events fall under the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s health and safety measures. For outdoor events, vaccines and masks are not required, however, the Cultural District is a mask-friendly place and everyone is welcome and encouraged to mask up, regardless of vaccination status. For galleries, vaccines are not required but masks are required to be worn by everyone, regardless of age, for the duration of their visit indoors. For ticketed events inside Cultural Trust venues, guests are required to be fully vaccinated, provide proof of vaccination and a valid ID with their reserved ticket, and mask up for the duration of their visit indoors. Guests under the age of 12 are not required to be vaccinated, but must wear a mask and be accompanied by an adult who meets the venue health and safety requirements. Learn more about the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s health and safety policies at TrustArts.org/Welcome.
First Night Friends
Celebrate New Year's Eve in comfort and style with a First Night Friends VIP experience! First Night Friends receive special festival perks galore. Plus, your support of First Night Friends will ensure that Highmark First Night Pittsburgh continues for years to come.
All experiences include access to the First Night Friends Lounge sponsored by Citizens with hot beverages, sweet treats, and merrymaking from 6-11pm, plus a First Night Friends 2022 light-up button to wear during the festivities.
As a First Night Friend, you’ll receive enhanced access to seats for select outdoor festival events. Elevated experiences include guaranteed access to select indoor performances – availability is limited! You’ll also have one reserved and pre-paid spot in Theater Square Garage per household, even if it’s full to the public.
Become a First Night Friend at TrustArts.org/FNF.
Sponsors, Community, and Media Partners
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022 sponsors as of November 5, 2021 include Presenting Sponsor Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Allegheny Health Network, Giant Eagle, Williams, Citizens Bank, PNC, and Dollar Bank. Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022 community supporters include The Buhl Foundation, The Fine Foundation, The Grable Foundation, and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022 is broadcast live from 11 p.m. – midnight through a special partnership with KDKA-TV. Pittsburgh Today Live hosts Heather Abraham and David Highfield will be live from the Cultural District to ring in the new year and participate in the Highmark First Night festivities.