Three Rivers Arts Festival announces hybrid format for 2021 event

PITTSBURGH — After going to a full virtual experience in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival will be returning this year with a hybrid format.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced Tuesday that the festival will take place June 4 to June 13, with enhanced virtual presentations and select in-person, limited-capacity attractions in the Cultural District, according to a news release.

“We are thrilled to be bringing back components of in-person gathering to the Festival this year, while building upon what we learned about virtual Festival elements in 2020,” says Sarah Aziz, Director of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival and Festival Management for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “As we work through these exciting plans to return to in-person events, we are committed first and foremost to the health and safety of our guests, staff, volunteers, and artists. We hope our temporary adjustments to the Festival format in 2021 will satisfy our fans’ deep desire to return to the Cultural District while also ensuring that we keep everyone as safe as possible.”

While specific programs, presentations, and schedule will be available at a later date, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Dollar Bank confirmed the festival will go on in 2021 in the safest and most enjoyable format possible, the release states.

“Dollar Bank is proud to continue its 23-year long partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and bring back an iconic event of Pittsburgh’s summer season. This year, we will be able to safely share the power of art together again and experience the sense of community that the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival brings to the city both in person and virtually,” Jim McQuade, President and CEO of Dollar Bank.”

VIRTUAL EVENTS

The Festival’s virtual offerings, which will be available at TrustArts.org/TRAF and via select Pittsburgh Cultural Trust social media channels, will incorporate innovations from the first-ever virtual Festival in 2020, plus some new enhancements to be announced closer to Festival dates. All aspects of the Festival, including any tentative in-person attractions, will also be available online in order to maximize access for everyone who wishes to be part of the Festival.

IN-PERSON EVENTS

In-person, limited-capacity events - all of which are subject to change based upon disease dynamics and changing guidance of our government and health and safety experts - will be presented at indoor and outdoor locations in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. No events will take place in Point State Park and Gateway Center in 2021. These new locations, to be announced at a later date, were chosen because of the ability for greater attendance control and the ability to meet specific health and safety protocols within the Festival space.

In-person, limited-capacity events will remain free to attend, but will require advance registration and timed entry. The attractions operating in this manner are subject to change, but may include the Artist Market, select music concerts, film, and various indoor and outdoor visual art exhibitions. Capacity limits, registration processes, and other guest experience expectations will be detailed closer to the Festival.

ARTIST MARKET, JURIED VISUAL ART, AND OTHER ARTISTIC PARTICIPATION

As a result of guidelines related to COVID-19 and the adjusted 2021 Festival footprint, a very limited number of artists will be invited to participate in-person at the Artist Market in 2021. Artists who were invited to participate in 2020 will be contacted directly.

Tentatively, all artists featured in Transverse: the 2020 Juried Visual Art Exhibition, will be invited to display their accepted 2020 work in-person at an indoor Cultural District location to be determined. Participation requires availability of the specific works juried into the show in 2020. Artists in this group will also be contacted directly.

Unfortunately, due to the Festival changes resulting from the pandemic, no new applications for the Artist Market or Juried Visual Art Exhibition will be accepted for 2021. Anticipating that the Festival returns to full in-person capacity in 2022, a new application period for both programs will open in October 2021.

A limited number of in-person performances are tentatively planned for the 2021 Festival. Additionally, limited virtual performance opportunities will be available. These new collaborative and experimental performance opportunities and special projects are available to local and regional artists, including musicians, dancers, actors, literary, and performance artists submitting original work and proposals. An emphasis in the selection process will be placed on artists and performers who have never performed before at the Festival, who present brand new work and Pittsburgh premieres, and those whose work is immersive and directly engages audiences in a participatory way (both in-person and virtually).

Applications are open through March 12 at TrustArts.org/TRAFapply.

Big changes coming to Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival Big changes coming to Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival

Cox Media Group