Light Up Night rings in the 2023 holiday season across Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - On Saturday night, the Highmark Christmas tree lit up the intersection of Stanwix and Liberty in Downtown Pittsburgh.
It's the city's annual Light Up Night, which means crowds were packing the streets to help kick off the holiday season.
This year's event kicked off at 11 a.m., with the opening of the holiday market in Market Square.
The market will be open throughout the holiday season for community members to come out and buy gifts from local vendors. Those at the market earlier told KDKA-TV they're excited to see what this year has in store.
"We're very excited, we can't wait. We come here every year, we love it," said Gavin and Jeannette Hause of Campfield, Ohio.
"This is it. The weather is fantastic. Everybody's down here checking out the new holiday market plus Light Up Night in Pittsburgh. This is a day to be downtown," added Amy Kofmehl-Sobkowiak, the owner of Women of the Cloud Forest.
A bit of a way up Fifth Avenue, the tree at the City-County Building was lit up as a part of the festivities. People KDKA-TV spoke with there said when it comes to the holidays, no place does it quite like Pittsburgh.
"It's been a tradition in our family. Pittsburgh just takes it to the top. Just a wonderful event, amazing activities."
"It's just fun to come down and see all the tree lightings. We specifically like to go down to the Point to see that big tree down there and see the fireworks."
Near Market Square, people gathered for the lighting of the holiday tree in PPG Plaza overlooking the ice rink.
"I've seen so many people post about this, and I live right across the street, so I thought it would be a great opportunity. We were already here. I've never been, and I've always liked the tree lighting up ceremonies because we have them in Detroit, so I thought it would be cool to see in Pittsburgh," Rachael Sanford and Olivia Pupiec said.
"It's so much fun. It's so much fun. It's just fun, innocent fun," attendee Marsha Dobies said.
And new this year: the City of Pittsburgh unveiled new, permanent lighting displays on the Three Sister bridges over the Allegheny River.