Downtown Pittsburgh Aglow for the Holidays

December 7, 2018/Rick Handler

Downtown Pittsburgh has long been the nexus of excitement and activity for the holiday season. In years past much of the focus was on department stores like Kaufmann’s, Horne’s, and Gimbels. People went there to see their beautifully decorated windows, and for the kids to visit Santa and see the Talking Christmas Tree. Afterwards perhaps head to the Tic Toc Restaurant, Chinatown Inn for some chop suey, or Market Square for a fish sandwich at The Original Oyster House.The Horne’s Christmas tree on the corner of their building was also a long-running holiday tradition.

The department stores are gone, luckily Chinatown Inn and The Original Oyster House remain, and the Horne’s tree is still lit, but for the holiday season new traditions have emerged. Now during the holidays Market Square is magically transformed into Peoples Gas Holiday Market. The market is fashioned after German outdoor Christmas markets and features Alpine-looking retail structures. These booths feature unique goods from faraway countries and also locally made products. You can enjoy strudel, pretzels, bratwurst, and hot chocolate at Helmut’s Strudl. Outside of the Square there are many other interesting stores including a couple of pop ups like PG&H, a locally made home goods store. There’s also several holiday pop up bars: Miracle on Liberty, Auld Lang Syne: the most wonderful bar of the year, Jingle Bar on Forbes, and Tinsel Town.

PPG Place offers outdoor ice skating, several restaurants, and exhibits and events in the Wintergarden. The Wintergarden features a 32-foot fully decorated tree surrounded by over 400 uniquely built gingerbread houses. There’s also the Spirits of Giving displays with Santa figures of various cultures from around the world. Many musical groups perform there throughout the month. Additional fun activities that can put some sparkle in your season are holiday karaoke, horse drawn carriage rides, the Holly Trolley, and Holiday Kids Play, and much more. Plus the Downtown Cultural District has fantastic holiday plays and performances at every turn.

“Downtown Pittsburgh is home to a full season of free and fun family entertainment,” Leigh White, V.P. of Marketing and Communications for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership said. She continued, “We encourage Pittsburgher’s to put the Holidays back in the Holiday shopping experiences and visit one of the many, unique experiences that only Downtown can offer.”

It truly is, as Andy Williams sang, “the most wonderful time of the year.”

For more information see the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s Downtown Holiday Guide.

Watch the photo slider:

A magnificent Christmas tree is situated right in the center of the MassMutual Ice Rink at PPG Place.
On Monday and Tuesday Nights there is a Holiday Karaoke contest happening with a prize of $1,000 to the grand finale winner. Seen here is Nikki Papadopolos singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
Emphatically singing "Let it Go" from the movie "Frozen" is Deliylah Johnson.
Kat Taylor is dressed up for her time in the limelight. She's singing Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas."
There's another amazing holiday tree in PPG Place's Wintergarden. It is surrounded by over 400 gingerbread/candy houses made by local school children, families, chefs, organizations and individuals.
Also in PPG Place Wintergarden is the "Spirits of Giving Around the World" exhibit with life-like Santas from different cultures around the world accompanied by beautiful paintings. Pictured (l. to r.) The Netherlands, Norway, and Ukraine.
"Goody, goody, gumdrops!" There's houses and towers made from those tasty treats. Also notice the silo made from red Twizzlers and capped with marshmallows.
This one, by the Belding Family, is for Pittsburgh concertgoers. The band playing could be Cake, Sugar Ray, or Vanilla Fudge.
Several creations were touchingly dedicated to the Jewish community regarding the tragedy of the Tree of Life Synagogue shootings.
There are many beautifully lit towers Downtown.
There's a grouping of German alpine-style structures in Market Square where many goods are sold from around the world. There's local items too.
A selection of interesting products from Kenya and other African nations are available here.
This booth features many Polish items. Notice the Polish falcon, a symbol of the nation, on some of the merchandise.
Collectibles at the Euro Haus booth.
Käthe Wohlfahrt is a German outfit and operates Christmas stores and markets there and at select locations around the world including Pittsburgh. Inside the walk-in store there are ornaments, beer steins, Hummels, cuckoo clocks, and more.
A fashionable couple buys gifts from Women of the Cloud Forest booth which features fair-trade products from Nicaragua. An interesting item is the egg-shaped luminaries. Two are lit in the small cabinet on the left.
Santa himself has taken up residence to visit with the children of Pittsburgh.