Atlanta Beltline Partnership And Casey To Host Pittsburgh Rise Festival

The Atlanta Belt­Line Part­ner­ship has teamed up with the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion to host Pitts­burgh Rise, a neigh­bor­hood fes­ti­val, Sat­ur­day, May 21, from 4 to 10 p.m. This unique out­door event will fea­ture activ­i­ties and live music and is expect­ed to draw hun­dreds of peo­ple from around the city. Pitts­burgh Rise cel­e­brates the bud­ding revi­tal­iza­tion of sev­er­al neigh­bor­hoods along the Atlanta Belt­Line South­side Trail cor­ri­dor. The Pitts­burgh com­mu­ni­ty has been part of the Casey Foundation’s work in Atlanta for more than a decade. In 2001, Casey — start­ed by the founder of Atlanta-based UPS — began work­ing in sev­er­al low-income neigh­bor­hoods near Turn­er Field to increase oppor­tu­ni­ties for chil­dren and fam­i­lies liv­ing in those com­mu­ni­ties. Pitts­burgh Rise will take place on the 31-acre site at 352 Uni­ver­si­ty Avenue, which bor­ders Pitts­burgh, to cap­i­tal­ize on the pos­i­tive ener­gy and strong sense of com­mu­ni­ty in that part of town.

“We are proud to part­ner with the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, an orga­ni­za­tion with an ongo­ing place-based effort to revi­tal­ize and strength­en neigh­bor­hoods in south­west Atlanta, as well as with our spon­sors Well­Star Atlanta Med­ical Cen­ter and Cit­i­zens Trust Bank,” said Chuck Mead­ows, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Atlanta Belt­Line Part­ner­ship. ​“Our goal is to embrace these com­mu­ni­ties as Atlanta Belt­Line neigh­bor­hoods and do what we can to help these res­i­dents real­ize their goals for their community.”

The mul­ti­fac­eted event will kick off with the South­side Atlanta Home Tour at 4 p.m., show­cas­ing new­ly ren­o­vat­ed homes and lots avail­able in the his­toric Atlanta Belt­Line com­mu­ni­ties of Pitts­burgh and South Atlanta. The day’s main attrac­tion is a set of hot air bal­loons ready to take fes­ti­val-goers on a teth­ered ride hun­dreds of feet into the air. The Taste of the South­side will fea­ture local culi­nary favorites. The South­side Trail 3‑on‑3 Bas­ket­ball Tipoff will involve chil­dren from the two Cen­ters of Hope in the area, and the South­side Check­mate Cham­pi­onship will match 50 young chess play­ers against one anoth­er. Round­ing out the day of fam­i­ly fun is the South­ern Cres­cent Choir Com­pe­ti­tion, with gospel groups from around Atlanta.

“We’re thrilled about this oppor­tu­ni­ty to share with the rest of the city what we already know: Pitts­burgh is a spe­cial place under­go­ing trans­for­ma­tion,” said Kweku Forstall, who over­sees the Foundation’s work in Atlanta. ​“We hope to see peo­ple from the neigh­bor­hood and beyond join in this extra­or­di­nary cel­e­bra­tion of a his­toric Belt­Line com­mu­ni­ty with an excit­ing future.”

Event orga­niz­ers are look­ing for spon­sors and orga­ni­za­tions that wish to exhib­it or oth­er­wise sup­port Pitts­burgh Rise and the sur­round­ing com­mu­ni­ties. Com­mu­ni­ty part­ners include Atlanta City Coun­cilmem­ber Joyce Shep­herd, Atlanta Pub­lic Schools, Atlanta Habi­tat for Human­i­ty, Charis Com­mu­ni­ty Hous­ing, Com­mit­ted to Com­mu­ni­ties and Pitts­burgh Com­mu­ni­ty Improve­ment Asso­ci­a­tion, among others.