Pittsburgh Light Up Night 2022 marks 61 years since Pittsburgh first held a holiday-themed light up event. (In 1959, the city held its first light up event to celebrate the Pirates.)

This is your ultimate guide to doing ALL THE THINGS for Pittsburgh Light Up Night 2021! SHARE and BOOKMARK this page.

Remember: Pittsburgh Light Up Night is on Saturday, Nov. 19, this year. Some events do take place Friday, Nov. 18.

Light Up Night links you’ll find useful

My ultimate guide to making Light Up Night merry and bright. This includes parking info, things to do and the best ways to see it ALL on Light Up Night.
Find a complete history Pittsburgh Light Up Night here.
Will there be a Point State Park tree?
Where are the gingerbread displays?

Friday, Nov. 18

Follow this route to make Pittsburgh Light Up Night merry and bright

Your source for Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night!

Santa’s House at Heinz Hall Courtyard

Visit Santa’s House at the Heinz Hall Courtyard. Get photos with Santa, and share your wish list with Santa.

Noon to 3, 4-7 p.m.

PPG Place

9 a.m. — Spirits of Giving from Around the World exhibit opens at PPG Place. The 16 life-sized Santas are on display in the windows of Two PPG Place along Fourth Avenue.
11 a.m. to midnight — Public skating opens at UPMC Rink at PPG Plaza
4:45 p.m. — RMU Island Sports figure skating show
5 p.m. — East End Kids performance
5:30 p.m. — American Cancer Society’s Tribute of Light Ceremony
6 p.m. — UPMC Ultimate Holiday Tree Lighting
6:15 p.m. — LED baton twirling performance
9 p.m. — Big Blitz Band concert

Market Square

11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. — Peoples Gas Holiday Market grand opening
11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Live music on the stage
5 p.m. — “Pittsburgh Today Live” singers
5:30 to 9 p.m. — Merry Karaoke

Pittsburgh’s Holiday Market at Market Square

Here are all the details to the Holiday Market at Pittsburgh’s Market Square.

Allegheny County Courthouse

Noon — Allegheny County Courthouse Tree lighting ceremony in the courtyard

U.S. Steel Tower Plaza

Noon — Blessing and opening of the Pittsburgh Crèche

Where’s Santa? Find Santa near you in 2022!

Santa is everywhere! Find Santa near you in Western Pennsylvania.

Saturday, Nov. 19

Tree lightings, other ceremonies, fun, fireworks

5 p.m. — City of Pittsburgh Tree Lighting with Zambelli rooftop fireworks at the City-County Building; see the 20th annual Gingerbread House Display & Competition

5 p.m. — Prantl’s 1-ton Horne’s Tree replica cake at 2 Gateway Center! This 8-foot-tall burnt almond torte will honor a throwback to Pittsburgh holidays — a replica of the Horne’s Tree! Take selfies with the cake. Slices will be available on Sunday, with proceeds benefitting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

6 p.m. — Highmark Christmas (Horne’s) Tree lighting with Zambelli rooftop fireworks at Stanwix Street and Penn Avenue

9:30 p.m. — Xfinity Fireworks Spectacular with “supersized” Zambelli finale, Allegheny Overlook on Fort Duquesne Boulevard

Duquesne Light’s tree at Point State Park won’t be back. But it’s not all bad news!

Duquesne Light’s Tree of Lights is gone. Here’s what’ll replace the iconic display.

Music and entertainment

Highmark Main Stage (Horne’s Tree)
Stanwix Street and Penn Avenue
12 – 5 p.m. — Ultimate Disney Tribute Band
5:30 – 6 p.m. — Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
6 p.m. — Highmark Christmas Tree lighting with Zambelli rooftop fireworks
6:20 – 6:50 p.m. — Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
7:30 – 9 p.m. — Royce

Xfinity Riverside Stage
Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Sixth Street
4 to 6 p.m. — Orange Music, featuring Isaiah Small
6:30 to 7:45 p.m. — Mr. Smalls All-Star Rolling Stones Tribute
8:30 to 9:30 p.m. — Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
9:30 p.m. — Xfinity Fireworks Spectacular with “supersized” Zambelli grand finale

Sounds of the Season Stage
Market Square
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. — Wild Blue Yonder
2:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. — Paging Dr. Moon
5:30 to 9:30 p.m. — Con Alma presents Live Jazz

Cultural District Stage
Penn Avenue and Seventh Street
2 to 3:30 p.m. — Miss Freddye
4 to 5 p.m. — Sierra Sellers
5:30 p.m. — Pickup Line

City of Pittsburgh Grant Street Stage
414 Grant St.
4 to 5 p.m. — Ben & Friends
5 p.m. — City-County Building tree lighting with Zambelli rooftop fireworks
5:30 to 6:30 p.m. — River City Brass and Santa’s arrival
7 to 7:45 p.m. — CAPA Jazz Band
7:45 to 8 p.m. — Salvation Army Band
8 p.m. — Light show

Oxford Center Stage
301 Grant St.
5:45 to 9 p.m. — Holiday music by Scott and Rosanna
5:45 p.m. — Tree lighting ceremony and Santa’s arrival
6 to 9 p.m. — Visit with Santa

Ralphie Parker returns!

Peter Billingsley will reprise his iconic role as Ralphie Parker, the protagonist who dreamed of receiving an Official Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle in the 1983 release of “A Christmas Story,” in HBO Max’s upcoming sequel, “A Christmas Story Christmas.”

The movie is set 33 years after the original.

Set in 1973, the film follows a now grown-up Ralphie, who returns to his childhood home on Cleveland Street in Hohman, Indiana, following the death of his Old Man. The struggling writer is hoping to give his two children a Christmas like he remembers as a child. And he hopes to connect with his childhood friends, too.

“Ralphie’s not really where he wants to be in his life but he’s still a dreamer, so he still has these fantasies of what his life could be, where it could go,” Billingsley — now 51 — said in an interview with People magazine. “And then he’s called home with some real responsibilities and burdens.”

In that interview, Billingsley said he was “cognizant” of wanting to “protect” the new movie’s “association to the original.”

“A Christmas Story” has become an iconic part of American culture, airing annually for 24 hours, beginning Christmas Eve, on both TNT and TBS.

Billingsley said many fans consider the original movie “borderline sacred.”

Check out some exclusive photos from the movie here.

Billingsley said the movie is “in many ways, a love letter to the Old Man character” and to Darren McGavin, who portrayed Ralphie’s dad. McGavin died at 83 in 2006.

Fans of the original will see some familiar faces. Ian Petrella will reprise his role as Ralphie’s younger brother Randy. “A Christmas Story Christmas” will also feature returning actors Scott Schwartz (Flick), R.D. Robb (Schwartz) and Zack Ward (Scut Farkus).

Julie Hagerty will assume the role of Mrs. Parker as Melinda Dillon, who portrayed Mrs. Parker in the original, retired from acting in 2007.

Expect to see a spot-on replication of Cleveland Street, too.

“We created 11 structures back there, including the Bumpus house,” Billingsley told People. “We built them from the ground up and really replicated old Cleveland Street.”

“A Christmas Story Christmas” was produced by Billingsley and Vince Vaughn through their Wild West Picture Show Productions company for Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.

“A Christmas Story Christmas” will be released Nov. 17 on HBO Max.

The original “A Christmas Story” movie is based on anecdotes in Jean Shepherd’s 1966 book “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.”

“A Christmas Story Christmas” is not the first attempt at a sequel, though it seems to be the most official — or appropriate.

There was the 1994 “It Runs in the Family,” which was later renamed “My Summer Story.” The 2012 release of “A Christmas Story 2” ignores “My Summer Story” and reverts to following in line with “A Christmas Story.”

In what’s sometimes referred to as the “Ralph Parker franchise,” a collection of stories from Shepherd center around Ralphie Parker and his family.

The first of which is the 1976 “The Phantom of the Open Hearth.” It continued with the 1982 release of “The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters,” which is followed by “A Christmas Story” in 1983.

In 1985, “The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski” was released and was followed in 1988 by “Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss.”

Of course, there is also “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” which was originally released in 2009 and landed on Broadway in 2012.