‘When We Were Young’ music festival canceled Saturday due to high winds, despite organizers’ pleas for people to stay in parks Saturday.
“We’ve heard feedback from this community that they have a really good vibe out there. We’ve heard you want to see the festival. We’ve heard you want to see music,” said Joe Bledsoe, CEO of the Pittsburgh-area Concert Promoters Association.
The weather forecast for Saturday’s festival called for moderate winds gusting to a high of 22mph. People were still gathering in Pittsburgh on Saturday, and the city’s concert promoters said they would wait until 2 p.m. to announce the cancellation.
“We’ve been through this a number of times and we do think it’s the right decision to cancel,” said Bledsoe.
The PPA, which helps festivals get off the ground and helps protect the city’s music industry in times of emergencies, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
“We’re not trying to push anyone to cancel,” Bledsoe said. “We want people to attend.”
Officials from the PPA said the festival had been planned for an 18-month period before the recent weather events.
“We have a lot of planning ahead of us,” Bledsoe said.
The PPA is asking for fans to keep attending and enjoy the festival, and to avoid the traffic delays and potential pollution from festivalgoers driving around on back roads.
“We’ve been getting a lot of feedback from people who are saying this is a fun event for them. The only thing they don’t like is being stuck in traffic,” Bledsoe said.
