Three Rivers Arts Festival returns in new setting

The 2022 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival opened Friday as a full in-person event for the first time since 2019. And the festival has added to its storied history by opening in a new setting — Downtown’s Cultural District, rather than its previous home in Point State Park.

With an emphasis on diversity, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust began unwrapping the festival’s full lineup of performers and visual artists at noon. The festival takes place through June 12.

“This year is going to be special,” said Sarah Aziz, director of festival management for the Trust. “Your favorite Festival attractions will still be there, but you’ll also have the chance to discover new artists in a new setting.”

The new setting is within a few blocks between Seventh and Ninth streets, where the Festival’s key attractions will be located.

Among the main stage artists, Cory Henry, a man billed as “the future of music,” steps into the spotlight for opening night at 7:30 p.m. Henry is a Grammy Award-winning composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist.

Madeline Edwards takes the main stage on June 4 at 7:30 p.m. Edwards is known for combining jazz, soul, gospel and country influences into her “Hot Country” sound. She’s been listed as a Country Spotify Artist to watch in 2022.

Opening weekend also features mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull, whose debut came at the Grand Ole Opry at age 10. Since then, she’s played Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. She hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. June 5.

Other highlights include high-energy rock and soul singer Bette Smith, who nods to her rough upbringing in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood as an influence. She performs at 7:30 p.m. June 8.

The Vindys also perform that night at 6. They combine a unique blend of alternative rock, pop and jazz and basically dare audience members not to dance.

The Devon Allman Project plays the following night, at 8 p.m. June 9. Devon Allman is the son of legendary musician Gregg Allman and leads a six-piece blues-rock band that will be playing Allman Brothers songs as well as originals.

June 10 at 7:30 p.m. brings British pop-star-turned-silver-haired-crooner Nick Lowe and his masked band Los Straitjackets to the main stage. Pittsburghers of a certain age will remember Lowe’s power-pop band Rockpile — that was very popular in the Steel City — and his string of late ‘70s hits including “Cruel to Be Kind,” “So it Goes” and “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass.”

In what’s being billed as a reunion with the return of founding member CeeLo Green, the soulful rap collective Goodie Mob takes the main stage on June 11 at 7:30.

Local favorite rapper Frzy is being billed as a guy who can “blow the roof off this year’s festival” when he performs at 6 p.m. June 11. That hype might be based on the fact that he holds the Guinness Book of World Records mark for the longest freestyle rap.

What better act to turn to on closing night than Co. Townes, an act that will pique your curiosity by blending original country and western music with “dreamlike psychedelia.”

Now, this we’ve got to see. That’s at 6 p.m. June 12.

For the complete lineup of events, visit traf.trustarts.org.