Greensburg Night Market expands vendor, music space

The Greensburg Night Market is expanding from three to four blocks of vendors and live music beginning Thursday.

In its fourth year, the city’s extended evenings of shopping, food and entertainment — from 5:30 to 9 p.m. — already tripled in size in April, at the start of the current season. The event along Pennsylvania Avenue grew from one to three blocks, which are limited to pedestrian traffic during the occasion.

“The response this year for the Greensburg Night Market has been incredible,” said Downtown Greensburg Project owner Jessica Hickey, who organizes the event.

She said attendance at each monthly market, held from April through September, has grown to more than 5,000 people.

“Our original plan was to expand to the fourth block next year,” she said, “but we decided to just go ahead and do it for the second half of this season.”

The enlarged Night Market venue will stretch from Otterman Street south to Fourth Street. That will make room for more music and 20 new vendors, for a total of more than 100.

The market has featured a mix of vendors from the community and beyond, offering food or crafts for sale.

The new businesses joining the roster continue to reflect that combination. They include Steel City Whip, which serves frozen fruit treats; Rolling Pepperoni, a bakery specializing in pepperoni rolls; The Preppie Puppy, which sells leashes, collars, bow ties and other items for dogs; and Made for Mama Shop of Irwin, which specializes in hand-lettered coffee mugs.

There will be live acoustic music performed by local artists in each of the four blocks. Thursday’s lineup includes Josh Jams, Chad Toland, Michael Lindner and a solo performance from a member of the band The String Theory.

There is a waiting list of additional vendors anxious to set up booths at the market, Hickey said. For now, she has reached the limit of space available for vendors, but she’s hoping visitor attendance will continue to grow.

“It’s exciting to see so many people at the market,” said Hickey. She encourages visitors, after perusing the market booths, to explore the many downtown shops, restaurants and bars that are open during the event.

“Hopefully, they’re getting some new customers,” she said. “We’re drawing a lot of people to the city from all over, including Pittsburgh.”

While dog lovers who visit the market might find items geared for canines, they are asked to leave their pets at home for safety reasons.

Aug. 25 and Sept. 29 will be the remaining market dates for this season.

Visit greensburgnightmarket.com for more information.