Photography by: Joey Studios – Pittsburgh Portrait Photographer

Pittsburgh’s Only Neighborhood-wide Mardi Gras Party runs Thursday, February 1 to Fat Tuesday, February 13

40 restaurants, bars and businesses will offer live entertainment, New Orleans-inspired food, drink, and retail specials

Current Mardi Gras King Randyland’s Randy Gilson to hand over crown to New Mardi Gras Queen Etta Cox at Fat Tuesday Party at the Allegheny Elks Lodge

February 1 Kickoff Party at the Priory to Benefit Haiti Relief Organization

More info: www.pittsburghnorthside.com/Mardigras

For Immediate Release
Contact: Tim Colbert, 201-284-9987,  timcolb@gmail.com

PITTSBURGH (January 23, 2018) – Leave it to Northsiders to expand Fat Tuesday into a two-week-long celebration.

The third annual Northside Mardi Gras Celebration (February 1-13) will feature 40 restaurants, pubs and businesses offering live entertainment and New Orleans and other Pre-Lenten inspired food and drink specials during Pittsburgh’s only neighborhood-wide Mardi Gras celebration.

“Like New Orleans, Northsiders revel in live music, great food, and good people. Like New Orleans, we’re inviting everyone in the region and beyond to join us to celebrate Mardi Gras,” says Cody Walters, the Northside Leadership Conference’s Main Street Manager.

Events, food and drink specials and retail promotions: www.pittsburghnorthside.com/mardigras 

“The variety this year is tremendous and reflects the diversity of this wonderful community — from Deutschtown to Allegheny West and from Troy Hill to the North Shore,” says Walters.  “The new kick-off event also shows the commitment Northsiders have to make a difference in their community and the world community.”

The celebration officially kicks off at the Grand Hall at the Priory (614 Pressley Street) on Thursday, February 1 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with live music, international cuisine, and dancing. A benefit for the Pittsburgh and Los Angeles-based Haiti relief organization Work, which is dedicated to helping Haitians out of poverty through good and dignified employment. Tickets are $20 and 100% of the proceeds will benefit Work.

“As a longtime Northside business owner, I invite everyone to come to the kick-off event, enjoy the festivities, and take pride in the knowledge that their attendance will have a huge and positive impact on the lives of everyday Haitians,” says John Graf, president and CEO of Priory Hospitality Group and a founder of Work.

The traditional Fat Tuesday Party is slated for Tuesday, February 13 at the Allegheny Elks Club (400 Cedar Avenue) with music by Dixie Doc and the Pittsburgh Dixieland Allstars, and the handing over the Mardi Gras crown from King Randy Gilson (creator and owner of the famed Randyland) to the nationally celebrated and Pittsburgh-based jazz singer Etta Cox. Admission is $10 and doors open at 7 p.m. Please note that last year’s celebration was standing-room-only and sold-out quickly.

This year’s title sponsor is WesBanco. Other sponsors include the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA), Iron City Brewing, the Northside Leadership Conference, and Rivers Casino.

This year’s participants reflect the cultural diversity and range of Northside businesses:

Allegheny City Brewing,  Allegheny Elks Lodge #339, A’Pizza Badamo, Arnold’s Tea, Atria’s Restaurant, Bear Dog Bicycles, Bier’s Pub, Breadworks, Cafe on the Corner,  Chateau Cafe & Cakery, City Books, El Burro, The Farmer’s Daughter, Huszar, Johnny Angel’s Ginchy Stuff and Music Museum, Kauffehaus, Kitchen of Grace, Legends of the North Shore, The Modern Café, Monks’ Bar at the Priory, The New Hazlett Theater, The Park House, Pear and the Pickle, Penn Brewery, Priory Fine Pastries, Priory Hotel, Rivers Casino, Scratch Food & Beverage, Threadbare Cider and Mead, Tom Friday’s Market, War Streets Brewery, Young Brothers Bar, 3E Studios.

A full schedule of events and all the details at: http://www.pittsburghnorthside.com/mardigras

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This article is sponsored by the The Northside Leadership Conference, a  501(c)(3) non-profit, is a coalition of Northside community-based organizations committed to addressing mutual concerns through a united approach in order to promote and enhance the vitality, quality of life and image of Pittsburgh’s Northside. NSLC serves nearly 20% of the City and operates seven business lines, making NSLC the largest and most comprehensive community development corporation in Pittsburgh. NSLC also has two subsidiaries, the Northside Community Development Fund, a non-profit loan fund, and The Northside Chronicle, a monthly community newspaper.

The Northside Mardi Gras Title Sponsor is WesBanco. In the simplest terms, WesBanco, Inc. is a multi-state, bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia. But that really doesn’t say much about who we are.  Over the past decade, we have built a national reputation as a safe, sound and profitable bank holding company that always strives to do better by its customers.  We’ve always maintained our community bank orientation – because we’ve never forgotten who’s money we’re holding.  We merge technology with people to support our commitment to personal customer service. That’s why WesBanco is, by all accounts, the smarter, faster and better bank for you.  WesBanco’s banking subsidiary WesBanco Bank, Inc., operates 119 banking offices in the states of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition, WesBanco operates an insurance agency, WesBanco Insurance Services, Inc., and a full service broker/dealer, WesBanco Securities, Inc