The Original Pittsburgh Taco Festival rolls into its 10th anniversary edition Saturday, September 12, with more than 25 food trucks, live Latin music, and salsa dancing lessons at The Stacks at 3 Crossings in the Strip District. Pittsburghers can sample tacos at the redeveloped riverfront site.
As previewed by CBS News Pittsburgh, the festival returns. According to TribLIVE, the festival was created in 2016 by Craig McCloud, a former food truck owner who launched it to give local mobile food startups exposure and low-barrier promotional opportunities they otherwise lacked.
Tickets run $5 in cash at the gate, or $5.90 online with transaction fees, for general admission, while VIP tickets include early entry at 11:30 a.m., per Etix. General admission doors open at 12:30 p.m., following the VIP window, the ticketing site notes.
A Decade of Moving Around the City
Over its ten years, the festival has bounced between several Pittsburgh venues, including Highmark Stadium on the South Side and The Terminal in the Strip District, before settling at its current Railroad Street home, TribLIVE reports. Past editions have drawn crowds as large as 5,000 attendees along with vendors traveling in from surrounding states, according to the same account.
The Stacks at 3 Crossings itself carries its own redevelopment story. The venue is part of a $13.5 million planned two-building office development by Oxford Development Co. that incorporates part of a former Packaging Corporation of America warehouse, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The paper notes that the broader development includes office buildings, planned apartment buildings and a central courtyard.
Proceeds Support Local Latino Entrepreneurs
The festival is produced with support from the Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation and the Latin American Cultural Union, and a portion of ticket proceeds goes directly to both non-profits, per TribLIVE's earlier reporting. The two organizations also work with the festival, the outlet notes.
That partnership carries real economic weight regionally. The Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation has helped launch nearly 400 Latino entrepreneurs, according to the Post-Gazette, which cites U.S. Census figures showing Hispanics now make up over 4% of Pittsburgh's population, with especially fast growth in neighborhoods like Beechview.
New City Rules Ease Food Truck Operations
The festival's milestone year also lands amid the city's mobile-vending regulations.
Vendors setting up for one-off events like this festival add a food-safety dimension to the event.
Part of a Crowded Strip District Festival Calendar
The taco festival takes place in the Strip District, at The Stacks at 3 Crossings.
Pittsburgh's mobile food scene extends beyond the festival circuit this year. Pittsburgh's broader food truck landscape is another part of the local food scene.
