Picklesburgh draws crowd despite "very unhealthy" air quality from wildfire smoke
Picklesburgh moved forward as planned on Friday, with crowds mostly undeterred by the thick haze of wildfire smoke and the "very unhealthy" air quality it created.
Multiple events were postponed or canceled because of the smoke. Kennywood and Sandcastle closed, the the Pirates-Guardians game in Cleveland was rescheduled. As for Picklesburgh, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership said it was monitoring conditions but decided to move forward with the event as planned.
"We encourage everyone to use their own judgment when deciding whether to attend. We understand some people may choose to sit today out. We're hopeful conditions improve and look forward to a great rest of the weekend," Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership said in a statement.
Festivalgoers come from all over to attend the popular event.
"It's become a birthday tradition now," said Ernisha Harrell, who flew into Pittsburgh from Florida for the festival.
Harrell wore a pickle-themed dress to Picklesburgh on Friday, saying smoky skies wouldn't sour the tradition.
"I specifically asked someone for this outfit for Christmas, so I've been holding on to this since December," Harrell said.
Harrell said while she wouldn't miss Picklesburgh, she admitted that the smoke was a concern.
"You can definitely tell the difference in the air. We were talking about whether or not we're going to stop at the CVS, get a mask, and depending on how we feel, we might go grab one," Harrell said.
Some vendors said that despite the heat and smoke, the crowd size has been decent.
Carly McGowan, a vendor with Local Provisions, said she has noticed the effects from the smoke after a while.
"Yeah, I mean it's a little scratchy. I brought a mask just in case," McGowan said.
Dozens of people could be seen wearing masks on Friday to protect themselves from the poor air quality.
While those attending made a choice to go to the event, some who work outside all day could not. KDKA-TV talked to workers working through the smoky conditions on Friday.
"It's been so hot out. It's actually kind of cooled it down a bit. You can feel it a little bit when you're breathing but all in all, it's really not too bad," said U.S. Postal Service worker Owen Dunn.
"The smell is not good. It's just hard to breathe," said construction worker Fapricio Sipriao.
The smoke is expected to move out by Saturday, and storms will move in. But it will return on Sunday, though the air quality isn't expected to be as bad.
"We're hoping the rain will actually help a little bit. Should kind of dissipate some of the smoke. Hoping the wind will kind of shift. I don't know. Cross our fingers pretty much at this point," McGowan said.
