South Side Chamber of Commerce says summer street festival helped decrease crime rates

In response to frequent violence and crime on Pittsburgh's South Side during the late-night hours, this summer, the South Side Street Festival was created to combat public safety issues. 

While there were mixed reactions at the time, the numbers are now backing up the idea. 

On one hand, people were supporting it with the hopes it would lower crime rates, while on the other, a petition was created to put an end to it. 

Now, the numbers show a declining crime rate. 

"The numbers don't lie," said Peter Margittai, president of the South Side Chamber of Commerce. "I think that it's a huge success from the public safety side." 

The South Side Street Festival closed a six-block stretch of East Carson Street to vehicle traffic on weekend nights. Entry was also restricted to anyone under 21. 

"I think the most telling numbers were arrests, which there were 62 arrests in 2025 and 25 in 2026," Margittai said. "So, a significant drop. The one that's phenomenal is firearms recovered. We had 33 in 2025 in that duration of time, and we only had two in 2026." 

The chamber also cited traffic stops being down 73%, traffic citations being down 35%, tows down 39%, and quality of life citations down 75%. 

However, critics argued the festival moved violence and traffic to the back streets, harming businesses. 

"The reason why the number is down is that no one was here," said Rich Cupka. "90% of the businesses down there were affected because the customers couldn't get to them because of the blockade." 

Margittai said he recognizes that complaint, and that there were bumps in the road, but overall, the festival's main goal was public safety, and they believe it worked. 

"We have not seen any kind of resurgence in crime, and we have not seen those numbers go up," he said.   

The chamber said there will be talks in the future about the festival and a return in 2027.