Can yinz believe it’s almost time for the first-ever Great Yinzer Tailgate? On Saturday, November 4th from 11am – 6pm, this iconic Pittsburgh experience at Southpointe Town Center will combine our unique culture and remarkable history to make a new annual tradition. It’s more than just a tailgate!
The Great Yinzer Tailgate is free, family-friendly, and full of Pittsburgh’s best food, drinks, vendors, local legends, and more. Plus, a portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit the Mel Blount Youth Leadership Initiative – it’ll be a great time with great people and a great give-back!
Whether you’re a lifelong Western Pennsylvania resident or just passing through, come dahn on Saturday, November 4th to see it all for yinzself.
Entertainment
The Great Yinzer Tailgate will be jam-packed with local musicians, comedians, sports stars, and mascots to keep you entertained. Yinzers of all talents will keep the party going all day long!
Here’s our legendary game day lineup:
- 11am – Opening ceremony, parade and pep rally + performance by Bailey Rose
- 12pm – Performances by Mark Ferrari + The Polkamaniacs
- 1pm – Performance by Cover 2 and a Renegade Challenge hosted by comedian Matt Light
- 2pm – Great Yinzer Olympics hosted by YaJagoff!
- 3pm – Performance by Barranti/Caskey Project (Mark D. Caskey, Matt Barranti, and Sarah Phillips)
- 4pm – Johnny Angel, Pete Hewlett + Scott Anderson Trio
- 5pm – Honoring the MVP of the first-ever Great Yinzer Tailgate, Mel Blount
Opening Parade + Pep Rally
We’ll kick off the Great Yinzer Tailgate at 11am with a parade featuring our beloved hometown mascots, local high school bands, Steel City Drumline, and the professional drumline of the Steelers, Pittsburgh Steeline.
The parade will make its way to the main stage, where we’ll start a pep rally with Steely McBeam, Iceburgh, Franky Twist from Sarris, and a few Great Pierogi Race runners.
Along with getting into the Yinzer spirit, the first-ever Pittsburgh mascot, Rich Fundy, will be recognized on stage with the current mascots!
The Great Yinzer Olympics
The YaJagoff! crew will host the Great Yinzer Olympics at 2pm! You’ll take on four Pittsburgh-related challenges, such as Yinzer Twister and the Parking Chair on a Spoon Race.
Get together your group of four Yinzers and email TheGreatYinzerTailgate@gmail.com to sign up! For more details on the games, check out our Instagram and Facebook.
Great Yinzer MVP Tribute
Towards the end of the tailgate around 5pm, Mel Blount will be recognized for his incredible work on the Mel Blount Youth Leadership Initiative. He’ll be awarded as our Inaugural Great Yinzer MVP!
Blount’s initiative has helped “provide youth with a healthy environment to learn, work, play, and develop principles of respect, responsibility, and leadership.” The program supports and serves over 2000 youth per year, helping them build character, integrity, and hope.
A portion of the proceeds of the Great Yinzer Tailgate will be donated to the Mel Blount Youth Leadership Initiative, so show up and support the cause!
To support you can:
- Personally donate at the event
- Buy tickets to the VIP section where you can bid on items at the silent auction
- Grab tickets for the hourly 50/50 raffles
Things to Do
In addition to the entertainment all day, there’s plenty more to do at the Great Yinzer Tailgate! Get Pittsburgh food and drinks, shop arahnd tahn, take the kids to the Lil’ Yinzer Kids Zone, and enjoy the incredible atmosphere.
Eat + Drink
It wouldn’t be a Great Yinzer Tailgate without some amazing Pittsburgh cuisine, like pierogies, local brews, and favorites from the Strip District. Sip and taste your way through the tailgate with our food truck and drink vendor line up.
Jeet jet? We hope not! Come hungry because there’ll be plenty of food and drinks yinz ‘er going to love.
Get a taste of these delicious vendors:
- Pittsburgh Brewing Co.
- Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka
- Primanti Bros.
- Mancini’s Bakery
- Press House Coffee
- Millie’s Truck Pittsburgh
- Pgh Crepes
- The Pierogi Lady
- Cookey
- PGH Pierogi Truck
- 1:11 Juice Bar
- Bull River Taco
- La Palapa, Mexican Cuisine & Mezcal Bar
- Mobile Chef Food Truck
- Frosty Fairy Ice
- Donut NV
- Pig and Fire House of BBQ
Plus, you’ll be hydrated all day with the free hydration station brought to you by Washington Health System.
Shop
The Great Yinzer Tailgate will have a wide variety of local vendors set up at our Dahntahn Market on Main Street.
You’ll find everything from sports memorabilia to jewelry and Pittsburghese apparel. We’ll even have exclusive Great Yinzer Tailgate merchandise to commemorate this awesome event!
The beginning of November is the best time to start thinking about holiday shopping. Grab something unique for another Yinzer or treat yourself!
Check out our featured vendors:
- Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop
- Up in Suds
- Jenni G Jewelry
- Aycho Melange
- Pittsburgh Worsh Company
- McDonald’s of Three Rivers
- Link+Bonded Semi-Permanent Jewelry
- Women Who Rock
- Inclined Designs
- PGH Pickers
- Mazzotta Winery
- Beads by Barson
- Karpa Tattoo
- Planted Aesthetics
- The Scout Guide Pittsburgh
- OC Glass
- LuluZ Design
Lil’ Yinzer Kids Zone
Brought to you by WQED, the Lil’ Yinzer Kids Zone will be open from 11-4pm, featuring character visits, kids activities, photo ops with the mascots, face painting, and inflatables!
Snack on a Smiley cookie, do scavenger hunts, and get free stickers and kids coupons! Also be sure to get some family photos with Arthur and friends and at Mrs. T’s Selfie Station. It’ll be fun for the whole family – teach the lil’ Yinzers how you tailgate!
Enjoy the Yinzer Experience!
Be sure to wear your best black and gold to embrace the Yinzer spirit! Break out that Terrible Towel and embrace what it means to be a Yinzer.
The BurghBus will be setting up shop with their Fanatics Selfie Zone so you can get some Instagram-able moments in your black and gold with The Burgh Bus, comedian Matt Light, and more.
VIP Upgrade
Although the Great Yinzer Tailgate is a free event for the community, we also have a VIP option for those 21 and over. Enjoy an upgraded Yinzer experience from 1pm – 6pm with our VIP Sweet Seat tickets!
The VIP tickets get you access to our Great Hall, an exclusive exhibit full of Pittsburgh history and culture. Sip and sample local food and cocktails from Atria’s, Boyd & Blair, Bethel Bakery, and RBar.
Get a reusable tote with goodies from our sponsors and partners, and bid on one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia at our silent auction. The auction will have signed memorabilia, tickets, experiences, and more up for grabs.
See local artist Cody Sabol bring his art to life, and preview ‘22 Seconds to Destiny’ by artist Dino Guarino, one of the last projects that Franco Harris worked on.
Tickets for the VIP Sweet Seats are limited, so get yours now!
Come dahn to the Great Yinzer Tailgate!
We’re so excited to provide this event to the community, and we can’t wait to see yinz there. Follow the Great Yinzer Tailgate on Instagram and Facebook to get updates and RSVP!
Be sure to spread the word about the tailgate n’at. Let’s get as many Yinzers as possible and make this the biggest tailgate of the year! For more info and to get VIP tickets, visit TheGreatYinzerTailgate.com.
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.