Ticket Giveaway: EQT Children's Theater Festival

One of our favorite Pittsburgh family events of the year is just a month away! The EQT Children's Theater Festival is a 4 day event with live performances, free activities, outdoor fun + much more! Affordable tickets make this a great option for family fun on Thursday, May 18 - Sunday, May 21, 2017.

Located in the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District, this year's EQT Children's Theater Festival includes:

• Professional theater performances from around the world
• Over 40 FREE hands-on educational and cultural activities!
• Family-friendly gallery installations, public art and interactive art!
• FREE outdoor pop-up performances featuring local and regional artists!
• Frog Stop Scavenger Hunt throughout the Cultural District featuring a free, fun prize!

Festival Grounds

The festival grounds will include a variety of food options and vendors, visual art programming at local galleries, pop-up green spaces, free hands-on activities, and free outdoor performances coordinated with Youth Express. 

Festival hours 

10:00am-2:00pm on Thursday, May 18 and 10:00am-6:00pm on Friday, May 19, through Sunday, May 21, 2017.

Featured Performances

MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS by Dallas Children’s Theater
United States 
Ages 5-11 | 65 minutes
Venue: August Wilson Center, 980 Liberty Avenue
When Mufaro learns that a great African king wants to meet the most worthy and beautiful women in order to choose a wife, he decides that both of his daughters should go.  During their journey to the King, Mufaro’s beautiful daughters Manyara and Nyasha encounter mysterious situations that test their courage, kindness and strength of spirit.  Celebrate goodness, generosity and love with traditional chanting, rhythmic drumming, and glorious African song in this beautiful Zimbabwe-based Cinderella tale based on the 1988 Caldecott Honor Award book by John Steptoe.  The story was adapted for the stage by Karen Abbott, with music and lyrics by S-Ankh Rasa.

THE WAY BACK HOME by Teater Refleksion and Branar Theater

Denmark and Northern Ireland

Ages 3-6 | 40 minutes
Venue: Trust Arts Education Center, 805-807 Liberty Avenue
When a boy discovers a single-propeller airplane in his closet, he does what any young adventurer would do: he flies into outer space!  Millions of miles from earth, the plane begins to sputter and quake.  The boy makes a daring landing on the moon where he realizes he’s not alone up there.  Based on the book by Oliver Jeffers, The Way Back Home explores the boundless imagination of children through puppetry, wonderful music, and creative wordless storytelling. 

WE BUILT THIS CITY by Polyglot

Australia
All Ages | 30 minutes
Venue: 7th Street & Penn Avenue, Outdoor interactive installation, with partial tentThe whole family will enjoy building the cities of their dreams in this giant cardboard construction site.  Thousands of cardboard boxes take over in this interactive performance where children build entire cities and towns of skyscrapers, tunnels, and sprawling estates that reflect the time and place of their immediate culture.  With a rocking soundtrack and Polyglot Theatre artists roaming the site, We Built This City is one of the happiest projects you will ever experience.  We Built This City is made possible in-part by the Maranne P. Welch Family Endowment.  Established in 2015, the Maranne P. Welch Family Endowment supports adventurous theater for young audiences.

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ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE’S WE ARE IN A PLAY!

The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour

United States
Ages 3-8 | 60 minutes
Venue: Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street
Elephant Gerald and Piggie sing and dance their way through plenty of pachydermal peril and swiney suspense in Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play!  This vaudevillian romp of a musical is based on Mo Willems’s beloved, award-winning, best-selling children’s books.  Together, these best friends face fundamental questions like: What do you wear to a fancy pool costume party? Should you share your ice cream? And how can two friends play with one toy? Backed by the nutty backup singers The Squirrelles, the duo even gets the audience involved in the action. You’ll be doing the “Flippy Floppy Floory” dance all night long!  This performance is also part of the 2016-2017 Citizens Bank Children’s Theater Series.

*Sensory Friendly Performances, which will include interactivity, rhythm, repetition, reduced sound levels and gentle lighting are scheduled at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, 2017.

SIMPLE GIFTS by Cashore Marionettes

United States
Ages 7+ | 60 minutes
Venue: Trust Arts Education Center, 805-807 Liberty Avenue
Experience a series of touching and poignant scenes from everyday life told through a beautiful and skillful manipulation of marionettes.  Set to music, this theatrical and artistic program will provide an entertaining and sensitive vision of what it is to be human.  This performance is also part of the 2016-2017 EQT Bridge Theater Series.  

PULSE by Teatro al Vacio

Mexico
Ages 0-2 | 30 minutes
Venue: Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue
Carefully designed for the youngest of theatergoers, Pulse uses soft textures and lively games to invite infants and toddlers into a safe, positive, and friendly environment that will stimulate their sense of creativity. Actors create an extraordinary space ready for exploration, connecting with simple materials to transform their surroundings into a world of play.  This event is a U.S. premiere.

Sensory-Friendly Performances Schedule

Sensory-friendly events during this year’s festival include ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE’S WE ARE IN A PLAY! taking placed at the Byham Theater, 101 6th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Sensory-friendly performances will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, 2017.

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Tickets and Information

Tickets are $9 for features performances. Multi-show packs are available and offered for as low as $6 per show! Flex Vouchers from the Citizens Bank Children’s Theater Series and EQT Bridge Theater Series are honored for all ticketed events taking place during the festival. Visit www.TrustArts.org/PGHkids, call (416) 456-6666, or pick up tickets in person at Theater Square Box Office, 655 Penn Avenue. For groups of 10+ call (412) 471-6930, or visit GroupSales@TrustArts.org. 

Ticket Giveaway

We are excited to give away two sets of tickets to two lucky families!
(Tickets can be redeemed for any show EXCEPT Elephant and Piggie's We Are In A Play.)
Click link to enter to win!

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Getting Around Downtown

Here are some ways to make your trip to the Festival easier!

• Reserve parking in advance with vouchers for the Theater Square Garage. Learn how here.
• Visit ParkPGH.org for real time parking availability in over 20 Downtown parking garages.
• Visit the Port Authority website for bus and trolley schedules and routes to the Festival. 

This post sponsored by Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. If I don't love it, I don't endorse it. ❤

412 Food Rescue

40% of food goes to waste. 

1 in 7 people go hungry. 

I'm so thankful that people have taken the initiative to change these statistics here in Pittsburgh. I'm thankful that grocery stores, markets and restaurants have a desire to see their surplus food passed on to people who can use it and that thousands of volunteers have come together to make this happen. 

The mission of 412 Food Rescue is to prevent perfectly good food from entering the waste stream.

412 Food Rescue is the only Pittsburgh organization that directly addresses the fact that we waste 40% of our food while 1 in 7 go hungry. Founded in 2015, 412 Food Rescue and its growing corps of over 2,000 volunteers in the Pittsburgh region have recovered over 1 million pounds of food from over 200 retailers and donated to over 250 nonprofits! 

412 Food Rescue is providing huge resources of ending food waste in our community. They are facilitating thousands of pounds of food from stores and restaurants that would typically be thrown away and engaging a volunteer army to move it to organizations that will put it to use.  It's important to note that this is not "food waste". They do not rescue spoiled food, wilted vegetables, expired food or consumer waste. They recover perfectly good, healthy food –mostly fruits and vegetables. Food is donated for many reasons:

• They are approaching their sell-by dates and need to be used within the day or a few days.
• They are not up to consumers’ “cosmetic standards” for food – consumers want the perfect apple, tomato etc.
• They need to be cooked or eaten today or in a few days – e.g. yellow bananas and other ripe fruit, day old bread that are still good, vegetables that are ready to be cooked today or in a few days. All perfectly good but will need to be consumed soon. 

"412 Food Rescue has helped to ensure that no HACP resident will be denied access to fresh, healthy food. Despite major cuts to the federal SNAP program....412 Food Rescue has managed to effectively end hunger in our public housing communities."

Michelle SandidgeHousing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh

My daughter and I recently had the opportunity to do a Food Rescue. It was shockingly easy, close to our home and took less than an hour of time out of our day! We were able to sign up for a pick at a local Giant Eagle and drop off at a family center that were both within 10 minutes of our house. With hundreds of food donors in our region, you can most likely find a location near you as well!

As more food donors come together to eradicate food waste in our city, more and more volunteers are needed! It's a simple task that many of us could add into our weekly schedule. The first step is to download the 412FR app. Go here for  iTunes/iPhone and here for GooglePlay/Android. 

The app allows you to login, see if there are any food rescues needed in your area and allows you to accept the rescue. It's so easy to use! This tutorial explains exactly how to use the app for your rescue. 

 In 2017, 412 Food Rescue is set to hit two million pounds of food rescued and is gearing up to launch its technology in other cities. In less than two years, 412 Food Rescue has been recognized nationally as a leader in food recovery. It is so exciting to see the way food surplus can be distributed in a city and to see other cities getting ready to follow the model that has been initiated in Pittsburgh!

GIVEAWAY:

Want to help spread the word about 412 Food Rescue? Enter our giveaway to win special 412FR swag! Includes a t-shirt, an apron, a bag and stickers (valued at $50).

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Want to learn more about 412 Food Rescue in person? One of the 412FR co-founders,  Leah Lizarando, will be speaking at NextFest Pittsburgh on Friday, April 7. Go here for more information. 

·    See more on the 412 Food Rescue social media channels:

o    Facebook: http://bit.ly/2nTiW6L

o    Twitter: http://bit.ly/2oRkEmY

o    Instagram:  http://bit.ly/2oR0rxF

o    YouTube: http://bit.ly/2nPjU2m

#412FoodRescue 

#FoodRescueHeroes

#EndFoodWaste

Sponsored post in partnership with The Motherhood on behalf of 412 Food Rescue. 

Camp Giveaway: British Soccer Camp

We are blessed in Pittsburgh to have a wide range of summer camps to choose from for our kids. The past few years, my kids have participated in British Soccer Camp of Challenger Sports and it is definitely one of the highlights of their summer!

One of my desires as a parent is to help give my kids a wide worldview and help them learn about cultures that may look differently than ours. One of the cool things about British Soccer Camp is that all the coaches come from cities in/around England. So, not only do they have those fun accents, but they give our kids another perspective from another county. Another great aspect is that you can host the coaches in your home for the week as well. We have done this and my kids have loved getting to know their coaches in this way! (You can also receive a rebate towards the cost of your camp if you host a coach!)

Another aspect I love about British Soccer Camp is that they learn a lot of interesting facts about other countries throughout the week. Each team is assigned a different country for the week and they spend the week learning about the flag and facts about the country which is an awesome learning experience!

One of their assignments was making the flag of their team, so my son to chose to make the largest one. 😃

The coaches are all very personable and extremely good with the kids! They are very encouraging while teaching them great soccer skills.

Each camp program includes a free ball, camp t-shirt, action poster, and a camp report, plus if you register 45 days or more before camp they will ship you this free British Soccer jersey (s&h applies). 

They have programs for all ages! Each day includes individual foot skills, technical drills, tactical practices, small-sided games, coached scrimmages, and a daily World Cup tournament.

FIRST KICKS
3 – 4 year olds • 1 hour per day
A fun introduction to the very basic elements of the game.

MINISOCCER
4 – 5 year olds • 1.5 hours per day
Fundamental practices, fun activities and small sided games.

HALF DAY CAMPS
5 – 16 year olds • 3 hours per day
Emphasis is placed upon individual skill development and technique.

FULL DAY CAMPS
10 – 18 year olds • 6 hours per day
For serious players focusing on techniques & tactical development.

There will be close to 20 British Soccer Camps in the Pittsburgh region this summer so there's a good chance you'll be able to find a summer camp that works for your schedule and location! Go here to see their full schedule. 

GIVEAWAY: 
I am thrilled that we have a free week of camp to giveaway to one lucky winner! Whether your child is a first time player or has played before in a league, this will be a great option for summer fun.

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We're looking forward to a great week of soccer fun this summer! 

This post is sponsored so I received compensation or products in exchange for my promotion. All opinions remain my own as I don't endorse companies that I don't value.