The Thrival Innovation is Coming to Pittsburgh

Thrival Innovation + Music Festival Showcases Pittsburgh’s Creative and Tech Boom September 20-24, 2016. 

Initial Music Lineup Announce: CHVRCHES, Thievery Corporation, Metric, Lettuce, and more. 

Pittsburgh, PA – Launched in 2013 by Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Thrill Mill, Inc., Pittsburgh’s Thrival Innovation + Music Festival is an annual weeklong event that showcases the former industrial juggernaut’s resurgence as a dynamic tech and creative hub.

Running September 20-24, the festival features multiple days of immersive, innovation-focused programming, capped by a diverse two-day outdoor live music experience with world renowned talent.

Thrival musical headliners include CHVRCHES, Thievery Corporation, Metric, and Lettuce with additional acts to be announced. Former headliners include Panic! At the Disco, RJD2, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, Wale, Moby, Portugal. The Man, and more.

Thrival Innovation programs will explore three themes: AuthentiCity, The Ripple Effect, and Lost and Found.

AuthentiCIty speaks to the complexities of Pittsburgh’s rising status as one of the most livable cities in the U.S., as well as America’s top food town and other accolades.

Thrival executive producer, Dan Law, explains, “Recently, Pittsburgh finds itself on a number of ‘top’ lists, but so much of our city remains undiscovered to a broader audience. The festival offers that unique opportunity to witness why Pittsburgh is a modern comeback story.”

The city’s tech boom has been a driving force in its comeback narrative attracting industry stalwarts like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Uber. However, Thrival’s Ripple Effect theme also explores the smaller ideas that eventually lead to big impacts emerging outside of the tech giants’ umbrellas — particularly within the realm of startups and entrepreneurship.

The festival’s third theme, Lost and Found is an examination of rediscovered industries and skillsets that are shaping our modern economy — a theme embodied by the landmark venue anchoring the weekend music experience, the Carrie Furnaces. This national historic landmark was once a part of the historic Homestead Steel Works.

Backing Thrival for a second year, the commercialization arm of the Pittsburgh region’s largest health care system, UPMC Enterprises, will once again serve as presenting sponsor.

“Thrival gives us a chance to highlight the creativity and entrepreneurialism that is transforming this region,” says UPMC Enterprises President Tal Heppenstall. “Nowhere is that innovation more evident than at UPMC and in the health care sector at large.”

The festival covers a number of bases, but this is nothing new for a city examining its past while planning its future.

Mayor William Peduto concludes, “Pittsburgh has always been a city of innovation and new ideas, and Thrival is not only telling Pittsburgh’s story, but bringing the national and global community to Pittsburgh to be part of our transformation.”

For more information visit, www.thrivalfestival.com. Tickets are available through Ticketfly, at https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1113239. Follow Thrival on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.- Read the full story at UnRatedMagazine.com