The Festival of Combustion, Saturday at the Carrie Blast Furnaces, is literally fire.
Channeling the molten metal that used to be made at this rusty National Historic Landmark in Swissvale and Rankin, this signature event of Rivers of Steel is built around an iron pour, fueled, just like it used to be, by coke. The nonprofit’s metal arts crew will work with visiting artists to cast artworks from premade molds, while an aluminum pour casts items from molds carved by festival participants.
Also bringing the heat are demos of blacksmithing, glassblowing with the Pittsburgh Glass Center, welding with Patrick Camut Fabrication, power hammer forging with the Center for Metal Arts, and “a performative wood-fired ceramic reveal at twilight with Talon Smith.”
The event, which runs from 1 to 9 p.m., includes pop-up “flame performances” by Lovely Lady Lydia Artistry throughout the evening and will close with fireworks.
And there’s a lot to see and do, and eat and drink, throughout.
Rivers of Steel’s senior director of programs & regional partnerships, Chris McGinnis, says this year’s celebration of industrial arts and American crafts has 50 collaborators.
They include, on the music stage, Ames Harding and the Mirage, Tom Breiding and Union Railroad, and The Polkamaniacs.
Attendees can experience mosaics with The Ruins Project, jewelry-making with the Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media, raku-fired ceramics with Ton Pottery, STEAM crafts with Assemble PGH, and — new to this year’s fest — a “Punk Rock Corner” with LIGHT Education Initiative and Guild on the Go with Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild.
You can learn to pogo, even get a tattoo.
A Heritage Craft Tent will offer hands-on heritage from Touchstone Center for Crafts, the Bradford House Historical Association, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, and the Society for the Preservation of the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka. West Overton Village will present activities for the kids, as well as educational rye whiskey tastings for adults.
Attendees also can purchase craft beer and cocktails and food from mobile vendors, as well as arts and crafts from a maker marketplace.
And don’t miss taking a self-paced tour of the furnaces. Remnants of the Homestead Works of U.S. Steel (sponsor of the fest), Carrie Furnaces #6 and #7 rise 92 feet above the Monongahela River, extremely rare examples of pre-World War II iron-making technology. The site is one of five attractions offered by Rivers of Steel.
It’s “a location that is uniquely tied to the story of Pittsburgh, and southwestern Pennsylvania’s legacy of innovation and industrial grit,” McGinnis said in an email. “We hope attendees to the festival have the chance to engage directly with this important historical asset, create something of their own to take home, and discover other cultural destinations nearby to form a deeper connection with our region’s history.”
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate for adults; admission is free for those under age 18. Get them and learn more at riversofsteel.com.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
