Fans celebrate the return of PiratesFest

A sea of black and gold flooded the third floor of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon as fans attended the annual PiratesFest.

The event was last held in 2019 at PNC Park. The announcement of its long-awaited return caused quite the excitement and had Pirates fans ranging from casual watchers to die-hard followers rushing to register for their free tickets.

Amanda Melick, 31, of Allison Park, was excited to share the experience with her two children Theo, 4, and Paulin, 2.

“I’ve been coming to PiratesFest since I was a kid,” Melick said. “Now I have two little ones, and my son is obsessed with the Pirates. We go to a ton of games.”

Melick said that she and her family are also regulars at the Pirates family events throughout each year. Theo was excited to to meet his favorite players .

“I love watching all of the (question-and-answer sessions), all the demonstrations — obviously hanging around for autographs,” Melick said. “Conner Joe was there when (Theo) was running the bases, and he got to hang out with him a little. That kind of stuff is very cool.”

Sean Kelly, 24, of Robinson, said that he had a feeling of nostalgia riding up the elevator to the festival.

“Going up the escalators, I was like ‘wow, I haven’t done this in 12 years,’” Kelly said. “It was really cool coming back here. I used to come here as a kid and they haven’t done it in a while. And all of the sudden they brought it back, so I got four tickets and invited my friends.”

Ryley Tarasi, 25, of Pittsburgh; Rock Rauterkos, 24, of Crafton; and Memphis Carpenter, 25, of West End, joined Kelly at PiratesFest and ended up grabbing season tickets while they were there.

“I think the Buccos best years are ahead for the next decade, and we wanted to get in on the pricing now before everyone ‘bandwagons’ back onto them,” Rauterkos said. “Specifically the last couple years, with the drafts and how they’ve played, it really just feels like the better days are ahead. We’re ready to just enjoy Pirate games together.”

Carpenter was excited to be a new season ticker holder.

“Now that we’re here and in the grind as season ticket holders, we’re ready for that postseason push,” he said.

Throughout the day, the friends enjoyed food, games set up around the convention center and meeting the different mascots in attendance.

Tarasi only had one thing to say about the day.

“Let’s go Bucs!”