🍂 Pittsburgh’s best autumn fests

Apps Open for Spay & Neuter Program

In collaboration with Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh, the city launched its redesigned spay and neuter program. The program is open city residents who have pet cats and dogs or registered trappers who are helping to control the city’s feral cat population. [City of Pittsburgh]

• Learn about trap, neuter, and release programs in Pittsburgh. [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]

Local Children Face Deportation, Advocates Step In

The Trump administration’s effort to deport nearly 700 children in the U.S. to Guatemala — including about 10 from Pittsburgh — was temporarily halted over the weekend. Some of the local children have no family in Guatemala and all of them are in the immigration legal process. [Public Source]

• Catch up: ICE raids are on the rise locally, and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee was recently denied entry to a PA detention center. [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]
• Know your legal rights during an ICE encounter in Pittsburgh. [📝 Hey Pittsburgh]

County Council Special Election Moves Forward

A state Supreme Court judge ruled that a special election for an at-large Allegheny County Council seat can proceed this fall, quashing Republicans’ hopes to keep their appointed representative, Mike Embrescia, in the seat unchallenged. [WESA]

Penguins Announce Giveaway Games

The Pens are giving away bobbleheads of the "Big Three," — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang — at select home games. Preseason starts Sept. 22. [KDKA / NHL]

• Remember when 19,000 Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads were stolen? [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]
• Get nebby: Here are the highest-paid athletes in Pittsburgh. [Business Times]

As the cool days creep in, we have you covered with apple and pumpkin picking, German beer festivals, community farm celebrations, haunted trails, parades, and more.

Sewickley Harvest Festival & Fall Music Festival

Sept. 6

Look for food, arts and crafts, kids’ activities, and all-day sidewalk sales in Sewickley proper, then skip up to the music festival at the Fern Hollow Nature Center for food trucks, yard games, and more. 

Hilltop Harvest Festival

Sept. 6

Celebrate summer’s bounty with Mt. Oliver Borough and Hilltop Urban Farm. Look forward to a local vendor market, fresh produce, craft beer, seasonal treats, live music, and family-friendly activities. Think you have the best pumpkin recipe? Bring it for the bakeoff!

Septoberfest

Sept. 11-21

Enjoy Bavarian food while sipping on the “Ordinary Things” fest lager or “Cinnamon Ghoul” pumpkin ale at Spoonwood Brewing Company in Bethel Park.

Corn Maze at Gearhard Farms

Starts Sept. 12

Mark 25 years in this enormous Murrysville corn maze — grown every year in a different design — and once you find your way out, try to draw it! Don’t skip the pumpkin patch or the cozy hayrides, either.

Pumpkingfest

Sept. 13

Join Southern Tier Brewing for ​​the ultimate fall block party on the North Shore with festival-style pumpkin pints, fall bites, live music, tarot readings, and a local vendor market.

Harvest Trail at Simmons Farm

Starts Sept. 13

A wristband gets you access to the petting zoo; pumpkin patch; carving displays; a butterfly house; corn, hay, and sunflower mazes; and a ton of special events and games, like the human hamster wheel, pumpkin Guess Who?, basketball corn hoppers, strongman sledge hammers, and more.

Penn Brewery Oktoberfest

Weekends, Sept. 19-27

Drink beer from a milk jug in Troy Hill’s historic cobblestone biergarten, where a taste of Munich takes over four festive floors and a pair of purple-tinted, outdoor caves. We love the hot German potato salad, schnitzels, and Soergels x Penn shandy. Plus, there’s a VIP party!