Happy fall! I apologize for the late email this week. We had family in town, and I overestimated my ability to curate everything on time like normal. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming!

🎨 Highlands High cartoons. Highlands High School just got picked as one of only seven schools nationwide for a first-of-its-kind animation program, teaming up with Wonder Media Studios (the folks behind "Rugrats" and "The Simpsons"). Ninth graders will spend the year writing, scoring, and producing their own animated TV series about real high school life. Highlands has done this once before with Wonder Media, on a mental-health-focused short that premiered at Woodland Hills. Now they get to have their own show.

👶 Community gardens are for veggies and babies. Food for the Soul Community Garden, in Manchester, just wrapped an unusually abundant late-summer harvest. They had cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, berries, you name it. Plus, an impromptu baby shower for member Brenda Hostetler, whose baby will be the garden's second "garden baby" born since she and her husband joined. Over five years, the co-op has given away more than 12,000 pounds of produce for free to the community.

How many years did it take for the Cathedral of Learning to be built?

Last Week’s Answer: September 19th

I love finding houses that feel like you’ve been transported back in time. There’s a drone shot toward the end of the slideshow that is a crazy juxtaposition between this old 1900s farmhouse and the new development that popped up behind it. The difference is crazy, in a good way, if you love older architecture. See the full listing here.

Submit your favorite houses

🆓 = free/non-ticketed event
💲 = paid/ticketed event

Submit your events

🆓 City Social: A Landing Ovation - This week's free happy hour series gets an upgrade with a 90-minute preview of the fall arts season, featuring Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Confluence Theater, plus live music from the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra. 4 to 7 pm at Arts Landing. Register free.

🆓 Harry Potter Night - It’s back for another night full of Butterbeer, popcorn, and cotton candy from SugarBird! 7:30 pm at The Plaza at North Shore. More info.

🆓 Hofbrauhaus Oktoberfest - It’s the final weekend of Oktoberfest celebrations at Hofbrauhaus. It starts Friday and runs through Sunday. Get your German grub alongside live music and seasonal beer. More info.

💲Four Chord Music Fest - Knocked Loose and Pierce the Veil headline this two-day punk and emo fest, with Mayday Parade and Boys Like Girls also in the lineup. Doors open at 1 pm at FNB Stadium. It runs through Saturday. Buy tickets.

🆓 Cathedral of Learning Centennial Light Show - The Cathedral comes alive for a cinematic light and sound show marking its groundbreaking centennial. They’ll have one show every night starting Friday through Sunday. 9 to 9:15 pm on the Cathedral Lawn. More info.

💲 Junior Great Race Family Day - The Dollar Bank Junior Great Race brings a one-mile Family Fun Run, a Tot Trot, and a Diaper Dash for the littles, plus a race-day expo. The races kick off at 9:30 am at Point State Park. Register here.

💲Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival: Time Travelers Weekend - The 2nd to last weekend of the Renfaire season. Now’s the time to show off your costumes from past, present, and future. They’ll have a costume contest on the Greek stage at 2:30 pm. The full festival runs from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday at 112 Renaissance Lane, West Newton, PA 15089. Sign up.

💲Pitt Homecoming Game - It’s homecoming weekend, and Pitt is taking on Bucknell at 12 pm at Acrisure. #H2P. Alumni can get discounted tickets at this link.

🆓 Drum Fest - All ages are welcome for this celebration of rhythm on Herr's Island, with drum circles, live music, food trucks, and a dedicated Kids Zone (face painting, a shaker-maker station, and a magic show). 1 to 9 pm. Learn more.

💲Steelers vs Bengals - The Steelers are back in town this weekend taking on the Bengals. 1 pm at Acrisure. Get tickets.

Remember to tag us @steelcityledger on Instagram if you check out any of these events!

Commonplace Coffee Autumn Palmer - Craving a drink that’s cold, crisp, and refreshing but still tastes like fall? Try the Autumn Palmer available exclusively at the Mexican War Streets cafe. Made with cold brew, apple cider, and brown sugar.

Pittsburgh Brewing Co. 3 New Fall Drinks - The PBC Brew, Mango Cider, and Pumpkin Twist.

Bethel Bakery Cranberry Orange Torte - Made with three layers of orange cranberry cake, two layers of cream cheese filling, iced in buttercream, sided with streusel and topped with a buttercream design.

The Pitt, HBO’s medical drama, is looking for extras for the 3rd season. They’ll be filming here October 27th through the 29th. So, if you’ve been itching to get on the big screen, now’s your chance!

I talked about this a few weeks back; the Aviary is looking for help naming their 2 new baby skunk sisters. The first round of name suggestions is complete, so now it’s up to voters to pick from the top 3. It costs $5 to vote, and all the proceeds go to supporting the Aviary. You can cast your vote here.

Now that it’s officially fall, it’s time to get out and do some leaf peeping! One of my favorite places is Kinzua Bridge State Park’s Skywalk. The views are immaculate and are well worth the ~3 hr drive. The drive itself is leaf peepers dream.

Meet Tommy Pickles here.

Someone forwarded this to you? Subscribe here.

Want your event featured? Submit it.

Interested in giving your business a boost? Advertise with us.