Attractions and Festivals

CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS

The Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center located in Cambria City offers a first hand look into the experience of immigrants to the City through interactive exhibits.  The Johnstown Flood Museum and Johnstown Flood National Memorial both tell the story of the infamous 1889 flood.

The Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center on the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ) campus is home to the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra in addition to a performing space for the Johnstown Concert Ballet and various traveling productions and concerts. The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art also occupies space in the Center.                                               

The BOTTLEWORKS Ethnic Arts Center supports and promotes local artists as well as serving as a resource for the area’s cultural heritage.  The Center includes a gallery and black box theater and offers a variety of activities including ethnic cooking classes. The BOTTLE WORKS newest and most significant project is the proposed ARTWORKS in Johnstown facility that will include 13 artists studios, art supply store, and a roof top café.

The area offers three additional performing arts venues, The Mountain Playhouse, Allegheny Highlands Regional Theater and the newly renovated art deco Arcadia Theater.  The Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company gives outdoor performances of the legend’s work every summer.

The Community Arts Center of Cambria County home to the Goldhaber-Fend Fine Arts Center offers changing exhibits and an extensive array of arts related classes. Every Labor Day weekend, the Center hosts an annual arts festival with over 100 participants.

FESTIVALS

Each Labor Day weekend the people of Johnstown celebrate their rich ethnic heritage at the Johnstown Folkfest and the Cambria City Ethnic Fest.  These festivals offer a plethora of cuisine and music from cultures from all over the world.  Most notably, the Folkfest is considered to be one of the premiere free music festivals in the East.
                                                                                         
Downtown Johnstown welcomes over 150,000 motorcycle enthusiasts every summer during the annual Thunder in the Valley motorcycle rally.  The rally features live musical entertainment, games and contests, food booths, vendors, a bike show, a vintage bike museum along with countless motorcycle tours through the area’s impressive scenery.