Got A Library Card? You’ll Get Free Entry to Pittsburgh Attractions
The Summer Staycation 2024 RAD Pass will provide 100,000 free tickets to more than a dozen cultural amenities from May to August.
AN ELEPHANT AT THE PITTSBURGH ZOO AND AQUARIUM | PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
This summer, an Allegheny County library card will give you access to far more than just books, periodicals, movies and library computers.
It also will give you access to the Summer Staycation 2024 RAD Pass — more than 100,000 free admissions to such attractions as the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, National Aviary, Mattress Factory, Heinz History Center, Children’s Museum and much, much more.
RAD is the Allegheny Regional Asset District, which supports many of Pittsburgh’s cultural amenities through special tax revenue.
Here’s how the program will work: Ticket offers from local attractions will begin to appear on RADPass.org starting May 1. Free admission days start May 15 and run through the end of August, according to a release.
These RAD-funded attractions will provide 100,000 free tickets over the summer:
- The Andy Warhol Museum
- Carnegie Museum of Art
- Carnegie Museum of Natural History
- Carnegie Science Center
- Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
- The Frick Pittsburgh
- Heinz History Center
- Mattress Factory
- National Aviary
- Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
- Pittsburgh Botanic Garden
- Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium
- Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum
Free “family four-packs” of tickets will be replenished with new dates throughout the summer. You can book these by following a four-step process at RADPass.org:
- Log in with your Allegheny County library card number and PIN.
- Browse for passes by date or by venue.
- Reserve your pass.
- Print your RAD Pass or download it to your mobile device.
People must be 18 or older to reserve a pass.
In addition, another resource — RADworkshere.org — will feature a calendar of free concerts, festivals and movies at regional parks throughout Allegheny County.
The summer staycation program is an expansion of the annual RAD Days at places that receive funding from the Allegheny Regional Asset District. Attractions participating in the Staycation will not host a traditional “RAD Day” this year but will shift those to the free summer admissions. RAD Days will continue at select music and theater performances, behind-the-scenes stadium tours, arts classes, family open houses and more.
There also is a FAQ with more details about how the RAD Pass works here.
