For a century, as a key part of U.S. Steel’s Homestead Works, the Carrie Blast Furnaces were one of the literally hottest places in the Mon Valley.
These days, once a year, the Carrie Furnaces site still heats up pretty well with the Festival of Combustion. The Rivers of Steel event features workshops, demonstrations and performances mostly built around fire and extremely hot metal.
This year’s event, on Sat., Oct. 7, gives visitors a chance to build mosaics, fire ceramics, and even create their own designs which are then cast in solid aluminum. There are also local craftspeople demonstrating blacksmithing, welding and glassblowing.
Performances include live music and fire-spinners. Bands include Tom Breiding and the Union Railroad (Americana), Bindley Hardware Co. (alt country), and Shameless Hex (folk rock). The fire performers are from Lovely Lady Lydia Artistry.
There’s also a maker marketplace, food and beer trucks, and mini-tours of the blast furnace itself.
New this year is the closing performance Ferrum Lux. It’s a live iron pour at more than 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit that then activates neon sculptures, all accompanied by a live electronic score. The show — by visiting, New York-based iron sculptor Coral Penelope Lambert and digital artist Paul Higham — runs 45 minutes and coincides with the festival’s closing fireworks display.
Also new to the festival, if not particularly fire-related, is the XPOGO jump clinic, for folks who want to test out a pogo stick.
The festival runs 1-9 p.m. Sat., Oct. 7. More information is here.
