BURGH
C
elebrating its fifth year, the Thrival Innovation + Music
Festival is gearing up for what promises to be another year
of spectacular events.
The Thrival Innovation + Music Festival is an annual,
Pittsburgh-based event featuring multiple days of innovation-
focused programming capped by a two-day outdoor live music
experience.
The festival started in 2013 as an initiative of Ascender (known
then as Thrill Mill), and was founded by CEO Bobby Zappala,
Chairman Luke Skurman and a group of their friends. The
original concept started even further back—almost 10 years
ago—when this group held a neighborhood barbecue that served
as an informal party for young Pittsburghers, raising funds for
local startup companies.
This yearly block party eventually transformed into a
nonprofit, now called Ascender, a “start/build” hub that offers
an incubator program for early-