Without the excitement of football season, homecoming week, Halloweekend and Thanksgiving break, the spring semester might seem like a much more dull time than the fall semester. The constant gray skies of Pittsburgh from January through March don’t help the already lackluster expectations that come with a spring semester at Pitt. However, though there may not be football tailgates, costume parties or a reasonable amount of sunshine to look forward to, there are some exciting events for Pitt students to gear up for this spring.

Pitt Program Council’s stand-up show: An Evening With Nicole Byer

Hosting a famous comedian for a stand-up show has been an annual spring semester event for PPC. Saturday Night Live cast member and writer Colin Jost graced that stage at the WPU Assembly room in 2017. The 2018 event will feature Nicole Byer, who is known for appearing on the hit MTV show “Girl Code” and hosting the Netflix show “Nailed It!”

Byer will perform on Jan. 24, with an opening performance from Pitt junior Kathryn Human, the winner of the “So You Think You’re Funny” competition PPC hosted last semester. Tickets are free for Pitt students at the Oakland campus and go on sale today, Jan. 7.

Local concerts

Some big names in music are set to make their way to the Steel City this spring. PPG Paints Arena will house concerts for some of the most successful artists in their respective genres of music, such as Michael Buble Feb. 22, Blake Shelton Feb. 23, Mumford and Sons March 14 and Cher April 18.

Concerts at PPG Paints Arena can cost a pretty penny, so for the college student on a budget, there are shows at smaller local venues to look into. Stage AE will welcome pop singer Poppy on Feb. 9 as well as indie band Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness on Feb. 24. Alternative rock band Jukebox the Ghost will play Mr. Smalls Theatre Mar. 24 and rapper JID stops at the Rex Theatre Mar. 9, among many other shows.

Bigelow Bash

If all of the previously mentioned concerts are too expensive for your budget, you can always look forward to another annual Pitt Program Council event free for students — Bigelow Bash. Each spring semester, PPC welcomes a well-known music artist to perform on a stage set up on Bigelow Boulevard between the Cathedral of Learning and William Pitt Union. Bigelow Bash usually takes place in late April, and similar to Fall Fest, is a highly anticipated event for students.

Past headliners for Bigelow Bash include MisterWives, Mike Posner, B.o.B, X Ambassadors, American Authors and Kesha — back when she still stylized her name as Ke$ha. The 2019 headliners have not been announced yet.

St. Patrick’s Day

It might not be a spooky holiday filled with candy and costumes, but St. Patty’s Day festivities can deliver excitement throughout the weekend. Pittsburgh has its own traditions to celebrate the very Irish holiday. An annual parade is held throughout downtown Pittsburgh, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Irish Network. This year’s parade will take place on Saturday, March 16 at 10 a.m.

St. Patty’s actually falls the next day, March 17. Those celebrating the holiday will probably be seen wearing all green all weekend long as they go bar-and party-hopping in honor of old St. Patty — especially with the Official St. Patrick’s Day Crawl PGH in the South Side hosted by Bar Crawl Live.