You don't have to be a Pittsburgher to celebrate the city's 250th birthday.

That was the message organizers of the celebration took to Harrisburg yesterday.

They are hoping to generate enough excitement over the city's quarter-millennium anniversary to attract visitors and new businesses to the wider region, and even to other parts of the state.

Dubbed Pittsburgh 250, the celebration includes the state's first-ever elite national race for bicyclists younger than 25, the completion of a 335-mile hiking trail connecting Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., and the publication of a new tourism guide for the region.

"The 250th anniversary is a unique opportunity to promote Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Carlisle, Bedford, Ligonier and numerous other communities across our commonwealth to a national and global audience," said Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Rahvenstahl also was on hand. He called Pittsburgh 250 "not only an opportunity to reflect on the history of the city and all its accomplishments ... but also to look forward and imagine what will be opportunities for the future."

For more information, visit www.ImaginePittsburgh.com.