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7 festivals every Cincinnatian should attend at least once. How many have you been to?

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7 festivals every Cincinnatian should attend at least once. How many have you been to?

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Some things are just so Cincinnati you have to do them at least once. Trying Cincinnati-style chili or cheering on the Reds at Great American Ball Park are among Queen City staples.

Luckily for visitors and longtime residents, there isn’t a shortage of quintessential events, including the many festivals around town.

Some new, some decades old, Cincinnati festivals shine a light on the city’s buzzing food and art scenes, celebrate its brewing and cultural heritage and give fans a place to sing along with their favorite artists. Here are seven festivals worth attending and checking off your Cincinnati bucket list.

Taste of Cincinnati

This annual food festival has highlighted Queen City restaurateurs for more than four decades. Each May, Taste of Cincinnati draws dozens of food vendors – and approximately 550,000 people – downtown. Attendees at the free-admission festival can purchase small dishes from participating restaurants, food trucks and more, and get a taste of what Cincinnati’s food scene has to offer.

Cincinnati Music Festival

From its launch in 1962 as a premier jazz festival, the Cincinnati Music Festival has grown into an annual three-day event featuring R&B, pop, jazz, soul and hip-hop artists. Thousands of fans flock to Andrew J. Brady Music Center and Paycor Stadium for the festival each July. Music icons, such as Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire, have performed at Cincinnati Music Festival.

Summerfair Cincinnati

Summerfair Cincinnati fans worried about the art festival’s future when Coney Island closed last year. However, the festival remained in its usual spot this summer – the former Coney Island amusement park area – now owned by Music and Event Management Inc.

Starting as a small art fair in 1968, Summerfair is now one of the oldest continuous art festivals in the United States, and raises money for artists and arts organizations throughout Greater Cincinnati. Visitors can find hundreds of vendors and artists who specialize in photography, painting, wood, metal, drawings and printmaking, sculptures, glass, ceramics, fibers, leather, jewelry and 2D/3D mixed-media art.

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati

The country’s largest Oktoberfest celebration is held right here in Cincinnati. This year’s Oktoberfest Zinzinnati will be an even bigger spectacle, with a 300-foot beer tent that can accommodate up to 1,000 people, similar to tents at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. The festival takes place Sept. 19-22 at Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove, allowing for a Bavarian beer garden-inspired style, organizers said.

Around 700,000 people flock to Oktoberfest Zininnati for the German beer, food and music, and also for the quirky traditions. Come for the bratwurst, stay for the Running of the Wieners.

Blink

Blink, the biennial art, light and projection-mapping festival, returns to Cincinnati streets this October. The free festival started in 2017 and has grown into a four-day event that draws viewers to Northern Kentucky, Over-the-Rhine and Downtown.

The 2022 iteration of Blink attracted over 2 million people, according to organizers.

Bockfest

Bockfest has seen a few changes over its 32-year history, but it still celebrates Cincinnati’s brewing heritage and bock beer each February. There’s a parade, 5K run, Sausage Queen pageant, live music and, of course, lots of bock beer: the strong, dark beer drank by German monks during Lenten fasts.

PNC Festival of Lights

While not a festival in the traditional sense, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden‘s annual holiday lights display is well-loved by Cincinnatians. USA TODAY’s 10Best has ranked PNC Festival of Lights No. 1 in the country for zoo lights six years in a row.

Zoogoers can visit with animals, such as the zoo’s famous hippo bloat, earlier in the day, and stick around for a holiday display of 4 million twinkling lights. PNC Festival of Lights is included in zoo admission.

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