Year: 2010

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Get tuned up for the 2010 MidPoint Music Festival

This weekend thousands of music fans from around the Midwest will descend on Cincinnati for the annual MidPoint Music Festival that started in 2002. The music festival has been grown over the last three years by its new organizers Dan McCabe. This year’s festival will showcase over 230 performances at venues throughout Cincinnati’s center city.

While much of the focus is on the music, and rightfully so, Cincinnati is also on display showcasing its galleries, restaurants, and other offerings to the thousands of music fans. For those who may be unfamiliar with MidPoint, or Cincinnati’s center city, we have put together a comprehensive guide to the 10th annual MidPoint Music Festival.

Food Options:
Music starts at 7pm each night of the festival and is scheduled to last late into the night. As a result, many festival-goers will be searching for food options. Since last year’s festival many new offerings have sprung up in the areas surrounding the performance venues.

Cincinnati’s many food trucks will be on the move throughout the weekend, Mr. Sushi has late night offerings on 6th Street, Senate is now open and serving gourmet street food in the Gateway Quarter, Joe’s Diner has reasonably priced diner fare just off of Main Street in Over-the-Rhine, and a variety of existing establishments like Shanghai Mamas, Lucy Blue Pizza, and Gilpin’s Bagel Deli will be serving late into the night. Festival organizers also say that many of the MPMF venues will be serving food as well.

New Venues:
Festival organizer Dan McCabe has also been able to take advantage of several new venues now open for this year’s three-day event. Located downtown on W. 6th Street, FB’s will be new to this year’s festival. In Over-the-Rhine, Neon’s Unplugged will be another new venue and will also be the host for the Gold Star Chili Artist Clubhouse. Nearby MOTR, owned by McCabe, will be the other new venue and will continue to offer live music daily without a cover charge after the festival is over.

Free Stuff:
While MPMF is a bargain with three-day wristbands costing just $39 (available up through the start of the festival only), one-day passes at $20, or a cover charge at each venue, there are also plenty of options for folks to enjoy the festival at no cost. One such opportunity is the festival’s new partnership with the public library. Free live music will be offered on Fountain Square each night starting at 7pm. A free poster expo will be held at 5pm each day at the Know Theatre as a way for local artists to showcase their artistic talents.

Other Downtown Happenings:
Aside from MPMF, there are a plethora of other activities happening in the downtown area this weekend including the Final Friday gallery walk in Over-the-Rhine, Atomic Number 10’s one-year anniversary party, The Lackman’s grand opening, and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats football game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Paul Brown Stadium.

The Music:
More than 230 performances in three nights can be difficult to plan for, even for the most ardent music fan, so here are a few strategies to think about heading into the weekend:

  • Get a Pass: If you missed out on the opportunity to purchase a three-day wristband, or are unable commit to the whole weekend, buy a one-day pass for $20 at any venue throughout the festival. Not only will it allow you the opportunity to explore different venues, but it also provides the opportunity to ride the free Metro Hybrid Shuttles.
  • Be Curious: Much of the fun at MPMF can be had by checking out new places and new bands that you may not have known. There are a total of 25 venues this year that will provide ample opportunity for even veteran Cincinnati music fans to experience music in new and interesting ways.
  • Support Local Artists: While the festival is a showcase for many artists outside the region, there are others that are a part of the Cincinnati scene which are worth seeing, especially if you have not seen them before. There are too many to name, but here are a few: Pomegranates, The Seedy Seeds, Wussy, You You’re Awesome, and Chocolate Horse.
  • Seek Out National & International Artists: While the local scene is key, MPMF provides bands from outside our region the chance to come in and play to a large crowd. It also provides fans the opportunity to sample some of music’s biggest up-and-comers. Again, there are just too many to name, but here are a few must see performances this weekend: Caribou, Phantogram, Surfer Blood, Best Coast, and Male Bonding.

The 2010 MidPoint Music Festival will be the biggest, and looks to be the best, one yet. Organizers and businesses expect downtown Cincinnati to be packed and turn into a giant playground for music fans.

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Business News

Online survey offers chance at $100 Downtown Cincinnati Gift Card

Readers of UrbanCincy.com are some of the most informed people in the region when it comes to Cincinnati’s center city. In the past, these readers have also been some of the most engaged on issues including the Cincinnati Streetcar, food trucks, regional transit and more. Now is the time to share your thoughts about how downtown Cincinnati is doing.

Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI) is conducting a short online survey to gauge how the area is doing, and how people are using downtown. The survey is simple and to the point, and asks participants to share information about what kinds of things they did while downtown, how many times they visited, during what times of day, and how likely you are to return for those types of visits among other things.

Those who complete the survey have the option to have their name entered into a drawing to win a $100 Downtown Cincinnati Gift Card that is valid at more than 125 shopping, dining and entertainment destinations. Once finished, survery participants will also have the option to sign-up for DCI’s weekly e-newsletter that includes all kinds of information about what is happening downtown.

Those interested can take the online survey now!

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Business News

One of world’s most beautiful campuses welcomes UC’s largest student enrollment ever

The University of Cincinnati is welcoming more than new and returning 41,000 students for the 2010-2011 school – its highest enrollment ever – today. Many of those tens of thousands of students will get to enjoy one of the world’s most beautiful campuses, and one of the nation’s most unique urban universities.

UC’s largely car-free campus has virtually no surface parking lots, and in turn boasts award-winning green spaces, architecture, and recreational facilities. It is a campus unlike hardly any other. Buildings twist and turn, almost fighting for space on campus.

One such example is Nippert Stadium where the scoreboard is situated atop the Campus Recreation Center, the Lindner Athletic Center basically cantilevers over the northeast corner of the stadium, a CCM structure forms the southern end to the concourse area, and Tangeman University Center rubs elbows with the stadium’s press boxes.

UC’s internationally acclaimed campus is most known for its blend of historic architecture and stunning new architectural prize pieces. Works by Henry Cobb, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, George Hargreaves, Thom Mayne, Bernard Tschumi, Buzz Yudell, and more regularly impress crowded tour groups of prospective students and architecture buffs alike.

As a UC alumnus I am proud of my university, and am happy to welcome students back to the university’s Uptown campuses and those throughout the region. Go Bearcats!

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Business News

International Association of Fire Fighters selects Cincinnati for 50th annual convention

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has selected Cincinnati as the host city for its 50th annual convention in 2014. Cincinnati beat out Seattle in the final competitive bidding by earning 947 votes to Seattle’s 490.

Convention officials estimate that the event will attract more than 2,500 attendees, utilize close to 9,000 hotel room nights, and create a $2.6 million economic impact.

In a prepared release, Dan Lincoln, President & CEO of the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau, stated, “This is another great victory in what has become a long string of significant convention wins for Cincinnati USA. This one is especially gratifying because it was put to a vote of the union delegates and they chose Cincinnati.”

The other significant conventions for which Lincoln speaks include the NAACP and National Baptist conventions held in 2008, the Gospel Music Workshop of America held earlier this summer, League of United Latin American Citizens convention to be held in 2011, World Choir Games in 2012, and the National Fraternal Order of Police National Convention and Exposition in 2013.

Officials say that fire fighters and staff at Cincinnati’s Local 48 worked with the CVB to develop an awareness campaign that was used to educate union delegates about the region and earn a winning vote. One of the compelling elements of Cincinnati’s bid includes the city’s history of establishing the nation’s first full-time, paid fire department in 1853. The ordinance passed by Cincinnati City Council at that time helped to provide the pattern for fire departments all over the country for the next 50-plus years. Then in 1918, Cincinnati’s Local 48 was recognized as one fo the original 55 chartered IAFF locals.

“We are very humbled that the Police and the Fire Fighters – the men and women on the front lines who make our communities safe and vibrant – have selected Cincinnati USA for their conventions,” Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory stated today at an announcement ceremony. “More than 150 years ago, Cincinnati became home to the nation’s first full-time fire department, and we look forward to building on that legacy by helping them deliver an extraordinary convention in 2014.”

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Business News Politics

Cincinnati food trucks to help raise money for United Way at City Hall

Earlier this year Cincinnati City Councilmember Laure Quinlivan introduced a program that was intended to help embrace the city’s growing number of food trucks. Once approved in June 2010, the Mobile Food & Beverage Truck Vending Pilot Program created reserved, city-owned spaces for those food trucks to park at in the congested downtown area.

The pilot program received an initial surge of food truck operators looking to take advantage of the new program, and now, the City has issued the twentieth Revocable Street Privilege (RSP) to allow the sale of food and beverage from trucks at the three designated areas downtown at 5th & Race, along Court Street, and at Sawyer Point. This means that the program is now operating at 100 percent capacity.

This rise in popularity for food trucks in Cincinnati is similar to a national movement that has been underway for several years. To help celebrate the success of Cincinnati’s innovative program that embraces the movement, six participating food trucks will be at City Hall tomorrow to help raise money for the United Way of Greater Cincinnati.

Event organizers say that hungry guests will be able to get everything from gourmet burgers to Cajun food, barbecue ribs, tacos, ice cream, coffee, and smoothies from the participating vendors. They say that each donation made to the United Way will help support the City’s United Way fund raising goal, and will earn you a discount at the food truck vendors on-hand. Those vendors will reportedly include Taste of New Orleans, Cafe de Wheels, Just Q’in Barbecue, Senor Roy’s Taco Patrol, Coldstone Creamery, and The Coffee Guy.

The food trucks will be parked on the north side of City Hall along 9th Street (map) beginning at 10:30am on Thursday, September 23. There will be a Department of Community Development staff member on hand from the City that will be selling the tickets that will get you your discount at the food trucks and support the United Way.

Stay up-to-speed on the whereabouts of Cincinnati’s growing number of food trucks by following UrbanCincy’s comprehensive Twitter list.