Tag: events

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Do Downtown Restaurant Week

Starting on Monday, August 10 you can find some great dining deals downtown! The Do Downtown Dining Group is putting on this week long event to encourage a night on the town as the summer starts to wind down. Twenty-two different restaurants are offering special deals for $35. Depending on where you go, you can get either two dinners or a three course meal for that price and while the menu selections are somewhat limited there is definitely something for everyone.

Check out an old haunt such as Arnold’s and build yourself a three-course dinner from their menu (pdf) for the week. Start with the Arnold’s Crabcackes, followed by Drunken Salmon, and topped off with the Super Brownie. Looking for a vegetarian option? You could try some Eggplant Bruchetta, a Wild Wild Wild Salad, and the Pasta Androski.

Get dressed up for a night on the town and head to Orchids at Palm court which was named by Cincinnati Magazine as the best restaurant in town for 2009. There are two choices from each of their courses (pdf) which will get you a salad, a great looking entree, and a dessert. Or be a little adventurous and head up into the Gateway Quarter and try out Lavomatic (pdf). Start with a Rabbit Salad, enjoy a Sea Trout for dinner, and have the wonderful Chocolate Macadamia Tart for dessert.

Try a candle lit dinner at Scotti’s or head to the uber-colorful Bootsy’s. Try some Korean or Indian or go a little more traditional and head to Montgomery Inn or Morton’s. Give downtown a go this coming week, your taste buds and the local economy will thank you for it! (It should be noted that this is a separate event from the semi-annual one hosted by Greater Cincinnati Independent Restaurants. Their fall Restaurant Week is coming September 14-20.)

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Arts & Entertainment News

Cincy Blues Fest this weekend

The 17th annual Cincy Blues Fest takes place this weekend (8/7 – 8/8) at Sawyer Point along the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. This year’s festival will feature more than 50 local, national and international Blues acts on three different stages.

Friday’s performances will start at 5pm and last until midnight and cost $10 at the gate (free for Blues Society members with membership card). The headliner on Friday is award winning vocalist Janiva Magness.

On Saturday the music will start at 2:30pm and once again last until midnight giving you plenty of time to work your way up to the newly opened Righteous Room in the Backstage District downtown. Back to the festival…Saturday’s nearly nine hours of music on three different stages will cost you $15 at the gate (once again, free for Blues Society members).

Event organizers say that there will be lots of food and refreshments including Cincinnati’s own Little Kings and Christian Moerlein beer products. For a full list of performers and volunteer opportunities visit the event website: http://cincyblues.org/.

Be sure to keep the Blues fun rolling on Sunday at Cincinnati’s historic Findlay Market for its Blue, Brews and BBQ. The 2009 Blue BBQ will feature some great BBQ cooked up by the Essen Strasse Grillers. Event goers will also be able to grab a beer at the OTR Biergarten, and listen to three different Blues and Gospel bands. This event is free and runs from 10am to 4pm on Essen Strasse.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Great ways to enjoy Cincinnati Parks

The way things are going these days, it’s tough for some families to afford a trip to the movies. Luckily, in addition to the family-friendly movies every Saturday on Fountain Square (at 7 & 9pm), the Cincinnati Parks Foundation has been showing family friendly movies in our parks all around the Cincinnati area.

Forget paying to see a movie and having to buy overpriced concessions, there are great movie options literally in your backyard! All movies start at dusk and will have concessions available.

Below are some of the remaining movie nights:

August 8th, Rapid Run Park
Movie: Madagascar 2 (there will be pre-movie events such as canoeing, face painting, balloon artist and magician)

August 14th, Mt Echo Park
Movie: Hotel for Dogs

August 29th, Mt Airy Forest
Movie: Hotel for Dogs (repeat)

If you are looking more for musical fare, the 16th annual “Its Commonly Jazz” series is being kicked off this week at Eden Park in Mt. Adams. Since I’m not really familiar with jazz and we have been provided with a relatively cool summer thus far, these concerts are a great way to get a free introduction.

The website is billing this event as “staying green”, but it’s not clear whether there is an actual intent to have eco-friendly anything or if it is just a play on words since all events are outdoors. From what I understand, you can bring a picnic to enjoy while watching the music, but I am not sure whether alcohol will be allowed. The website gives good background on each of the performers, but seems to be a bit underdeveloped beyond that.

Below is the line up, all shows are from 6-8pm:
August 6th – Othello Molineaux & the Art Gore Quartet
August 13th – Vintage Keys
August 20th – Terell Stafford w/ the Erwin Stuckey Trio
August 27th – Mandy Gaines and her Dream Band

Maybe the economy has made the local government and parks board boost these kinds of outdoor events, or maybe they are just better publicized these days, but I hope they keep it up. Hopefully as more people get out of doors and enjoy our local parks they will better appreciate the wonderful parks system we have and the great amount of forethought that goes into the planning of the events that are planned in them. Many people do not know we have one of the top parks systems in the nation, and these events are a great way to get out and enjoy them for free!

Photo by Jayson at Cincy Images
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News

Michael Fried reviews Sala at the CAC tonight

At 6:30 this evening, the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) will host world-famous art critic Michael Fried as he analyzes Anri Sala’s piece Long Sorrow using his unique methodology. The event is free, but donations are requested.

The international art community simultaneously lauds and criticizes Fried for his method of critiquing art. Fried approaches art with an eye toward modernism and realism, and the phenomenon of the everyday.

CAC hosts Long Sorrow as part of Sala’s exhibit “Purchase not by Moonlight.” The exhibit features videos, films and photographs carefully calibrated with the architecture of CAC’s Rosenthal Center to present a spatial and time-based multimedia experience.

Photo Credit – Johns Hoppkins University

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Big night in OTR tonight

Tonight is not only a Final Friday gallery hop night throughout historic Over-the-Rhine, but it is also another Vine-L Friday in the Gateway Quarter.

Vine-L Friday will run from 6pm to 10pm and is looking to compliment the Final Friday crowds in the surrounding area. As a result many Gateway Quarter businesses will have displays from local artists and live music throughout. There will also be food, drinks and discounts at all your favorite locally-owned shops.

There will also be members of ArtWorks Cincinnati around to discuss their four-story mural of Mr. Cincinnati – Jim Tarbell. The new mural will be prominently displayed on the southern wall of the same building that houses Park+Vine. The mural should be complete within the coming weeks according to officials.

Following the Final Friday and Vine-L Friday fun, there will be an after party starting at 10pm at Below Zero Lounge at the southeast corner of 12th & Walnut streets.

Here’s a full lineup of this week’s Vine-L Friday activities:

  • Venice on Vine Pizza, 1301 Vine St. – Visionaries and Voices exhibits “Hair Salon” by Kenny Barger with a special menu of gourmet pizzas as well as live jewelry making by “One Bead at a Time.”
  • Segway Cincinnati, 1150 Vine St. – Works by Josh Beeman and Billy 7. Live music by “Vinny Bricks” and “that guy from Okinawa” City Cellars will be on hand with its frozen desert cart to cool off the crowd.
  • Park+Vine, 1109 Vine St. – The unveiling of the new exhibit “Mimockracy.”
  • Switch Lighting and Design, 1207 Vine St. – New works by Alison Shepard will be exhibited.
  • Outside, 16 E. 12th St. – Live DJ playing Electronica, Trip Hop, Soul and Funk, with refreshments served.
  • Below Zero Lounge, 1122 Walnut St. – The official VINE-L Friday After Party. Live music by the “Blue Merchants” at 10pm benefitting Gary Burbank’s “Play It Forward” Project.
  • Mixx Ultra Lounge, 1203 Main St. – Marcus Jordan exhibiting works from his collection titled “My Passion.”
  • Coffee Emporium, 110 E. Central Parkway – Extending its hours until 10pm and featuring works by Allison Archberger and the Thirty Duo Collection.
  • Lackman Lofts, 1237 Vine St. – Kate McClung exhibiting works from her “Balanophagy” collection.
  • Duveneck Flats, 1220 Vine St. – Mark Cummings exhibiting new works from his “In Bloom” collection and Stan Stenten will be showing pieces from the collection “Visions of Cincinnati – Old and New”

Photo from 5chw4r7z