Last weekend, Hamilton Avenue in Northside was packed with people walking, biking, skateboarding, painting, playing music, and enjoying a nice summer day.
The street, which serves as the spine of neighborhood’s business district, was closed to automobiles for four hours as part of the Cincy Summer Streets series.
More than 100 open streets festivals take place across the country, and Cincinnati joined the trend last year with events in two neighborhoods. In 2015 Cincy Summer Streets has expanded to three events – Walnut Hills on July 18, Northside on August 23, and Over-the-Rhine on September 26.
If you are looking for something to do this weekend, now that there isn’t a three-day light/live music/live dancing spectacular scheduled for Washington Park, you can head to the other side of Over-the-Rhine for this month’s Second Sunday on Main event.
Once again Main Street will be closed to vehicular traffic, between Thirteenth and Liberty Streets, from 1pm to 4pm.
As is par for the course, Main Street merchants will be offering in-store discounts and there will be more than 100 vendors setup outside on the street selling everything art, sweets, clothing, jewelry and a slew of other handmade and local stuff.
SSOM Hula Hoopers [Travis Estell]
SSOM Shoppers [Travis Estell]
Art on the Streets Sidewalk Painting at SSOM [Provided]
Organizers also say that Ragg Addict will be celebrating its one-year anniversary with a fashion show, giveaways and entertainment. Meanwhile, Park+Vine will be hosting a cloth diapering workshop and book signing, for 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles, inside their store.
The theme for this month’s SSOM event is ‘Game On’ and is being sponsored by Cincinnati Sports League, which also sponsors the biergarten at Second Sunday on Main each month. In tune with the theme, there will be a game zone setup at Fourteenth and Main Streets that will feature cornhole, flick football, a soccer goal challenge and a football toss station.
On top of all that, there will be live music, cooking demonstrations, crosswalk painting from Art on the Streets, live screen printing of a limited-edition SSOM logo, and make-your-own postcard swap.
As is the case with all SSOM events, this one will once again feature dozens of local arts and crafts vendors, local food and beer, live music, food trucks, street performers and more.
Second Sunday on Main Drag Race [Provided]
The event is free and open to the public, so even if you don’t have a bunch of cash to drop, you can swing through for a leisurely stroll and people watch in what is Cincinnati’s oldest and most prominent Open Streets events.
Each month event organizers change up the theme for SSOM; and this month’s event is called Pride on Main. To complement the theme there will be the Missed OTR Drag Queen Contest and the famous Drag and Tryke Races, both of which will have their proceeds go to benefit Pride 2015.
This is the ninth year the OTR Chamber of Commerce has put on Second Sunday on Main. For those who haven’t attended in the past, the event stretches from Thirteenth Street to Liberty Street along, you guessed it, Main Street. There are also small segments of side streets that are closed off and include some additional activities.
There will also be a cooking demo by Chef Jose Salazar and speciality cocktail demo by bartenders Andrew Rettig and Steven Clement at 2pm inside Mr. Pitiful’s. Throughout the day, Art on the Streets will also be working on a crosswalk painting project at Main and Liberty Streets.
A full schedule and list of music performers and other details can be found on SSOM’s website.
EDITORIAL NOTE: UrbanCincy is an official media partner of Second Sunday on Main; and is proud to support the city’s oldest open streets festival.
Second Sunday on Main (SSOM) is arguably Cincinnati’s oldest open streets event. Organizers kicked off its ninth season earlier this month and welcomed scores of visitors out into the middle of Main Street through the heart of Over-the-Rhine.
The free event is organized by the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce and is held once per month from June through October. The first event of the 2014 season included food trucks and street food, live music and art performances, a dog competition, celebrity chef series, local arts and crafts vendors, beer and great weather.
June’s SSOM event included a record number of participating vendors, with organizers citing more than 100 took part in the event. The attendance was also estimated to be higher than average with approximately 2,000 visitors.
As with past years, each of this year’s events will include a distinct theme. For June organizers appropriately played on the idea of it being a neighborhood block party. In July, however, Second Sunday on Main will take on a more colorful feel as it will celebrate Pride on Main Street.
