Tag: tourism

Categories
News

Looking for some Summer fun?

Two fun/new things to do are coming to Cincinnati soon. Ride the Ducks tour(s) in Cincinnati will mark the companies 8th location nationwide (Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Baltimore, etc). These tours are a combined land and water tour and are popular among tourists and locals alike. The Cincinnati tour will begin in Newport (near the Newport Aquarium) and will go between both Cincinnati and Nky.

Ride the Ducks tour boat (left) and cable wakeboarding (right)

The other new attraction will be a Wake Nation theme park in the Fairfield area. The company specializes in ‘cable wakeboarding’ (GoogleVideo) and describes the theme park as a “watersports complex designed for wakeboarding, wakeskating, water skiing and knee boarding.” This news, as originally reported by Cincinnati Living Online, states that they plan to break ground in August 2008 (with a planned opening in Spring/Summer ’09) and that the park is on an eight acre lake and has a cable system suspended 30 feet above the lake.

Both sound like very fun and very unique/new attractions for the region. I personally can’t wait for both as the Duck tours will provide for great photo ops and a chance to get out on the Ohio River…and the Wake Nation complex just sounds awesome in every sense of the word.

Read more about the Ride the Ducks tours in this week’s Soapbox Cincinnati issue.

Categories
News

GOOD FOOD – GOOD BEER – GOOD TIMES

Taste of Cincinnati USA is held every Memorial Day weekend in Downtown Cincinnati by the Downtown Council and the Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Association. Started in 1979, it is now the nation’s longest running culinary arts festival.

Taste of Cincinnati USA started as a one-day fest in Piatt Park, then known as Garfield Park, with approximately 5,000 attending the first event. The event expanded to two days in 1981, and in 1988 expanded to three days and moved to Central Parkway.

In 2007, th event was moved to Fifth Street to spotlight the $42-million renovation of Fountain Square and its underground parking garage, and to bring the event closer to Downtown’s cluster of hotels, such as The Cincinnatian, Garfield Suites, Hilton Netherland Cincinnati, Hyatt Regency, Millenium Hotel, Terrace Hotel, and the Westin.

Approximately 500,000 now attend the annual food extravaganza, making Taste one of the nation’s largest street festivals. Taste of Cincinnati was named Food Event of the Year for 1997 by Events Business News, the recognized authority of the special events business in the United States, selecting it out of 40,000 special events across the nation.

Taste of Cincinnati USA features more than 40 fine restaurants serving up delicious and delectable menu items. In the weeks leading up to Taste each year, menu items are previewed and judged for the prestigious Best of Taste Awards.

The Taste is also a music festival, with continuous live entertainment featuring local and national recording stars performing on multiple stages throughout the event.

WHEN:
Saturday: Noon-11:00pm
Sunday: Noon-11:00pm
Monday: Noon-9:00pm

WHERE:
On six blocks of Fifth Street, from Race Street to Broadway in Downtown Cincinnati.

Categories
News

Reds Hot Weekends

This weekend marks the first of 8 Reds Hot Weekends this Summer. The festivities will be taking place on Fountain Square and will start Friday and last through Sunday…covering the entire weekend series against the Cleveland Indians.

Friday’s activities will include live music by Lo-fi, a local cover band playing funk and rock classics, at 5pm. Following Lo-fi, at 8pm, The Harlequins will take the stage. It will make for a great time to just hang out with friends, and there will be beer available on the Square. What makes it even better is that from roughly 4pm-7pm I’ll be serving the delicious adult beverages.

OK Go performing on Fountain Square
Image from myfountainsquare.com

On Saturday the fun continues with DJ Iceburg from 2pm-4pm followed by the first “Movie Night” (featuring Sandlot and The Natural) of the Summer starting at 7:30pm. Beer, soft drinks, and snacks will all be sold on the Square…and people are encouraged to bring chairs, blankets, pillows, etc for “Movie Nights.”

Finally Sunday will wrap up the weekend with free UDF ice cream, on the Square, from about 4:30pm-5:30pm…along with some other neat festivities. Be sure to come out even if you’re not going to any of the games and just have a great time Downtown on Fountain Square.

Categories
News

Downtown Treasure Hunt

The European-American Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance Francaise are hosting a Downtown Treasure Hunt this Saturday, May 3rd. The event will start at 1:30pm and last until 4:30pm. On the walk you will attempt to discover some of Cincinnati’s many hidden gems.

It is described as a stroller-friendly event that will cover just over a mile. Refreshments will be served and prizes will be awarded at the end of the event. The cost is $10 per person or $20 per family. For more information and to register, please fill out the form available online (PDF 580kb) and fax it to the European-American Chamber of Commerce at 513-852-6511 or call 513-852-6510.

Categories
News

Valentine’s Day UrbanCincy style


Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and it’s probably best that you are prepared for the “big day.” You’re in luck, because UrbanCincy has the perfect evening for you. May we recommend a trip to the Ensemble Theatre…it is a very intimate theatre that hosts great productions and will be something unique and fun to do with your significant other. Mary’s Wedding by Stephan Massicotte (Feb 6-24) will be going on during the Valentine’s time-frame and should definitely make for a romantic evening.

You could make a night of it by grabbing some of the city’s best Italian at Nicola’s just a few blocks away. Take a lovely stroll from dinner to the show…If dinner gets out a little early you could always do some browsing through the many great businesses in the Gateway Quarter.

After the show, take a stroll down to Lytle Park and take in the night with that special person.