What a great experience…read more.. This is a really nice set up for seeing small plays or musicals. We have never been to the Riffe Center before so it was a nice trip downtown. The studios are small so it makes for a very intimate experience which makes a musical even better. The staff was very helpful and friendly. We are excited to see something there again

Such a great theater and plenty of leg room…read more I had no Idea this place was here! My partner grabbed us tickets to see Tom Popa and when he told me it was the Riffe Center, I had to look it up. Parking was easy and used the Riffe Center Parking Garage at 78 South Front Street. It's a smaller garage so we lucked out but my back up was going to be the Ohio Statehouse Underground Parking Garage. Check in was easy and plenty of staff and ushers on hand. Seats were comfortable and nice legged room. I was completely impressed. Located downtown Columbus, the (Jo Ann) Davidson Theatre is part of The Riffe Center Theatre Complex. It is on the third floor of the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts (named after Vernal G. Riffe, Jr.) at 77 S. High Street.

The intimate performance space at MadLab is enhanced by its support of local playwrights and Improv…read moreshows, as well as occasional space rentals to other local acting groups. The limited number of comfortable seats adds to the cozy atmosphere of the theater.

The venue is a perfect size. The productions are generally quite good. There are no bad seats.read more

Had an awesome evening at the Immersive Monet & The Impressionists exhibit. Featuring work of…read moreMonet, and Renoir, Degas, and some others. We went to the 7:30pm show and spent about an hour there. There was plenty of parking and a real easy guided checkin and entrance. The exhibit itself loops so it is nice that you can walk in at anytime and not miss anything. This was different than the immersive Van Gough exhibit as the Monet had some bold and more integrated transitions. We definitely felt a bit more immersed. This was the Second Immersive exhibit we have been too and it made for such a nice evening. We went for the Basic Admission and it was perfect. You can upgrade for $10 more for a rental cushion and more but we didn't think it was necessary. I would recommend checking it out, especially if you are a fan of Monet, Impressionist paintings, or these type of exhibits. It is really well done but would highlight it is not a virtual reality metaverse type of exhibit but it did not disappoint.

This was so much fun. My daughter and I went to The Franklinton playhouse and seen the Vagina…read moreMonologue. The performance was amazing. But the playhouse is a small no frills building. We enjoyed our evening and will look for more performances to go to. Love to support local.

This is such a beautiful theater. I just came here for a comedy show and it's so nice! The seating…read moreis really great, it seems like there really aren't any bad seats there. We sat in the middle on the lower balcony and we could see the show great. The bathrooms were clean and close and the ushers were helpful. I would love to come back for another show here

I've seen a few shows here - great smaller theater to see a show! Historic and beautiful appointed…read more Great sound and sight lines. Easy in and out. Concession stand/bar with decent basic drinks and candy.

Who knew about this hidden secret -yeah, about that - I found it really tricky to find & don't know…read moreif I could find my way back. So maybe drop some breadcrumbs because it is worth revisiting. I took my boyfriend here for a surprise date & it really delivered. We learned so much about the stars, planets, constellations & the solar system while attending the "Voyage Through the Solar System" which is a live show presented by OSU astronomers. The presentation lasts approximately 40 minutes and leaves the remainder of the hour for some Q & A with the audience. The show takes place in a 63-seat 30-foot dome theater with a state-of-the-art XD digital projection system giving exquisite views of the night sky and takes you on digital journeys to the planets, stars, and distant galaxies. Our astronomer gave us really interesting information in a fun & engaging way that held the attention of all. Tickets are free, but go fast!

What a find! Due to boredom, a needed break from movie night, and the discovery of the Eventbrite…read moreapp, I'm here! I'm not a "sciency" type of person, nor is my family. I sincerely went with low expectations. I was completely wrong! What a wonderful nostalgic, visit to my childhood! I'd completely forgotten the amazement planetariums create. Although the location was difficult to find in the dark, with the help of some OSU students, we finally made it. There is no visible sign or address on the building from the street view. There is also no off street parking. Luckily the OSU parking garage is within a short two block walk. I'm also not sure if the building is handicap accessible. I'm thinking that it has to be? Due to our search for the location and street parking, we were a few minutes late. The room was packed and we had to sit in the front row. I recommend you don't do this. Although the chairs are comfortable and recline, you'll have a better experience and view if you're seated towards the middle. Our guide was exceptional! He was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and passionate about his field. It made it a great experience! The clarity and details in the presentation were great. The audience ranged from young to senior citizens and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves. There were a multitude of questions and all of them were eagerly answered. You were made to feel comfortable with the attitude of "there are no stupid questions". It was truly a learning experience with the incorporation of very recent discoveries in space. I'll definitely be back and strongly recommend this as an outing for any age. There are a few different presentations, they're usually about an hour long, along with the question and answer session. I discovered this on Eventbrite, I'm not sure if the planetarium has a website with a calendar. It's definitely worth checking out!

Whoever said you can see everything here in 45 minutes to an hour didn't have my level of…read morefanaticism as I whiled away two hours here soaking everything in. And that's with the library portion closed and only the museum open on account of New Year's Eve. I could pick a bone with them as I called in advance seeing Google said NYE may affect their usual 1-5 hours and the lady on the other end assuring me they were open. Neither of us was specific about it being the museum or the library and I figured it was just a package deal. As you can see from the five star rating I'm not marking them down for it but that was a bit of a bummer. I had planned on being here for their entire four hours open on this day and I'm sure I would have if that library was open. As it was I had a grand time (as my grandmother used to say) and I ended up making great use of that precious little late December daylight elsewhere on some Calvin and Hobbesesque exploring so everything worked out. The museum is upstairs on the second floor but I already knew I was in the right place when I saw a Garfield statue in the middle of a park bench against the wall of the bright airy first floor atrium. Admission is free, another reason why I shouldn't harp too much on the library being shuttered on the last day of 2024. There is a donation box and I did drop some currency into it. There's also some cabinets you can stick your coats or other belongings in by the front door. You can just take the key with you as you wander the three or four galleries of the museum. (One gallery is partially bisected by a wall and I'm not sure if it counts as one or two rooms.) They have you sign in on a tablet at the front desk and you have to provide an email. Definitely not a problem for me. I don't know when I'll be down in Buckeye territory again but the main exhibits change every six months and I'm curious to see what's on tap in the future. So if you're coming from afar, be it the Wolverine State or not, you might want to stay abreast of the exhibit schedule or give them a ring to make sure they're not between shows as they do shut down for a time to take down the old exhibits and install the new ones. The exhibits at the tail end of 2024 were dedicated to Edward Koren, a quirky artist with a philosophical bent known for his many published works in the New Yorker. His style is very distinctive and I'd seen it in passing but it was cool to do a deep dive to really appreciate him. And despite the library being closed there was a single stack of Edward Koren collections on an end table between two comfortable chairs. I read one cover to cover after poring over everything on the walls and glass cases in that gallery. The other special exhibit was dedicated to Larry Ivie, a comic book artist active in the superhero and horror genres in the mid 20th century. Besides being a great comic book artist in his own right, Ivie was also a huge fan and collector, something he carried over from his youth into his old age. So in addition to his own works this gallery also presented highlights from material Ivie had collected as well as his correspondence with other creators. They even had some superhero costumes he and his mates had put together and donned, long before anyone had coined the term cosplay. The glass cases in this gallery had pop culture ephemera like lunchboxes, board games and fan club collectibles in addition to a slew of comic books and original art. The last gallery - or two - covered a variety of artists and material so I'm sure how much, if any, that rotates. One wall was dedicated to Ohio native Bill Watterson, creator of the venerable, beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. No matter how big of a Michigander you are, you can't hate on Bill Watterson! Despite having already seen every Calvin and Hobbes strip they had original art for framed on the walls multiple times I still found myself cackling in hilarity. Always feels good to laugh. The Edward Koren work was humorous in nature, too, but it was more like smirk and nod at how wry and wise it was, not LOL funny. The miscellaneous gallery also had sliding drawers that come out from a section of the wall - the one that possibly counts as a room divider - and from underneath two glass cases. These are rather ingenious as they allow for a lot more work to be displayed in the limited space they have. It does get a little tedious sliding them open and shut after awhile but when there's some wondrous new surprise behind door number two or three or twenty or thirty it makes it worthwhile. And worthwhile is a good way to describe this place if you're at all a fan of comics or cartoons. There's stuff going all the way back to the 1800s in the gallery of many sliding drawers. Spring-Heeled Jack was an inspiration for Batman? I never knew! They even had a couple hand crafted quilts and winter caps on display. I could get lost all over again here once their displays change over.

I saw this online a day before going to Columbus. It was the last thing we did before meeting…read morefriends for dinner who live in the area. Located on the second floor of Sullivan Hall on the campus of The Ohio State University it is free and open from 1-5 pm. OK, you have to pay for parking. The most convenient parking garage was the South Garage that is listed as a tenth of a mile away from the museum. We were there about an hour and parking cost us $6. Apparently it was pre-enrollment day at Sullivan Hall and was packed with people so we had to navigate through the crowd to get to the museum. Although we weren't familiar with some of the artists/comic strips it was still an interesting museum especially the Calvin and Hobbs comic strips. Certainly well worth a look if you're in the area.

This is an annual event that currently is located at the Ohio Historical Society's "Ohio Village"…read morein Columbus, near the fair grounds. I thought this would be a cute little festival... inwas wrong. This it is huge! Over thirty coffee roasters and a bunch of food trucks and then dozens of vendors selling baked goods, pottery, and baked goods. This is a ticketed event. They have time slots for each day that you can get tickets for that range from 20 to 75 dollars. All the AM slots were sold out by the time we heard about the event so we purchased the two day pass with entry at 3pm-6pm. There was a huge line to get to the parking lot but once you got to the lot it was pretty easy to get in. Ohio Village is an town the historical society constructed to show what town looked like when Ohio was still considered a frontier state. Many of the coffee roasters were allowed to set up their temporary coffee shops inside these cute historical buildings. When you walk thru the entrance you are greeted and given a mug. Just after that stand is their merchandise stand where you can buy a hat, pin, tote bag, tshirt or sweat shirt. I recommend bringing a tote bag so You aren't forced into getting a ten dollar tote bag-- because, lets just face it, there will be something you will want to buy. When you go to the various roasters locations, you aren't getting a full cup of coffee. Its a fifth or sixth of the cup. So don't worry about being too caffeinated. Plus- If you only like coffee with cream, there are a few cream stations as many of the roasters don't have cream at their station (some do, some even have oat milk!!) Our favorite roasters this year were were Curly Dog Roasters, Cafe Graciela, Royal Flamingo Coffee, and Hemisphere. What is great about this events is you get exposed to some up and coming roasters who are still so small they don't have store fronts... yet. (Which is the case of 3 of the 4 roasters above). We also ended up buying a 10 dollar tote bag, a coffee festival tshirt, a one line tshirt and a curly dog coffee tshirt. Also ended up with two bags of honey infused tea (from a vendor from VA) and the BEST vegan donuts I have ever had. Actually, they were so good, we are buying more tomorrow. I loved this festival. Will go again next year, but will make sure I get my tickets the day they go on sale, so we can go at 9am vs 3pm. I imagine we wont fall asleep until 3pm tonight. IMO, 3pm is too late to drink a LOT of coffee. Lol. I highly recommend this event. Its well planned.

The coffee festival was absolutely amazing and I can't wait for the next one!…read moreI also discovered a new favorite coffee there... called Silverbridge coffee.