While I understand that Braxton Brewery is the one sponsoring this event, and the Mainstrauss…read moresociety association has shut its doors, I feel like this festival fell flat. It was only on one street really and in the park. Growing up I remember there being rides, games, more vendors, and more German Beer. Where was the German Beer??? The whole reason why I come to these events is for the delicious beer like Hefweizen, Weiss Beer, and Dunkels. It was all lame Braxton beers and a handful of overpriced cocktail vendors. They also had country music playing which REALLY didn't make it feel German at all. Cmon Braxton! Get it together, you call this a German Festival?? It felt rushed, and Hodgepodge. Also, why is it only on one street! Mainstrauss is huge and used to have vendors and shops and food all the way down to the fountain. I give it 2 stars. Maybe it'll grow, but this should be a way bigger event with rides and more games and activities for families and kids, like it used to be in the 90s and 2000s. I recommend expanding into more than just a few shops selling the same candle, jewelry, and incense merch as well.

Kicking off the Greater Cincinnati's festival season, Covington's Maifest celebrates the area's…read moreGermanic tradition of heralding the arrival of spring wines. However, I think Maifest is little more about beer and brats, but fun nonetheless. The 2008 event kicks off Friday, May 16th and runs until Sunday, May 18th. If the weather is nice, Maifest will be packed as tightly as Northern German sardines. Good luck trying to navigate with a stroller or wheelchair. Yet, given Cincinnati's unpredictable spring weather, chances are pretty good that there will at least be scattered showers, scaring away half of the crowd to a number that's manageable. Drinkers, your best bet is to purchase a collectors mug, which can be refilled at vendors' booths for a discount over individual beer price. And you're making Mother Nature proud. The beer selection is mostly domestic (unfortunately), but Warsteiner's there to keep things semi-authentic. For families, there are tons of food booths and artisans selling their wares, even "gypsies" reading your palms or tarot cards. Kiddies will love the carnival rides and games set up in the 5th street parking lot. Oompa bands and men in Lederhosen rock the crowd Bavarian style, but if that's not your style you can pop into any of the MainStrasse bars for more contemporary jams. There will invariably be someone who can't hold their liquor and will embarrass themselves terribly in front of a crowd of 150,000. But you'll walk away with a renewed sense of Schadenfreude. Prost!

I have always wanted to go and I finally made it. It was almost a four hour drive and it was worth…read moreit. There was so many options of food that I did not leave hungry. It was great to see all the different was geotta was incorporated in food. It was awesome to see a geotta vending machine. I was able to stock up for a great price. There where two different bands. One at each end of the festival. This is a must to visit.

Cincinnati Grill at Goettafest needs to step it up. Some of the offerings are sub par (Cincinnati…read moreGrill) Hoping for more from other vendors. We liked the spicy kick of the Goetta slab at Reuben's. Will keep you posted!

Lumenocity 2016 was held at the Taft Theatre this year. What sets this year different from other…read moreyears is that the light show was indoors this year. And, since it was indoors, they were able to offer more tickets for everyone to come and see the event. In addition to that, there were about three-four shows for each day the event occurred, (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Getting to Taft Theatre was pretty easy, and since there wasn't a game going on that weekend it wasn't super crowded in downtown Cincinnati. Parking lots were easy to find. Once you parked, the block party they had in front of Taft Theatre was easy to get to. There were about five or six food trucks, and lots of activities for kids. There was even police presence throughout the festival. This year, you were able to get a wristband ahead of time once they scanned your ticket to expedite getting into the Theatre. But really, it was pretty easy to get in even without getting a wristband ahead of time. They did a great job at handling the crowd before the show. Once inside, it was easy to find your seat. The show started on time which was great! And, it was only 45 minutes which is long enough to be able to enjoy the music, but short enough that all the kids in the audience would not get bored. Seeing the light show indoors was nice, because the lights came out more vibrant compared to watching it outside projected onto a wall. And, you had assigned seating, so you didn't have to worry about saving your seat ahead of time. If you didn't want to pay to see the show, they also broadcasted it outside where the block party was. Overall this year's event was enjoyable. They had some technical difficulties leading up to the event, but it was solved by the time the event started. (The company they used to email the etickets to everyone somehow had their emails come up as spam so a majority of people did not get their tickets by the Monday it was promised. They updated their website letting people know that they were working with finding a new company to send out everyone's etickets. The tickets were delivered on Thursday night).

Amazed I'm the first to (create/review) this absolutely amazing event. This is the second year for…read moreLumenocity, and it was Fantastic!! I was out of town last year at Lollapalooza, sleeping on a boat, when the inogural Lumenocity happened, but luckily I have a friend that was so impressed that he got Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra season tickets JUST to be eligible for the tix to Lumenocity 2014! The event 2014 had food/beer(Rhinegeist) trucks down Race Street, all kinds of vendors, food and Cincy local craft artists in the treed part of the park. This part was open to people without tix to the actual event, and it was food/art festival that was more attended than anything I've seen in Washington park, and I'm there weekly. The show: The show was spectacular. YouTube it. If you haven't been, YouTube the hell out of Lumenocity, and share it. Make it viral. One of the best symphonies in the world, synchronized to amazing digital graphics, using one of Cincinnati's best landmarks(Cincinnati Music Hall) as a canvas. It is amazing, emotional, and one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time.

This is always a fun festival which celebrates my heritage Italian. There is rides for the kids, a…read morebooth of local Italian families pictures and many food and drink booths. Alfios Pompillios just to name a couple of restaurants serving their delicious Italian fare. Also cannolis, Italian beer and music all day. Even if you are not Italian you can pretend at the festival

Italianfest is simply ok in my book. I definitely think it has potential to be something much more,…read moreso hopefully it can raise the bar to compete with other culturally focused festivals in the area (Panegyri, Oktoberfest, etc). This year had plenty of food vendors but the offerings were not that appealing after our walk through. We fortunately split some great pasta (vendor currently doesn't have a brick&mortar location) and each of us ate a tasty cannoli since festival calories do not count at all :) If you are seeking simple, often from scratch food, you will be in luck and should find something to devour. To any vendors reading this, please have a legible menu posted high above the crowd so that passersby can read it. Lines tended to be long and most vendors were *LISTEN UP: Ca$h Only. I actually had cash on me but the long lines at the portable ATM signified that many others lacked such an important item. The crowd was very thick at times and props to those with strollers that attempt to swim upstream against everyone. ha ha Parking is probably best had at the nearby Newport on the Levee garage or surrounding lots. Much of the surrounding neighborhood is for residents only.

If you like food, live music, and beer in a relaxed non-elbow-bumping atmosphere, this is the…read morefestival for you. Located on the beautiful Riverfront Levee in Newport, KY, this is a small, family-friendly festival celebrating Greater Cincinnati's Germanic culinary traditions. My favorite feature is the small tent stage featuring local acoustic musicians. They lose one star because the band at the big stage played "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" while I was there.

Sausage, Beer and Music in hot weather . . . what can be better!…read more I was able to make it to the 2014 Queen City Sausage Festival during a weekend in Cincinnati. I had lots of fun and the Sausage was great.

The Taste of Cincinnati is an event I always look forward to each year and I have to say that 2026…read morewas much better than 2025! This year there was a larger variety of cuisine types. Last year I felt like I was at a Texas Rodeo with only BBQ options. Highlighting our Cinci Food Trucks and Findlay Market restaurants is always one of my favorite parts. Most if not all restaurants in his year we're showcasing specialty items so it was great to see different options vs everyone having pulled pork bbq or cheeseburgers and so I had the opportunity to try so many things and places that I didn't even know about. Service was also very quick at almost every stop so no long lines, food was hot and the workers were all friendly. Being outside is always a treat and i was thankful it was warm, not HOT, partly cloudy and not sun blazing. This is a great family friendly event, if you haven't gone before, hit it up in 2027!!

Have been coming for 30 yrs. Love to find new places to check out and try new things. Tried to come…read moreyesterday but the rain got real. But today was gorgeous. We usually come when they start as the crowd and lines are fair less. Everything we tried was good and enjoyed the live music. My hubby is not a dancer but I would have like to dance a bit. Anyway great day here with gorgeous weather.

This is a fun event where you can laugh all night being entertained by comedians and also enjoy…read morebeers so many beers. Lagers shandys sweet beers and IPAS. I tasted a lime shandy so so good and a beer called little buns. Very refreshing. There are food trucks with food such as steak sandwiches empanadas bbq sandwiches. I ordered the potato and eggplant empanada and it was very delicious. It's a a night for of laughter and beer. Life is good.

While I'm not a partaker of alcohol of any kind, I am a connoisseur of stand-up comedy - and this…read moreevent allows for an overdose of laughs from a variety of different comics. With four different stages set up, there's a little something for everyone. Observational humor, hilarious stories, and sometimes just plain weird stuff - it's all at Brew Ha-Ha. I did sample a few of the food trucks including a Burger truck and a BBQ truck, which I'll review separately. Soft drinks were only available at one specific stand, which I guess makes sense given this is a beer festival but it did make things inconvenient for a non-drinker like me. My favorite comedian, Chad Daniels, flew in to town from Minneapolis for this event and destroyed the stage under the tunnel. I didn't catch Preacher Lawson's set on the main stage, but he was on last year's America's Got Talent and did well there so I'm sure he was fun to watch. Many of my favorite local comedians took to the various stages and I was able to enjoy sets from some of them like Ran Barnaclo, Anna Mazza, Lee Kimbrell, Grant Stiles, and many more. The weather was perfect, the comedy was funny, and the crowds seemed to be having a great time. It was about as perfect an event as you could ask for!

It was a great way to kick off the holiday season. I love that there was an outdoor craft show at…read moreWashington Park at the same time, so I got a "two-fer." I shopped there for the traditional arts and crafts gifts, then went into the side door of Music Hall (yes, at you're looking at it, the fair can only be accessed through the left-hand side door of music hall) for unique artist-made crafts. I didn't buy much -- just a silk-screened t-shirt and some tasty Jalapeno jelly -- it was the perusing itself, and talking directly to the artists that was the joy of the season. And I had some great, animated conversations with the artists themselves, who were helpful and excited to talk about their work. Yes, these are hand-made specialty items, so the price was high. But it is going directly to the artists, so it is worth it.

My first time attending the Crafty Supermarket, and it did not dissapoint. The space is beautiful…read moreand uplifting - warm, inviting, roomy, and festive. The booths were very high-end, offering great design and well-made products. Eli's BBQ was there, along with a bar, coffee stand, and gelto. It wasn't very crowded when we went, so take that for what it is. YMMV. Be prepared to spend some serious cash, also. I didn't buy many things, but the bill was high. I like supporting artists and designers, so I don't mind, but it certainly isn't a budget shopping experience.

What an exciting turnout for this event! Walnut Hills is not an area that too many people are…read morefamiliar with, so it was nice to see so many people make it out. What I loved about this event was the energy was high and everyone was welcome. This wasn't a snobby event. it was a finger licking, get down to business kind of event. With almost every food truck in town the lines weren't horrible and there was more than enough entertainment to go around. I will say some of the music might have been a bit inappropriate since there were young children at the event. The "wobble wobble touch you booty to the floor" kinda thing was a little weird but I totally dug the energy. There were plenty of activities that I haven't seen anywhere else. There was a paint your own pottery station, and other crafting tables as well. I liked that the Waffo truck was there. I had never heard of them before so that was fresh and new. All in all it was a well organized event and not everything went perfect but I appreciated the effort to bring the community together! Well done, and I look forward to attending again next year.

I really enjoyed this festival. Living in Oakley, this festival wasn't far from home so my wife and…read moreI decided to check it out and grab some food. What a wonderful time we had. It was supposed to end at 5:00 and we didn't get there until 3:00 so it did seem to be winding down somewhat when we got there. We grabbed some beers from the Rhinegeist booth (which was also serving Great Lakes beer) and decided to try some food trucks. Unfortunately some of the trucks were already running out of food so we didn't get our first choice which was Red Sesame Korean tacos. We had a falafel wrap from Andy's Mediterranean and then grabbed the very last grilled cheese from C'est Cheese. Also inside the festival area was the new Fireside Pizza restaurant and bar inside an old fire station with it's large door open. I was a bit disappointed that multiple food trucks hadn't prepared enough to last the whole festival but we still managed to get plenty of food. There was a stage with a jazz band playing when we showed up. After they quit playing there were a series of announcements and congratulations from some of the organizers of the festival and community organizers. This was followed by a high energy soul group, 2nd Wind. This was the highlight of the festival for us. They had four singers and a great band. The crowd was enjoying it so much that the festival ran over by an hour allowing the band to continue playing while the people danced and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This was a great neighborhood festival with not too many people but still plenty so that there was a festive atmosphere. There were people painting a crosswalk and a person on stilts making balloon animals. The crowd was diverse and very representative of the people of Cincinnati. We both had fun and had the chance to interact with many different people. Although I hadn't heard of this festival the previous years, I am definitely looking forward to it next year.

We went there as a Harvest Host guest. But recently saw…read morethem at Food truck days and other places to help kids learn about animals

Family fun! It wasn't crowded the animals were so beautiful.. my 2 year old had a blast! Definitely…read morerecommend for a cheap and fun family outing.