CINCINNATI — America is getting ready to celebrate 250 years, and to kick off that celebration, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky are hosting the America's River Roots Festival.
The long-awaited festival is taking place Wednesday, Oct. 8, through Sunday, Oct. 12, along the Cincinnati, Newport and Covington riverfronts.
America's River Roots is a "celebration of the vibrant culture of America's river cities," according to its website. With that celebration comes a variety of riverboats on the Ohio River, live music, regional food and drink vendors, artisan markets, cultural events and more. The festival was originally set to have major music headliners, but those were canceled in early September, with organizers blaming "a changing entertainment landscape."
So while you just want to head down to the riverfronts to enjoy some food and live music, or you plan to take a cruise or watch a riverboat race, here's everything you need to know about the America's River Roots Festival.
Riverboats
According to the festival's website, America's River Roots is the largest collection of riverboats in the country. The festival is bringing together themed riverboats from seven cities across the nation, including the Belle of Louisville, Steamboat NATCHEZ, the Belle of Memphis, the River Queen and others.
The riverboats are hosting several cruises, including family-friendly ones featuring the sports mascots for the Bengals, Reds and other teams, a Graeter's ice cream social, brunch, dinner, late-night events and others.
All of the riverboats will also be participating in races, where passengers can get a front row seat to the action, and parades along the Ohio River.
Tickets for the various riverboat experiences range from $20 to $115, depending on the cruise. You can click here to see the entire list of riverboat cruises and purchase tickets.
Food and drink
The five-day festival is set to have a variety of different cuisines available along the riverfronts, as well as bourbon and beer experiences.
Some of the various food vendors and trucks include Buffalo's Best Wings, The Loaded Goat, Voodoo Cuisine, Purple Poulet, Celia Jo's BBQ, Skyline Chili and others. Click here to see the full vendor list.
The festival is also offering the Craft Brewmaster Experience at Yeatman's Cove, which allows attendees to immerse themselves in Ohio's beer industry. The ticketed area will have both a self-guided and guided tasting experiences with various breweries, such as Streetside, Cincinnati Beverage Company, Mellotone and more. You can click here to view the various tasting experiences. Tickets to the tastings are $30 each.
There are also several bourbon tasting experiences through the Kentucky Bourbon Experience, which features distilleries and businesses such as Wenzel Distillery, Willow Run Custom Bourbon, New Riff, Revival Vintage Bottle Shop and others. Tickets for bourbon experiences range from $25 to $59.99. You can click here to view them all.
Events
Through America's River Roots, there will be several cultural events that explore the history Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky share along the Ohio River.
There will be several "River Talks" speaker series where guests will discuss American history and culture. Some of the scheduled speaker topics include "The Arts in the Queen City: An Afternoon with the Directors of the Opera, Symphony & Ballet," "Straight Outta the Underground" and others. Click here for the full list of River Talks and how to sign up.
The "Good N' Rooted" artisan market on the Purple People Bridge will also expose attendees to more than 40 different merchants from the region, who are selling handcrafted items, art, jewelry and more. Some of the merchants and businesses include All Cheri's Intriguing Crystals, Earthganics, Origin Trade Goods, Roebling Books & Coffee, WendyWear Jewelry and The CakePop Shoppe. Click here for the full list.
To finish off the weekend, the festival will also have a fireworks display over the Ohio River.
Live music
Throughout the festival grounds in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, there are four different live music stages at Yeatman's Cove, Newport, Public Landing and Schmidlapp Gardens.
Off the various live music acts, attendees can expect all genres, spanning from blues, jazz and bluegrass to gospel, Latin, indie rock and more.
Some of the scheduled artists include Carols Vargas, Jess Lamb, Mr. Keith Little, Soul Pocket, The Tillers, Zapp and others. You can click here for the full list of live music acts and schedule.
To view America's River Roots Festival's full schedule and event map, click here.
