in partnership with
and heard every Friday on the Weekend Rundown with JonJon and Friends on
Tour de Cincinnati does the research for fun things to do around the city so you don’t have to! Check out the list below for goings on ranging from markets and live music, to brewery fun and food events. Events are subject to change or cancellation. Be sure to click on their respective links for more information.
Categories listed below include:
- Weekend Rundown
- Sporting Events
- Ongoing Events
- Tickets and Registration for Future Events
- New To Do
- Local news Roundup
You can also listen to the Weekend Rundown with JonJon on Kiss107 every Friday. If you are unable to tune in on the radio, you can listen to Kiss on the iHeartRadio app or you can listen live here.
[If a link is broken, feel free to reach out for information.]
Wednesday
The Merriest Hour
Urban Artifact, 7p
Join YPCC’s Community Carolers for an evening of a mix of traditional carols, upbeat classics, and a few new tunes.
General Admission: Free, with a suggested donation of $10
Thursday
Black Santa
Cincinnati Art Museum, 5–8p
Photo with Santa. First come, first served.
Free admission
Fifth & Vinyl at Winterhaus
Fountain Square, 5–8p
Festive beats and vintage vibes with a live DJ.
Winterhaus is 21+ (minors are welcome if accompanied by an adult). Be prepared to show your ID at the door.
Yappy Hour
Braxton Factory 52, 6–8p
Bring your pup and holiday cheer for Yappy Hour with Santa.
Free admission
Family Astronomy Night: Jupiter
Cincinnati Observatory, 7–8:30p
Interactive craft/activity night for families—a cross between Cosmic Kids and Astronomy Evening programs and geared for families with children 5–12 years old. There will be viewing through a telescope (if clear), a quick presentation on the theme for the evening, and a hands-on space activity or craft.
Tickets
Opening Night: The Nutcracker
Music Hall
Cincinnati’s favorite holiday tradition. Through December 28.
Friday
Evening Piano at Winterhaus
Fountain Square, 5–8p
Live piano performances from local and regional musicians.
Winterhaus is 21+ (minors are welcome if accompanied by an adult). Be prepared to show your ID at the door.
Holidays in Cincinnati 2025
Friday–Sunday
Live Music at Festival of Ferns
Krohn Conservatory, 5–7p
Weekends in December (and Christmas Eve) you can enjoy the musical stylings of Mike Sharfe, Dylan Firlie, a local handbell choir, and more. Additional dates: December 24, 26–28
Tickets for Festival of Ferns will be sold at the door. This event is free with a general admission ticket.
An Acoustic Christmas with Over the Rhine
presented by Nederlander Entertainment and Memorial Hall
$49–79
Saturday
Holiday Fun at the Sign Museum
American Sign Museum, 11a–2p
Watch vintage holiday cartoons, make glow in the dark ornaments, and listen to live music. Hot chocolate and other holiday snacks will be available for purchase.
Included in regular museum admission
Downtown Dazzle
Fountain Square, 6–9p
Cookie and ornament decorating, scavenger hunt, photos with Santa and Buddy the Elf, Santa rappelling from a building, and fireworks show.
Free admission
7th Annual Reindeer Games
Braxton Covington, 6–9p
Compete in festive games for the chance to win the ultimate holiday prize: a $100 Braxton gift card. Ugly sweaters, holiday hats, and festive outfits earn you bonus points. There will also be photos with Santa.
Free admission
Inaugural Reindeer Games
Braxton Factory 52, 6–9p
Compete in festive games for the chance to win the ultimate holiday prize: a $100 Braxton gift card. Ugly sweaters, holiday hats, and festive outfits earn you bonus points. There will also be photos with Santa.
Free admission
Sunday
Art on Vine Holiday Market
Rhinegeist, 12–6p
80+ local vendors and food available for purchase.
Free admission
Sports
Xavier MBB vs. Creighton
Cintas Center
Wednesday at 6:30p
Watch: FS1; Listen: 55KRC
UC Bearcats MBB vs. Alabama State
Fifth Third Arena
Wednesday at 7p
Watch: ESPN+; Listen: 700 WLW
Week 16: Cincinnati Bengals @ Miami Dolphins
Sunday at 1p
Watch: CBS; Listen: 700WLW, ESPN 1530, and 102.7 WEBN
UC Bearcats WBB vs. Oklahoma State
Fifth Third Arena
Sunday at 2p
Big 12 opener: wear black
Watch: ESPN+; Listen: Fox 1360
All college sporting events listed are Division I home games only. Events are subject to change or cancellation. Please click on the link for more information.
Ongoing
Union Terminal Rotunda Tours
Cincinnati Museum Center
Fridays at 1:30p, 2:30p, and 3:30p
Saturdays at 11:30a, 12:30p, and 1:30p
Sundays at 12:30p, 1:30p, and 2:30p
Free admission
through December 21
Elf the Musical Jr.
The Emery Theater
One of the company’s most popular productions for the holiday season.
70-minute runtime
through December 22
Art & Artisans Holiday Art Show
Ethos Art Collective
Art show and sale
through December 26
CAM Nights & Holiday Lights in Partnership with BLINK®
Cincinnati Art Museum, 5–8p
Enjoy extended hours on Thursdays and Fridays in December (closed on Christmas Day), complete with a holiday-themed projection light show outside in the Alice Bimel Courtyard.
Free admission
through December 28
A Christmas Carol
Playhouse in the Park
Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some!)
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
Fresh and fun annual tradition that sends up everything from Dickens to Dr. Seuss for 90+ minutes of high octane jollity and frivolity.
through December 31
It’s Fritz! A Sequel to Fiona: The Musical
Ensemble Theatre
through January 4, 2026
Recall. Reframe. Respond. The Art of Paul Scott.
Cincinnati Art Museum
Working with new ceramic forms or repurposing antique pieces, Scott breaks, reassembles, erases, and adds details using screenprinting, engraving, and collage processes to create new “historical” patterns. Broadly, his works address updated narratives about art, history and American experiences.
Free admission
through January 4, 2026
Cincinnati Light the World Giving Machines
Kenwood Towne Center
The Giving Machines are vending machines with cards representing items needed by global and local nonprofit organizations such as meals, bus tickets, shoes, books, childcare, and more. Donation item prices range from $5 to $100+. This initiative invites people to share goodness, spread kindness, and extend love through service during the holiday season. 100% of donations go to charity. Available during all open hours at the Kenwood Towne Center.
through January 11, 2026
Indigo and the Art of Quiltmaking
Taft Museum of Art
For thousands of years, people around the world have treasured textiles dyed with indigo. A synthetic version, developed in the 1880s, still colors today’s blue jeans. This exhibition presents twenty quilts created between the early 1800s and 2015.
Tickets (admission to the museum is FREE on Sundays and Mondays)
through March 1, 2026
What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine
Cincinnati Art Museum
The unforgettable art and satire of MAD, from its start in 1952 as a popular humor comic book to its evolution into a beloved magazine.
Tickets
through April 12, 2026
Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.
Cincinnati Museum Center, 10a
An exhibition the world needs you to see. Be a witness.
Through this daunting selection of more than 500 original artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland, as well as more than 20 institutions and museums all over the world, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. portrays the complex reality of the notorious camp while sharing firsthand stories from those who survived, and those who perished.
Tickets
Tickets and Registration for Future Events
A Cozy Night In
Downtown Main Library, January 9, 6:30–9p
Kick off the Library’s Winter Checkout Challenge with A Cozy Night In, an event for adults featuring a panel and signing with authors Abby Collette / Abby Vandiver, Heather Webber, and Kerry Winfrey. Each ticket includes a book of your choice from one of the featured authors and benefits the Library Foundation of Cincinnati.
Tickets
Calling All Artisans
ArtsConnect Artisan Fair (May 16)
They’re looking for blacksmiths, candle makers, woodworkers, jelly and jam makers, potters, and artisans of all kinds for the Springfield Twp Artisan Fair, a juried event featuring art, live music, food, beer, and demos on May 16, 2026.
Apply here
New To Do
Flight Club
125 W Fifth Street
Food, craft cocktails, and Social Darts®, a multiplayer, tech-enabled experience designed to bring people together.
Ice Rink at Fifty West
Wooster Pike and Deerfield
$10/hour (kids 4 and under free)
Salazar
101 W Fifth Street
Mon–Thurs, 5-10p
Fri–Sat, 4–10p
Sun, closed
2025 Winterhaus
Fountain Square
With the move of the ice rink to Elm Street Plaza, Winterhaus is a cozy, glass-enclosed tented retreat in the heart of the city, complete with daily programming, a full bar, and space for everything from co-working to private events.
Prim
70 W Fifth Street
Tues–Thurs, 4p–midnight
Friday, 4p–2a
Saturday, 2p–2a
Sunday, 4p–midnight
The Barket
Findlay Market
Montclair Street
3134 Harrison Avenue, Westwood
Fresh cut flowers, retail wine, home goods, and gifts.
Open daily, 10a–6p
Now Available: Teddy Lou, Bell Guru
STEM picture book by local author Chris Demeropolis.
Tasty Bird Vintage
2533 Gilbert Avenue (Walnut Hills)
Curated selection of housewares, furniture, and clothes from the ’30s through the ’90s.
Mon, closed
Tues–Thurs, 11a–6p
Fri–Sat, 11a–8p
Sun, 11a–6p
Stumps Lanes and Cinful Eats
5536 Bridgetown Road
Casual bowling alley offering open play and leagues, plus pizza and yard games
Mon, 4–9p
Tues–Thurs, 9a–9p
Fri–Sat, 9a–11p
Sun, 12–9p
Barb Cooper Shows You How to Eat Your Way Through the City [cincinnatimagazine.com]
Cincinnati Animal CARE Partners With Good Plates Eatery on Holiday Meal Distributions [citybeat.com]
Covington’s Carmelo’s Nominated for Best New Restaurant in America [citybeat.com]
Four Cincinnati Restaurants Land on OpenTable’s ‘Top 100’ List [citybeat.com]
The Hottest New Restaurants and Bars in Greater Cincinnati Right Now [citybeat.com]
Iconic Greater Cincinnati Restaurants & Bars Every Visitor Needs to Try [citybeat.com]
MindPeace is Creating a Culture of Wellness in Local Schools [cincinnatimagazine.com]
Norwood Brewery Northwood Cider Company to Close in December [citybeat.com]
Restaurant Focusing on Small Plates, Wine and Private Events to Open in Former Somm Wine Bar [citybeat.com]
