SATURDAY 07 EVENT: Ohio Renaissance Festival Maidens, mages and minstrels take heed: 16th century England returns to Waynesville, Ohio for adventure, merriment, craftsmen and giant turkey legs during the Ohio Renaissance Festival. The historically recreated Elizabethan village covers 30 acres with daily stage shows (dueling swordsmen, rowdy pirates and jousters); a Medieval marketplace with glassblowers, blacksmiths and leather experts; rides powered by humans; and Renaissance-style fair food ranging from bread bowls and mead to steak on a stick. Themed weekends continue with Time Travelers Weekend (free TARDIS parking) Sept. 7 and 8. Through Oct. 27. $23 adults; $21 seniors; $9.50 children; free 5 and under. 10542 E. State Route 73, Waynesville, renfestival.com. Photo: Checkmate Photography
THURSDAY 29 EVENT: The 51% at HomeMakers Bar: Vermouth HomeMakers Bar owners Julia Petiprin and Catherine Manabat lead this “retro adventure” into the world of vermouth with the 51%, a social drinking club that brings “bourbon and badass women together” — except this time they’re talking vermouth. The evening kicks off with a vermouth tasting featuring three different spirits. Manabat and Petiprin will lead attendees through the differences between each, how the regions the spirits came from affect their taste and “the most common mistakes people make when it comes to vermouth.” HomeMakers’ version of happy hour — aka Spritzer Hour — runs until 7 p.m. with $6 spritzers (featuring vermouth), plus $1 off well spirits, draft beer, red wine and all menu items featuring ham. Open a tab during the event and get 10 percent off the rest of the night. 6-8 p.m. Thursday. $15. HomeMakers Bar, 39 E. 13th St., Over-the-Rhine, facebook.com/the51bourbon. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
THURSDAY 29 COMEDY: Joe Zimmerman “I still talk about things I’m interested in and things I’m curious about,” comedian Joe Zimmerman says of his current set. “Right now, I’m watching that documentary on Netflix called One Strange Rock.” It’s narrated by eight former astronauts, as well as actor Will Smith. “On the one hand, I’m blown away by how amazing our planet is, and on the other hand, I want to be friends with Will Smith.” Zimmerman has also channeled his curiosity into a new podcast called A Great Listening Experience in which he studies a topic and looks for what he calls the upside. “Depression, for example,” he says. “Turns out there are some benefits to depression.” When not satisfying his curiosity about certain subjects, he plays guitar. “I do that to relax,” he says. “I definitely don’t play with anyone watching, and I definitely don’t do it to impress any girls.” Through Sunday. $8-$14. Go Bananas, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, gobananascomedy.com. Photo via joezimmerman.com
THURSDAY 29 MUSIC: KISS: End of the Road World Tour The larger-than-life Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will be making their final stop in Cincinnati, ever — one last time to rock and roll all night for the Queen City KISS Army. “All that we have built and all that we have conquered over the past four decades could never have happened without the millions of people worldwide who’ve filled clubs, arenas and stadiums over those years. This will be the ultimate celebration for those who’ve seen us and a last chance for those who haven’t. KISS Army, we’re saying goodbye on our final tour with our biggest show yet and we’ll go out the same way we came in… unapologetic and unstoppable,” the band said in a release. Break out the face paint. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. $25-$143. Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave., California, riverbend.org. Photo via Riverbend.org
FRIDAY 30 EVENT: Art After Dark: All Good Things Must End As they say, all good things must come to an end and that includes the trippy, immersive experience that is the Cincinnati Art Museum’s No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man exhibit. The show departs Sept. 2 (also the last day of Burning Man itself), so this final Friday, head to Art After Dark for a chance to check out all the psychedelic and interactive installations that have brought the Black Rock playa to Eden Park. Take a free docent-led tour of the exhibit (and the Kimono: Refashioning Contemporary Style show), listen to live music from Triiibe and grab food for purchase from Revolution Rotisserie, Dewey’s Pizza and Graeter’s. 5-10 p.m. Friday. Free admission. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams, cincinnatiartmuseum.org. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
FRIDAY 30 EVENT: Cincinnati Tattoo Arts Convention This second annual Cincinnati Tattoo Arts Convention hits the Duke Energy Convention Center this weekend, during which guests can get ink from some 150 of the best local, national and international artists. In addition to the option to get a permanent reminder of your visit, you can also check out live sideshow entertainment from the likes of Alakazam the Human Knot, aerial burlesque artist Shannon Sexton, risky risqu? performer Marlo Marquise and the jigsaw-tattooed Enigma. There will also be tattoo contests and seminars including advanced cover-up techniques. Special guests slated to attend are Shanghai Kate Hellenbrand, various Ink Master participants and the Black Ink Crew. 2 p.m.-midnight Friday; 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. $20; $40 three-day pass. Duke Energy Convention Center, 525 Elm St., Downtown, villainarts.com. Photo via Facebook.com/VillainArts
FRIDAY 30 MUSIC: Hank Williams Songwriter Showcase This year marks the 70th anniversary of music icon Hank Williams’ second recording session in Cincinnati. On Aug. 30, 1949, Williams cut four tracks — including his enduring classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” — at downtown’s Herzog recording studio. The Herzog building is now home to the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation and the music-gear-and-more store Herzog Music, which together will host a special “songwriter showcase” featuring artists from around the country who’ve been heavily influenced by Williams’ music. Among the songwriters scheduled to appear at the Williams celebration is Joey Allcorn, the young Georgian who is renowned for his traditional Honky Tonk style, something he’s been exploring ever since his mother gave him a Hank Williams greatest hits album when he was a child. Other artists slated to appear include Josh Morningstar, Amanda Lynn, Brad and Tammy Sue Magness, Bobby Tomberlin, W.D. Miller and Zachariah Malachi. This year also marks 10 years since the formation of CUMHF. Over the past decade the organization, among many other things, has helped get a marker installed at the site of the 1979 Who concert tragedy, drawn attention to and assisted in the preservation of the original King Records complex in Evanston and helped develop Herzog Music into a downtown music hub. 7 p.m. Friday. $20-$50. Herzog Music, 811 Race St., Downtown, herzogmusic.com. Photo: Sammie Saxton
FRIDAY 30 MUSIC: Will Payne Harrison Will Payne Harrison plays the Southgate House Revival. 8 p.m. Thursday. $20-$30. Southgate House Revival, 111 E. Sixth St., Newport, southgatehouse.com. Photo via willpayneharrison.com
FRIDAY 30 ART: Dress Up, Speak Up Dress Up, Speak Up at the 21c grapples with contemporary identity. It will open at the 21c Museum Hotel on August 30 and stay until July 2020. The reception will begin with a cocktail hour and following that will be a discussion with artist Bisa Butler and the curator. Opening reception 6 p.m. Friday. 21c Museum Hotel, 609 Walnut St., Downtown, 21cmuseumhotels.com. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
SATURDAY 31 EVENT: Lunken Airport Days The Cincinnati Warbirds are taking over Lunken Airport for Lunken Airport Days, a chance for visitors to get up-close with jets, sport airplanes and a B-17 Aluminum Overcast bomber — a 65,000-pound, World War II-era “flying fortress.” The Warbirds are a nonprofit educational organization with the goal of preserving historic military aircraft, honoring veterans/current military and educating the public about all of the above. Airport Days will be offering ground tours of the planes and about 20 to 25 rides each morning in the B-17 (for a tax-deductible donation of $409-$475; call 920-371-2244 or visit b17.org to book). There will also be free hot dogs, a static B-25 and other aircraft displays, helicopter rides, vendors and kids activities, a chance to check-out Lunken’s Art Deco tower and a color guard ceremony at noon each day. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free admission. Lunken Airport, 262 Wilmer Ave., East End, cincinnatiwarbirds.org. Photo: Cincinnati Warbirds Facebook
SUNDAY 01 EVENT: Riverfest Launched more than four decades ago to celebrate the 10th anniversary of radio station WEBN, this Labor Day bash officially signals the end of summer with a series of colorful explosions in the sky. In addition to food, music, major traffic jams and one of the largest firework displays in the Midwest set to music from 102.7 FM (you are 100-percent guaranteed to hear “Smoke on the Water”), festgoers can expect to see half a million other humans and a river full of boats. During the lead-up to the big show, the Freestore Foodbank hosts its annual Rubber Duck Regatta, dropping as many as 200,000 yellow duckies from the Purple People Bridge into the Ohio River in a race to benefit the foodbank (buy a duck, feed a child, possibly win a car and $1 million). Ducks cost $5 and provide 15 meals each; they launch into the river at 3 p.m. Noon-10 p.m. Sunday. Free; $5 per duck. Sawyer Point, 705 E. Pete Rose Way, Downtown, webn.iheart.com, rubberduckregatta.org. Photo: CityBeat Archive
MONDAY 02 EVENT: Labor Day Picnic at Stricker’s Grove Stricker’s Grove is closed to the public for most of the year, save for a few special days in the summer and fall, including during its annual Labor Day celebration. This family-owned and operated, 25-acre old-fashioned amusement park is home to tons of nostalgic games and classic rides. Play mini-golf and arcade games or take a ride on the Ferris wheel, tilt-a-whirl or swinging pirate ship. If it’s thrills you seek, hop on one of their two roller coasters: the Teddy Bear or Tornado. The wooden Tornado, completed in 1993, was constructed by park owner Ralph Stricker — the only person in the United States to build his own roller coaster. 1-8 p.m. Monday. $14; free 2 and under. Stricker’s Grove, 11490 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton, strickersgrove.com. Photo: Pamela Stricker
TUESDAY 03 EVENT: Cincinnati Reds Bark in the Park Bring your pup to the ballpark to see the Reds take on the Phillies. It is the final Bark in the Park of the season and there will be a pre-game dog parade around the field, a pet expo, dogs available for adoption from the SPCA and more. Dog seating is in a specified section and all dogs must enter through Gate 1. Dogs and humans are required to have a ticket and humans are required to sign a waiver for their dog companion. 5:40-9:30 p.m. Tuesday. $50 includes one human and one dog ticket; $30 additional human tickets; $20 additional dog tickets. Great American Ball Park, 100 Joe Nuxhall Way, Downtown, reds.com. Photo: Cincinnati Reds
TUESDAY 03 MUSIC: Future and Meek Mill Future and Meek Mill co-headline a show at Riverbend. 7 p.m. Tuesday. Riverbend Music Center, 6295 Kellogg Ave, Cincinnati. riverbend.org. Photo: Mario Kristian