A guide to making friends as an adult in the Queen City
For most, making friends as a kid was suspiciously easy. Sit next to someone in class. Join the same sports team. Discover you both like the same band. Boom: friendship. Then adulthood happens. Suddenly, making a new friend requires finding an opening in two packed calendars, leaving the comfort of your couch and working up…
Finding community at your local watering hole
Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. But is a “Cheers” fantasy even possible in the post-pandemic age? Jamie Black seems to think so, given that she turned her status as a bar regular at the Overlook Lodge into a job. “I had recently moved out on…
Independent bookstores where you can disappear for an hour
There are days when you want to see and be seen, and then there are days when you’d rather turn your phone on Do Not Disturb, find a quiet corner and temporarily forget that anyone knows how to reach you. Fortunately, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky have plenty of independent bookstores made for doing exactly that.…
A love letter to Cincinnati: inside CityBeat’s 2026 Annual Manual
A longstanding CityBeat tradition returns with this year’s Annual Manual — a guide celebrating the people, places, experiences and rituals that make Cincinnati uniquely Cincinnati. In previous years we’ve taken you on a guided tour of the city’s diverse neighborhoods and a bucket list of Queen City adventures. This year, we’re back with a deep…
A word from the CityBeat 2026 Annual Manual cover artist
I call this “Cincinnati (chili) melting pot.” The city for me is this mix of pop culture and local legends. I wanted to honor nationally recognized talents alongside the folks only people from Cincy would know. I’ve also sprinkled some nods to iconic spots, food and things that I can’t quite categorize. Portraits include Rose…
Cincinnati’s live music scene has something for everyone
On any given weekend, you might hear a jazz quartet inside an intimate Walnut Hills listening room, catch an emerging indie band in Over-the-Rhine, find yourself in the middle of a punk show in Northside or cross the river for electronic music in Covington. Then in between there are the big nights, national R&B, hip-hop,…
10 places you’ve driven past 100 times and should finally visit
Cincinnati is full of places you know without actually knowing them. You’ve seen the sign from the highway, passed the entrance on your commute or driven by so many times that the building has basically become part of the scenery. But somehow, despite living here for years, you’ve never actually stopped. Consider this your excuse…
An entry-level guide to getting involved with community theater in Cincinnati
Maybe you’ve sat in the audience at a local production and wondered what it would be like to be on the other side of the curtain. Or maybe acting isn’t your thing, but directing, building sets, designing costumes or working backstage sounds like fun. The good news: Cincinnati’s community theater scene offers plenty of ways…
Some of the best bars to watch Cincinnati sports in
With the Reds … technically … in pursuit of a National League Wild Card berth, FC Cincinnati holding onto a potential playoff spot in MLS, and football season right around the corner, here’s some of our favorite dive (or dive-esque) bars in the area to watch sports this fall. I want to get something out…
From the Art Museum to MOTR Pub: A daylong tour of the Queen City’s creative side
It doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch to say Cincinnati has one of the most vibrant arts scenes in the Midwest. The first and largest community campaign for arts in the U.S. originated here (hi, ArtsWave), and you could probably throw a rock off of any rooftop in the city that would be…
