Columbus Events & Entertainment

Events

March

Arnold Fitness Week

Greater Columbus Convention Center and Veterans Memorial

614-431-2600

Call for schedule.

Admission Charged.

This may be the largest fitness expo in the world! It routinely draws 10,000 athletes and more than 70,000 spectators. The Arnold Schwarzenegger Fitness Weekend features international fitness and strength competitions, a world-class fitness expo and continuous entertainment. Weekend highlights include men's and women's bodybuilding, women's fitness competition, martial arts, gymnastics, cheerleading and dance competition, a 5K pump and run race, World's Strongest Man competition and arm wrestling.

Blooms & Butterflies (March-November)
Franklin Park Conservatory 1777 E. Broad St.
614-645-1802

Call for hours.

Admission Charged

Franklin Park Conservatory is a flutter with hundreds of butterflies at this popular annual event. Walk amid hundreds of the flying jewels--all different colors and sizes. You even can watch butterflies hatching from their cocoons.

May

Asian Festival

1777 E. Broad St.

614-463-1752

Call for exact dates and schedule.

Admission Free.

The sights, sounds, and tastes of Asia are captured at this event. Sample Asian cuisine from a gamut of countries, shop the Asian market, keep the kids active with hands-on activities, and be entertained by the stage performances and cultural booths.

June

Columbus Rose Festival

Whetstone Park of Roses

3923 N. High St.

614-645-3350

Admission Charged.

Call for exact dates and hours.

The 2 day festival is held when roses are at their peak. Take in the sights and smells, or attend a floral design workshop by a gardening expert, listen to live entertainment, or buy a few plants.

Festival Latino

Downtown Riverfront
Bicentennial Park, Genoa Park & Civic Center Drive

614-645-7995

Call for exact dates and times.

Admission Free.

Show off your salsa, banda, cumbia, merengue, mariachi, Afro-Cuban or Andean talents, or learn how you can acquire some at this two-day fiesta. Taste the culture at the local restaurants specializing in across-the-border fare.

Greater Columbus Arts Festival

Downtown Riverfront

614-224-2606
Call for exact dates and times.

Admission Free.

More than 300 of the nation's best artists display their works at this annual 3-day street festival and show along the riverfront in downtown Columbus. Music, food, and art activities add to the festivities.

North Market Berries and Dairy Festival

59 Spruce Street, one block north of Nationwide Arena and one block one block west of
Greater Columbus Convention Center

614-463-9664

Admission Free.

Call for exact dates and times.

The day-long festival will feature berry and dairy related foods throughout the North Market and outdoors at the Farmers’ Market, as well as children’s activities, roving entertainers, music, recipes and samples.

July

Red, White and Boom

Downtown riverfront, Columbus

614-421-2666

Call for date and hours.

The annual Independence Day celebration is full of live music, a parade, and food and is topped off by one of the most extravagant fireworks displays in the Midwest!

The Doo Dah Parade

Goodale Park (Intersection of Park Street and Buttles Ave. in Short North)

Admission Free.

The Doo Dah parade is a satirical celebration of life and lunacy. There is no fee to enter just show up and show off.

August

OHIO STATE FAIR

State Fairgrounds, I-71 at 17^th Ave. (Expo Center)

614-221-6623 or 800-345-4386

Call for exact date and hours.

Admission Charged.

It's not summer until you see the life-size butter cow at one of the largest state fairs in the country. This 17 day fair features everything from star studded performers and heart stopping rides to livestock exhibits and exceptional displays for the whole family to enjoy. Nationally known musical acts, one of the world's longest sky rides and the largest junior fair in the nation are highlights. Agricultural displays, children's contests, tractor pulls, laser light shows, and, of course, the butter cow, are mainstays.

Buckeye Invitational

Palace Theater

614-459-0400

Admission Charged

Call for exact date and schedule.

International barbershop competition featuring both men’s and women’s choruses and quartets.

Dublin Irish Festival

Coffman Park

5600 Post Road

614-410-4545 or 800-647-1518

Call for exact dates and hours.

Admission Charged.

Celebrate all things Irish during the annual event, which showcases Irish dance, music and culture.

September

Columbus Family Fun Fest
Riverfront Amphitheater, Genoa Park, Washington Boulevard
614-645-4313

Call for exact dates and times.

Admission Free.

Celebrate family at Columbus' most family friendly festival. Columbus' downtown riverfront will host extreme sports entertainment, river rides, artistic adventures and an evening fireworks extravaganza, Stars and Stripes, over the Scioto.

Columbus Italian Festival
St. John the Baptist Church, 720 Hamlet St.
614-BYI-TALY

Call for exact dates and times.

Admission Charged.

Enjoy fun for the entire family including live entertainment, an open-air market and fabulous food and drink. Whether you're Italian or not, the Columbus Italian Festival will make you feel like part of the family.

October

German Village Oktoberfest

Mohawk Alternative School Athletic Field

Northeast corner of South Grant and East Livingston Ave.

614-224-4300 or 614-221-8888

Admission Charged.

The German Village Oktoberfest is a celebration blending a time-honored German festival with the vitality and charm of a thriving urban neighborhood. More than 30 bands performing on three stages, a wide variety of authentic German food, as well as artisans and shops; Oktoberfest continues to brew a whole new tradition of fun.

Harvest Festival

North Market, 59 Spruce Street

614-463-9664

Call for exact date and time.

Admission Free.

Shop for crisp apples, flavorful squash, pumpkins and other autumn produce while enjoying an array of fall entertainment at the North Market's Annual Harvest Festival. The day-long event features cooking demonstrations, amateur pie contest, music, free apple cider and pumpkin bread, roving entertainers, face painting, balloons and other children's activities.

Columbus Marathon, Inc.
929 Harrison Ave. Suite 202

Downtown Columbus.

614-42-7866

Call for information.

Admission Charged.

Watch runners wind through a fast and friendly 26.2 miles of streets in the downtown area and surrounding suburbs during the 3 day event, which includes a free sports and fitness expo. The Columbus Marathon has no limit on the size of the field and requires no qualifying time to enter. Participants must be at least 18 years of age as of race day to enter.

November

Columbus International Festival
Veterans Memorial, 300 W. Broad St.
614-421-4400

Call for dates and times.

Admission Charged.
The 49th annual Columbus International festival is an entertaining and educational event sponsored by the Columbus Chapter of the United Nations Association. Numerous countries will be represented through food, exhibits, education, shopping and entertainment.

December

Winterfair
Ohio Expo Center, 717 E. 17th Ave.
614-486-7119

Call for exact dates and times.

Admission Charged (seniors and children free).

Artists from across the nation will showcase their traditional and contemporary crafts including ceramics, wood, glass, painting, metal, jewelry, photography and sculpture. It's the perfect place to pick up holiday gifts.

Columbus Destination Overview

Columbus is the largest city in the world named after the great explorer. It is fitting, therefore, that one of the city’s most popular attractions is a full-size replica of Columbus’s three-masted flagship, The Santa Maria, which is permanently moored downtown on the Scioto River and open to visitors. This Ohio State capital city continues to lead the way to the future. State of the art is synonymous with Columbus, which ranks with Washington, D.C., as a center for scientific and technological information. More than 150 high-tech companies have a presence in Columbus.

These businesses made Columbus one of the first areas offering citywide cable television and introduced such technology as the 24-hour banking machine, interactive cable television and the electronic newspaper. The city is also a center for retail banking, insurance and real estate, and has emerged as a leading convention city. It all began with the opening in 1873 of Ohio Agriculture and Mechanical College, (later renamed Ohio State University), which established a new outlook for the city. Education moved to the forefront, and the intellectual atmosphere helped contribute to the invention of the forerunner of the computer, the development of the xerography process, and numerous advancements in the medical treatment of physical disabilities. Current enrollment at Ohio State University is 48,500.

Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Visual Arts is housed in a castle like structure that is itself considered a work of art. Architect Peter Eisenman juxtaposed a red-brick armory with a modern glass-and-steel building, creating a stunning visual effect. The Center houses an extensive art collection, offering various collections and shows of interest to the serious art lover as well as the browser. There is also a film and video center and a performance theater. Tour guides acquaint visitors with the highlights of Ohio State, one of the largest and most significant university campuses in the country.

Columbus offers a perfect cross section of consumers for the testing of new products. Because so many fast-food chains develop their menus in Columbus, the city is often referred to as “Test Market, U.S.A”. However, the cuisine of Columbus is by no means limited to fast food. Dining choices include Asian, Irish, French, Italian, Cajun, German, Mediterranean, Mexican, Greek, Japanese, Indian, and vegetarian, to name a few! Many of the city’s restaurants have enjoyed success and have served fine food for decades.

A privately funded historic district, German Village, is made up of restaurants, shops and beer gardens that are housed in buildings from the 1800s. The nearby Brewery District has several old beer-making factories that have been converted into restaurants, microbreweries and specialty shops. German Village and the Brewery District are pleasant places to spend an afternoon or evening. In nearby Westerville a replica of a German village from the 1800s can be seen. North of Columbus, in Marion, Ohio are the home and tomb of U.S.

President Warren G. Harding. The Harding homestead is carefully appointed with its original furnishings. Southeast of Columbus, in Cumberland, visitors take a drive on the wild side at The Wilds, a conservation center that is home to roaming herds of rhinos, giraffes and zebras, among other species, all of whom can be observed from your automobile. Greater Columbus is an arts and cultural mecca with a symphony orchestra, grand and light opera companies, one of the top 12 ballet companies in the U.S., and several noteworthy museums.

A thriving theater scene is centered upon three historic theaters. Live music clubs offer everything from alternative rock and jazz to blues and country. The Arena District surrounds Nationwide Arena, while the Short North Arts District houses what has been described as the best collection of art galleries between New York and Chicago. The Short North, north of downtown Columbus, a strip of bars and restaurants, art galleries, clothing and antique stores is home to the funky, exotic and trendy. It offers up a once-a-month “Gallery Hop”, a combination sale and party that brings out artists, patrons, and revelers in force.

COSI, Ohio's Center of Science and Industry, is a favorite with children of all ages, with four floors of interactive exhibits. Over 2.5 million visitors visit the Columbus Zoo annually. The Zoo has received national recognition for its success in breeding cheetahs, polar bears and lowland gorillas. Adjacent to the zoo, a favorite spot to spend a warm, summer day is Wyandot Lake, a water amusement park with water slides, rapids, and canyons. The renovated and expanded Franklin Park Conservatory is a beautiful and serene showcase.

Inspired by London's Crystal Palace, the conservatory contains tropical gardens and exhibits of four of the Earth's ecosystems. Also, plan a visit to the Ohio Historical Center, with its Ohio Village, a small Ohio town replication from the 1800s, with costumed interpreters. Well worth seeing is Discovery Reef, a 100,000-gallon tank containing artificial coral and more than 1,000 species. Other “must sees” are the gracefully proportioned Statehouse, the beauty of the changing leaves in the fall, and the famous Ohio State Fair. Sporting events are another major draw.

Columbus is home to three major-league sports teams. The National Hockey League's Blue Jackets and the Arena Football League's Columbus Destroyers play downtown in Nationwide Arena, while Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew plays in the first stadium in the U.S. designed specifically for soccer. The Columbus Clippers is a minor-league affiliate of the New York Yankees. Columbus also hosts the National Champion Ohio State University Buckeyes. When is the best time to visit Columbus and Franklin County?

Anytime! Every season offers a host of recreational and cultural opportunities for individuals and families in this friendly city at the center of Ohio.

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Columbus Events & Entertainment

March

Columbus Destination Overview

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