Fringe Fest 2007 Kicks Off

The old faces from Cincy Fringe festivals of the past came out for a what ended up being one of the biggest Cincinnati Fringe related events ever. Over the course of the whole day, 500 people came through the doors. What felt odd yet good at the same time were the many new faces. The art and theatre crowds were out in good numbers, but the bigger influx of people came for music and the OTR Pale from Christian Moerlein.

The only comparison I could make to Fringe experiences of the past was the audiences who filled the seats to last years big hit The Catholic School Girl's Guide to Losing Your Virginity. That play brought Fringe new blood in 2006 that hopefully will be back in 2007.

This is second year the Fringe Festival is based at the Know Theatre space at 1120 Jackson street, but the first year with a bar at the Fringe HQ. The Fringe fest bar series is at the Know each night of the Fringe, so the Moerlein empty bottles will fill up a few trash bins. Most important to any festival are those looking to find a Fringe boyfriend/girlfriend. The prime time hook up zone will be about 12:30 AM most nights during the fest. How else do you think people come up with ideas from scripts for Fringe 2008?

The two biggest musical draws were Ellery and Jake Speed & the Freddies. Jake's set got off to a slow start with a little technical gaff, but they managed. My memory and the ears of my friends sitting near me were testing as I belted out the chorus to every song.

The festival officially start off on May 30th. Keep tuned to the Cincinnati Blog and theconveyor.com for interesting perspectives on the Festival.

City Population Bigger?

A new estimate of Cincinnati's population puts it much higher than even the revised numbers:

Cincinnati might be more populated and richer than the U.S. Census thinks. Results of a demographic study by Social Compact, a national nonprofit group supported by financial institutions:

Population: 368,868 (compared with the Census 2006 amended projection of 331,310; original projection was 307,573).

Households: 166,143 (139,590).

Avg. household income: $53,877 ($50,371).

Aggregate neighborhood income: $8.951 million ($7.031 million).

Median home sale value: $139,715 ($134,525).

The perception of a stable or dare I say even a growing city is one that should go along way to improve business and residential growth for the city and the entire region. Thinking positive and having the numbers to back it up is a good feeling.

Via Joe Hansbauer.

Hip Tips Minute: Arts Events in Cincinnati: May 18, 2007

For more information, check out the Enjoy the Arts website at www.etastart.com.

OTR 5K

June 2nd get out your running/walking shoes and take a jaunt through the historic Over-the-Rhine in the OTR 5K run:

See What’s Old and See What’s New in the GO OTR 5K Run/Walk in Historic Over-the-Rhine. The race/walk travels past much of OTR’s breathtaking historic architecture and provides a glimpse of the revitalization taking place in Over-The-Rhine. Proceeds benefit the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce.
Cost: $10 Pre-Registered, $15 Race Day. Both fees include T-Shirt and a Goody Bag.

For more info check out the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce's website at www.otrchamber.com.

Fringe Kickoff Party on Friday

The Cincinnati Fringe Festival kicks off early this Friday with a special happy hour from 6 PM to 8:30. Admission is free to this pre-event.

9PM to 1AM: join in on a great list of local music at the Fringe 4 Kickoff Party. $5 gets you a line up of: The Newbees, Jon Justice Band, O. yemi Experiment, Jake Speed and the Freddies, Ellery, & The Late Circuit.

Come out and support a great event with the best line up of music for a Theatre event in Cincinnati, ever!

Grandstanding Queen

If you were thinking ABBA, then you would have the type of show that came to mind when I read about the drama Ghiz and Cole generated about already vetted arts funding at Wednesday night's Council Meeting. Leslie Ghiz sounds like she is out to be confrontational for the sheer fact that she wants people to know she knows how to be confrontational with older men like Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell. The attacks on Tarbell were unwarranted and just mean.

Laketa Cole seems to have not been paying attention every year when this annual arts funding takes place. She was "disgusted." How the funding is determined isn't any different than it has been since 2002, so what is different in Cole's mind now? Did she forget how the process worked? Is she losing her memory? More puzzling, after all of her complaints, she voted for the funding anyway. If the process is disgusting, then its outcome should be voted down. Cole appears to want to play both sides for effect. Complain and look conservative, but in the end her voting record is in line with most Democrats.

Jeff Berding appears to be an obstructionist against fine arts. He will vote for "community" arts projects, but not fine arts project because they somehow don't help the public enough. I'm not being helped enough by Paul Brown Stadium, I'd like the Bengals to pick up the tab, immediately. I wonder if Jeff would agree there. How about funding community sports leagues instead? I think a pee-wee football stadium would have been the way to go.

City Wide WiFi?

I don't know how this would work, but in concept it sounds great.