The Cincinnati Music Festival celebrates more than 60 years of local and national R&B talent with artists such as Ne-Yo, Coco Jones and New Edition this weekend. Performances will take place at Paycor Stadium, the Andrew J. Brady Music Center and Fountain Square.
The CMF started as a jazz festival in 1962. Today, it’s Cincinnati’s largest economic driver, bringing in more than $105 million annually. Visit Cincy’s Vice President of Human Resources and Employee Engagement Deena Taylor Brewer says the CMF shows just how dynamic Cincinnati is.
“We have so much art and so much talent that originates from Cincinnati,” Brewer said. “We are a destination.”
The turnout for the Rickey Smiley Morning Show — being broadcast from Fountain Square Thursday morning — reflected this sentiment.
This weekend, Cincinnati will also host "Cincy Soul: The Black Taste" and the 2024 Black Music Walk of Fame Induction ceremony. These events were purposefully planned together, says Hamilton County commissioner and Black Music Walk of Fame founder Alicia Reece.
PHOTOS: Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame grand opening
“We’re honoring (the inductees) and also connecting them with the music festival because a lot of people that are in the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame performed, at some point over the 50 years, at the Cincinnati Music Festival.”
This weekend is the most important for tourism in the area. Taylor-Brewer with Visit Cincy says the concerts sell out quickly, and hotel rooms fill up.
She also says the festival is a good showcase for the city. She says she hears it all the time: visitors are surprised at what they find.
“They had no idea that it was a walkable city and that it had the assets that it has, the parks that it has. So yes, it does inspire people to come back here year after year. It inspires, also, people to bring more people. I’ve seen family reunions happen here, as well as friends who come here every year for the last 20 or 30 years.”
Johnathan Watkins, a lifelong Cincinnati resident who says he's been attending the festival since the 1980s, said these kinds of events are important in keeping communities connected.
“This is the summer party for the city. I’m not going to say just for Blacks because it's for everyone,” Watkins said. “If Cincinnati can be a leading campaign for (diversity) that would be excellent. It’s good because it brings the whole city together.”
The weekend's lineup
Thursday, July 25 (Andrew J. Brady Center)
- A Tribute to Hip Hop Music with MC Lyte, EPMD, KRS-One and Black Sheep
Friday, July 26 (Paycor Stadium)
- Maxwell, Ne-Yo, Fantasia, October London and The Original Lakeside
Saturday, July 27 (Paycor Stadium)
- New Edition (featuring Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe, Ralph Tresvant, Johnny Gill), KEM, Coco Jones, En Vogue and Stokley
RELATED: New Edition, SWV and more to perform at 2024 Cincinnati Music Festival
Other weekend events
- CMF Outdoor Museum — July 19 at 7 p.m. at Washington Park with Friday Flow
- The Rickey Smiley Show — July 25-26 live at Fountain Square from 5-9 a.m.
- Visit Cincy’s Vibe Marketplace — Fountain Square, July 25-28 at Fountain Square
- Cincy Soul: the Black Taste — July 27-28 at Fountain Square
- Queen City 5K — July 27 at 8 a.m. at The Banks
- The Black Man Think Tank — July 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Banks
- Big3 Basketball League — July 28 at 1 p.m. at the Heritage Bank Center
- The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century — July 16-28 at Cincinnati Art Museum
- The Negro Motorist Green Book Exhibition — July 26-28 at National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Weekend road closures
The weekend's event requires some Downtown roads to close.
Thursday, July 26
- Freedom Way closed between Elm Street and Marian Spencer Way
- Race Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Rosa Parks Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Ted Berry Way closed west of the roundabout
Friday, July 26
- Central Avenue southbound closed south of Seventh Street
- Elm Street closed south of Second Street from 4PM until 2AM
- Fifth Street closed between Vine Street and Walnut Street
- Freedom Way closed between Elm Street and Marian Spencer Way
- Gest Street southbound closed south of Third Street
- Race Street closed between Third Street and Second Street from 4PM until 2AM
- Race Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Rosa Parks Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Joe Nuxhall Way closed south of Second Street from 4PM to 2AM
- Ted Berry Way closed west of the roundabout
- Third Street eastbound closed east of Clay Wade Bailey Bridge
- Walnut Street closed south of Third Street
RELATED: Ohio State Fair 2024 features cotton candy cream puffs, new young fairgoers policy
Saturday, July 27
- Broadway closed between Reading Road and E 13th Street
- Central Avenue southbound closed south of Seventh Street
- Central Avenue closed south of W Pete Rose Way
- E Pete Rose Way closed between Broadway and Johnny Bench Way
- Elm Street closed south of Second Street
- Fifth Street closed between Vine Street and Walnut Street
- Freedom Way closed between Elm Street and Marian Spencer Way
- Gest Street southbound closed south of Third Street
- Gest Street southbound closed between Third Street and Mehring Way
- Joe Nuxhall Way closed south of Second Street (access maintained to hotel)
- Johnny Bench Way closed
- Mehring Way closed between W Pete Rose Way and E Pete Rose Way
- Race Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Race Street closed between Third Street and Second Street from 4PM until 2AM
- Rosa Parks Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Ted Berry Way closed west of the roundabout
- Third Street eastbound closed east of Clay Wade Bailey Bridge
- Twelfth Street closed between Sycamore Street and Pendleton Street
- Walnut Street closed south of Third Street
- W Pete Rose Way closed between Gest Street and Central Avenue
Sunday, July 28
- Fifth Street closed between Vine Street and Walnut Street
- Freedom Way closed between Elm Street and Marian Spencer Way
- Race Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Rosa Parks Street closed south of Second Street (access maintained to garage)
- Ted Berry Way closed west of the roundabout
