CINCINNATI — We are officially a week into the new year, and 2023 is in our rear view mirrors.
2024 is sure to bring lots of excitement around the Tri-State, whether that be with sports teams or things to do around Cincinnati. Here are the Top 9 things to look forward to around the Tri-State in 2024:
The return of Blink
In mid-October, downtown Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky will be lit up for the return of Blink.
The immersive festival, which is organized by ArtsWave, is the country's largest light, art and projection mapping show in the country. In 2022, the festival stretched across 30 city blocks from northern Over-the-Rhine into Covington with more than 100 art installations.
The 2024 festival will also feature a projection mapping display on Music Hall that hasn't been done since Lumenocity ended in 2016.
The Flying Pig Marathon turns 25
Cincinnati will be celebrating 25 years of the Flying Pig marathon in 2024. The race started in 1999, and over the years it's become one of the most popular races in the country.
Flying Pig Marathon weekend kicks off May 3, and racers will be hoping for better weather conditions than the 2023 race. In 2023, more than 15,000 runners from all over the world dealt with heavy rain, flooding along the race route and even a shelter-in-place order.
Major infrastructure projects
When driving in the Tri-State, you're destined to at least see some type of road construction (we know, it's a headache) — and 2024 won't be any different. While 2023 brought some preliminary planning, projects such as the Western Hills Viaduct and the Brent Spence Bridge are expected to break ground this year.
A new zoo exhibit
The Cincinnati Zoo is expected to open a new habitat to the public in summer 2024. The upcoming Elephant Trek habitat will span five acres and be home to eight to 10 Asian elephants. It's set to be the biggest construction project in the Cincinnati Zoo's history.
In November, the zoo welcomed four elephants to the habitat from the Dublin Zoo. The elephants — 32-year-old SheRa, her 6-year-old son Kabir, 20-year-old Anak and her 5-year-old son Sanjay — are getting acclimated to the habitat before they're introduced to the other elephants.
A highly anticipated Reds season
The Reds showed some real promise with the team's rookies in 2023, meaning the 2024 season could be an explosive one. The likes of Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer and more will be back in Great American Ball Park.
Reds executives have also taken the time in the off season to bolster the Reds pitching roster, which was one of the team's biggest weaknesses in 2023, with names such as Frankie Montas, Buck Farmer, Nick Martinez and more.
Opening Day is set for March 28 as the Reds take on the Washington Nationals.
Big-name concerts
Summer 2023 brought Swiftinnati to Paycor Stadium, and while Taylor Swift isn't returning to the Queen City in 2024, plenty of big names are. High-profile names such as The Foo Fighters, Luke Combs, Green Day, Kenny Chesney, Alanis Morisette and more will be performing at various venues around the city.
West Chester will also be holding the second year of Voices of America Country Music Fest after a successful first year. Big country music names like Keith Urban and Jason Aldean are set to perform at the 2024 festival, with more acts to be announced. Cincinnati Music Festival will also be back in downtown with New Edition, Fantasia, Ne-Yo, Maxwell and more.
Western & Southern Open celebrates 125 years
After the possibility of the tournament up and leaving Cincinnati, the Western & Southern Open will be celebrating its 125th year in Mason.
In 2023, the tournament's new owners dealt with a battle to potentially move it to Charlotte. The tournament will be staying in Mason, but its name will be changing as part of the deal to keep it in Cincinnati. Western & Southern stepped down as the title sponsor of the tennis tournament, but it has not been announced who will takeover that sponsorship.
Total solar eclipse madness
A total solar eclipse is set to captivate parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada on April 8 — and areas in the Tri-State are included! The celestial event will impact parts of Hamilton, Butler and Warren counties. The rest of the state will see the sun at least 95% blocked.
The eclipse is causing multiple school districts to halt classes that day, including Middletown, Fairfield, Hamilton, Edgewood, Talawanda and Madison schools. Middletown schools said districts and municipalities experiencing the eclipse have been warned to "expect extreme demands and stresses on local infrastructure and services" as people travel to their towns to witness it.
This is the first time since 1806 Ohio will be the site of a total solar eclipse. NASA reports this will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous U.S. until 2044.
Joe Burrow returns
The Bengals' 2023 season is just ending this Sunday, but fans will already have something to look forward to for the 2024 season — the return of Joe Burrow.
Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury in November 2023. While Burrow manned the sidelines after surgery, backup QB Jake Browning was able to provide Cincinnati with a hard-fought remainder of the season before playoff hopes were shut down.
After Burrow's 2020 season-ending injury when he tore his ACL, the Bengals went to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season... with that mentality, who knows what the 2024 season could bring?
