CINCINNATI — Get lit with a few pre-Independence Day events, have a blast in Hyde Park, take your Romeo to the opera or hop into the way-back machine with Béla Fleck and his original Flecktones at the Taft Theatre this weekend.
Beer, Wine and Food Festival: 3-11 p.m. Saturday. Hyde Park Square, 2700 Erie Ave., Hyde Park. $20 for 10 tasting tickets. Have a blast this Saturday at the inaugural Beer, Wine and Food Festival in Hyde Park. The event will feature more than 60 varieties of beer and wine. Featured beers will include those from Fifty West, Southern Tier, new Belgium, Founders, Braxton and West Sixth. There also will be live music from bands such as The Sunburners, Troubadour Dali and Plan B. This festival is part of the annual Hyde Park Blast (more on that in a moment). csnevents.thecurestartsnow.org
Panegyri Greek Festival 2019: 5-11 p.m. Friday; 3-11 p.m. Saturday; 1-8 p.m. Sunday. Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 7000 Winton Road, Finneytown. $2 admission ages 13 and older; free admission children ages 12 and under. It’s all Greek to the organizers of the Panegyri Greek Festival. This weekend the annual fest showcasing Grecian food, drink and culture will celebrate its 45th year in Finneytown. There will be folks dancing to traditional music, along with plenty of gyro sandwiches, honey-coated baklava and other dishes up to full-course dinners. You’ll be able to wash it all down with imported Greek wines and beers. www.htsnchurch.org
Loveland Firecracker Festival: 4-10 p.m. Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday. Symmes Township Park, 11600 Lebanon Road, Loveland. Free. This family-friendly Fourth of July celebration will feature live music, a classic car show, rides, drinks and food. There also will be a fireworks display starting at dusk on Saturday. business.lovelandchamber.org
Hyde Park Blast: 7:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday. Hyde Park Square, 2700 Erie Ave., Hyde Park. The Hyde Park Blast is an annual summer event that has raised and donated more than $600,000 to Cincinnati cancer charities. This year will be no different for the daylong event, which will feature a mix of amateur foot and cycling races, along with a professional men’s cycling race through Hyde Park. The Blast will start at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with a four-mile run/walk at the square. Registration for the race is $40, with day-of sign-up and packet pickup starting at 6:30 a.m. Registration for the one-mile 9 a.m. kids fun run is $20 per child. The inaugural Beer, Wine and Food Festival will be a new feature of the Blast this year. (See event listing above for details.) csnevents.thecurestartsnow.org
Red, White & Brews at Liberty Center: Noon-9 p.m. Saturday. Liberty Center, 7100 Foundry Row, Liberty Township. Free. Get a head start on your Independence Day fun during Liberty Center's Red, White & Brews events on Saturday. There will be a red wagon parade from noon-2 p.m., 10 interactive science stations to explore from 1-4 p.m. and a free concert from 6-9 p.m. www.liberty-center.com
West Side Fireworks: 7-10 p.m. Saturday. Crossroads West Side, 8575 Bridgetown Road, Cleves. Free. Enjoy a free Independence Day-inspired fireworks show at Crossroads in Cleves on Saturday. Food trucks will be on site, along with areas for overflow parking. While there won't be drinks for sale, Crossroads invites folks to bring their own, along with blankets and chairs. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
"Major Braggart”: 7-9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3-5:30 p.m. Sunday. Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, 5530 Colerain Ave., Mount Airy. $10 suggested donation. Nonprofit Marjorie Book Continuing Education (MBCE) presents "Major Braggart,” a play written by Roman playwright Plautus. The cast will feature actors with and without disabilities. All performances will be audio described for the visually impaired. Sign language interpreters from Cincinnati State will be on hand for the Sunday matinee performance. marjoriebook.org
“Romeo and Juliet”: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday. Music Hall, 1243 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. $35-$190. The Cincinnati Opera will present William Shakespeare’s classic tale of two star-crossed lovers with two special performances at Music Hall. The opera will be sung in French (with projection translations) and set to music by Charles Gounod. Each performance is approximately three hours in length, including one intermission. www.cincinnatiopera.org
Moving Arts Cincinnati: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., Downtown. Tickets start at $30. Moving Arts, an annual summer dance project presented by the Cincinnati Ballet, is returning to the Jarson-Kaplan Theater this weekend. Each summer the ballet cross-pollinates its artists with other national and international professional dancers by combining them with choreographers to create one of the season's most exciting showcases. www.cincinnatiarts.org
CeCe Peniston and Vibe Cincinnati:11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday. Fountain Square, 520 Vine St., Downtown. Free. If you’re Downtown Friday evening, you won’t want to keep on walking past Fountain Square after seeing who is on stage singing. CeCe Peniston, the 1990s singer and former beauty queen will be performing some of her greatest hits as the headliner for Vibe Cincinnati’s day-long music and vendor event on the Square. The day will begin at 11 a.m. with the VIBE Marketplace, followed by music by DJ Nate the Great from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and then again at 5:30 p.m. before Peniston takes the stage at 8 p.m. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
KIDZ BOP World Tour 2019: 4 p.m. Sunday. PNC Pavilion, 6295 Kellogg Ave., Cincinnati. $23.50-$95. Play a game of “Who performs it better: KIDZ BOP or the Original Artist” with your children this Sunday at PNC Pavilion. The popular kids cover band has been rocking it on the road during various world tours for the past five years. www.riverbend.org
Béla Fleck & The Flecktones: 8 p.m. Sunday. Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., Downtown. $35-$55. Béla Fleck will perform with the original members of the Flecktones this Sunday at the Taft Theatre. The group, which originally came together in 1988, will perform old favorites and some new tunes during the Queen City tour stop. tafttheatre.org
