Cincinnati Magazine

The sweetest event in Cincinnati is happening NEXT WEEK!

What: The Great Cincinnati Bake-Off
When: October 13 from 6-8 p.m.
Where: The Cintas Center
Why: Local bakers are competing to win the Golden Rolling Pin! Enjoy sweet and savory bites from local bakeries and our sponsors before the awards ceremony 🍪🏆

Get your tickets here: https://ow.ly/foUB50ZU3eN

States and cities have official birds, and plants, and even rock songs, so why not fossils? Cincinnati is one of just two cities with official fossils (Fruita, Colorado, is the other). Our emblem is the quarter-sized starfish relative Isorophus cincinnatiensis. At the state level, the genus Isotelus, a group of large, centipede-like trilobites represents invertebrates, while the ancient fish Dunkleosteus terrelli became official in 2020.

1. Dunkleosteus terrelli: Instead of teeth, the jaws of Dunkleosteus terrelli were exposed bone, sharp enough to crunch through bony or shell-enclosed prey.

2. Isotelus maximus (trilobite): Seafloor predators, trilobites are distant relatives of horseshoe crabs. The name trilobite means “three-lobed animal.”

3. Isorophus cincinnatiensis: It was an obligate encruster, which means that it had to attach itself to a hard surface like a barnacle.

4. Favistina stellate (colonial coral)

5. Cyclonema sp. (gastropod)

6. Parvohallopora ramosa (bryozoan)

7. Pycnocrinus dyeri (crinoid)

8. Flexicalymene retrorsa (trilobite)

9. Crinoid stem

10. Constellaria florida (bryozoan)

11. Zygospira modesta (brachiopod)

12. Grewingkia canadensis (horn coral)

13. Hebertella occidentalis (brachiopod)

14. Solenopora sp. (sponge)

15. Pycnocrinus dyeri (crinoid)

16. Vinlandostrophia sp. (brachiopod)

17. Glyptocrinus decadactylus (crinoid)

18. Straight-shelled cephalopod

📸 Andrew Doench / 🎨 Kyle Hartshorn

The Bagelry opens its third location in Montgomery, Epic Brands opens speakeasy in Pleasant Ridge, The Eagle and CityBird open in Mason, and more in this week's Foodie News. https://ow.ly/ckTg50ZTY0o

📸 provided by The Bagelry

BLINK returns to Cincinnati and Covington October 8-11 with four days of light, projection mapping, murals, and installations sprawling from Madison Avenue in Covington through Cincinnati’s riverfront and across Fountain Square, Over-the-Rhine, and Findlay Market. Billed as the nation’s largest public art festival, the 2024 version drew more than 2 million attendees from 216 unique ZIP codes, with 15 countries represented.

First launched in 2017 by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, AGAR, and partners, BLINK happens every other year (with a pause during the pandemic). This year’s edition marks Leslie Mooney’s first as executive director, and she says a major change will occur right at the outset with an opening block party along Central Parkway in front of TQL Stadium instead of the usual opening parade. The evening culminates in a collective “turn on the lights” moment around 8:30 p.m., followed by a drone show above the stadium. https://ow.ly/UX2X50ZTXvS

📸 courtesy Cincinnati Chamber

It’s faire season in Ohio, and nothing marks the occasion like some medieval grub. With more than 60 food and beverage areas to choose from, you’re bound to find something you like at the Ohio Renaissance Festival through November 1. If you really want to be on theme, the giant smoked turkey leg is the only way to go. Brittany Reed, ORen’s food and beverage director, says turkey legs are the most popular food item. “What’s Ren faire without a turkey leg?” she quips. Clearly fairgoers agree—the festival sells upwards of 30,000 of them every year.

In the off season, Reed and her partner-in-food-management Aaron Powell scour food shows, drink tastings, and even other Ren faires to research food and drink trends. “We try very hard to bring in new options every season while maintaining the staples everyone has come to enjoy while they are visiting the park,” she says.

Check out the vast selection of food and drinks at the nation’s best Ren faire: https://ow.ly/rUhM50ZTXmC

🎨 Stef Hadiwidjaja

Sunday’s Jacksonville tilt now feels like a must-win, since 3-1 is very different from 2-2 after one month.

The Bengals Help Aaron Rodgers Turn Back the Clock in Pittsburgh Sunday’s Jacksonville tilt now feels like a must-win, since 3-1 is very different from 2-2 after one month.

Editor-in-Chief John Fox on grappling with the vastness of history.

Editor's Letter: October 2026 Editor-in-Chief John Fox on grappling with the vastness of history.

Between 1.5 and 2 billion years ago, tectonic plates collided to form the primordial core of North America. This cataclysm created mountains that eroded into rifts formed by the stretching and cooling of the Earth’s crust. Our geological basement was poured.

This being Ohio, the basement flooded. We lay beneath a shallow “epicontinental sea, basically a sea on a continent,” the likes of which doesn’t really exist anywhere on Earth today, says Cincinnati Museum Center Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology Brenda Hunda. During this period, called the late Ordovician, an island chain collided with the eastern rim of proto-North America, raising more mountains. With terrestrial plants yet to arrive on the scene, the landscape was highly erosive, Hunda says. https://ow.ly/UXhI50ZTtml

🎨 Sandra Rilova

Mark your calendars: Vintage Market Days is coming to Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia October 23–25. This curated shopping experience spreads across four barns, where each thoughtfully styled vendor booth looks like a boutique.

Find Vintage and New Treasures at Vintage Market Days in Xenia Vintage Market Days in Xenia has something for everyone, from clothing to jewelry to art and antiques, all at the Greene County Fairgrounds.

Cincinnati's rich history stretches beyond the settlement of Losantiville in 1788. Geological forces carved the valley, Indigenous people shaped the earth, and we're still studying both today.

Uncover the past in our October issue and find where our story begins. Pick up a copy on newsstands everywhere now, or sign up for the digital edition: https://ow.ly/vEPf50ZT59c