Shakespeare wrote Hamlet four centuries ago. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company toured a production to regional parks in the summer of 2024. But that was just the beginning: It opened its season with Fat Ham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning translation of the show into a funny, backyard barbecue, and more recently staged A Room in the Castle, a world premiere by renowned playwright Lauren Gunderson, focused on Hamlet’s female characters who typically fade into the background. That production moved to Washington, D.C.’s Folger Theatre in April, guaranteeing that Cincy Shakes’ national profile is on the rise. cincyshakes.com.

1. 21c Museum Hotel
2. Art Academy of Cincinnati
3. Clifton Cultural Arts Center

1. Cincinnati Art Museum
2. Contemporary Arts Center
3. Taft Museum of Art

1. “Cincinnati Toy Heritage”
2. “Love Wins”
3. “Fiona and Bibi at the Cincinnati Zoo”
4. “Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon”
5. Charley Harper's “Beguiled by the Wild”
6. “Ezzard Charles: The Cincinnati Cobra”
7. “Democracy!”
8. “Homecoming (Blue Birds)”
9. “Dream Big and Fly High”
10. CROWN Trail Mural

1. Panegyri
2. CincItalia
3. St. Cecilia Family Festival

1. Reds Opening Day Rally on the Square
2. Ice Rink on Fountain Square
3. Art on Vine

1. BLINK
2. Cincinnati Art Museum
3. Findlay Market
4. The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
5. Jungle Jim's International Market
6. Smale Riverfront Park
7. Washington Park
8. Tunes & Blooms at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
9. Contemporary Arts Center
10. FotoFocus

1. A Pig-ment of Your Imagination at REC, Cincinnati Art Museum
2. The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, Cincinnati Art Museum
3. NUDE: Exploring the Uncovered Human Form, Manifest Gallery

1. Dent Schoolhouse
2. Kings Island Halloween Haunt
3. The USS Nightmare

1. Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo
2. WinterFest at Kings Island
3. Cincinnati Nature Center’s Light in the Forest

1. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (@cincinnatizoo)
2. Midwestern Lesbian (@midwestern.lesbian)
3. Longbottom Bird Ranch (@longbottombirdranch)

1. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
2. The Children's Museum at the Cincinnati Museum Center
3. Longbottom Bird Ranch
4. Kings Island
5. Newport Aquarium
6. Cincinnati Art Museum
7. Great Parks of Hamilton County
8. Cincinnati Parks
9. Smale Riverfront Park
10. Behringer-Crawford Museum

1. Bob Herzog
2. Eileen Earnest
3. Mark Borison

1. Pam Kravetz
2. Kiwi the Duck
3. Anthony “Tank” Mansfield
4. Joshua Stout
5. Technique2012
6. Gee Horton
7. James Billiter
8. Leah Noumoff
9. Kevin Necessary
10. Cedric Michael Cox

1. Emily Henry
2. Curtis Sittenfeld
3. Michael Sawan (softmaxplus)

1. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
2. Cincinnati Pops
3. MUSE Cincinnati's Women’s Choir

1. Kelly Collette
2. Sweett Biscut
3. Mark Borison

1. Cincinnati Ballet
2. DANCEFIX
3. Cin City Burlesque

1. Four by Three (Chase Crawford)
2. Cincy Stories
3. Virtual Cocktail TIE
4. Mark Borison TIE

1. Improv Cincinnati
2. Alphas Comedy
3. Two Sketchy Dames