Well, the neighbors down the street put up their Halloween decorations on Labor Day weekend, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that some local cultural groups are starting October with spooky doings. But the week also brings big events that are more delight than fright, such as the Hyde Park Square Art Show and conductor Cristian Mǎcelaru’s debut concert as CSO music director. Let’s see what we can scare up:
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Factory 52, House of Cards Carnivale | 5-10 p.m. Factory 52, 4590 Beech St., Norwood. 513-206-8741. DETAILS: This “lifestyle destination” on the former site of the U.S. Playing Card factory has certainly stacked the deck with its card-themed events. Its latest is a new five-day, family-oriented festival called House of Cards Carnivale. The complex’s east parking lot will feature rides, games, beers from Fretboard and Braxton, musical performances, magicians, aerialists, food stands and more. Entry is free, with ride tickets, games and food available for purchase. Through Oct. 5.
Thursday, Oct. 2
Rooftop Sessions, Colin Palmieri Quartet | 6:30 p.m. Clifton Cultural Arts Center, Clifton. 513-497-2860. DETAILS: CCAC’s rooftop concert series continues with saxophonist Colin Palmieri and his group offering jazz with bebop and blues accents. The concerts are free if you bring your own chair, or you can reserve a seat at the fire-pit tables for $10.
Know Theatre, octKNOWber Nights | 7:30 p.m. Know Theatre, 1120 Jackson St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-300-5669. DETAILS: Know Theatre’s annual fall festival of theater is back, featuring 16 nights of mostly new works, mostly on Halloween themes. Opening night features “Z is for Zebra.” Among the remaining titles are “A Sad Vampire,” “Suspense: Fugue in C Minor,” “Creepshow,” “Ghost Stunters,” “Nosferatu” – you get the picture. Through Oct. 30.
Friday, Oct. 3
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, “Cristian Mǎcelaru’s Debut” | 7:30 p.m. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-381-3300. DETAILS: Welcome, Maestro! The CSO celebrates its new music director, conductor Cristian Mǎcelaru, with a debut concert featuring the great pianist Hélène Grimaud in George Gershwin’s wonderful Concerto in F. Also on the program are Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” Suite and British composer Anna Clyne’s 2016 work “Abstractions,” inspired by a series of contemporary paintings. Also Oct. 4.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” | 7:30 p.m. 1195 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-381-2273. DETAILS: Cincy Shakes celebrates the spooky season with Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen’s gag-filled comedy that, let us say, reimagines the Bram Stoker classic with plenty of laughs and plot twists. The company advises that the show is PG-13 with some adult humor involved. That sucks. Through Nov. 1.
DE LA Dance Company, “Frankenstein” | 7:30 p.m. Anderson Center Theater, 7850 Five Mile Road, Anderson Twp. 513-871-0914. DETAILS: For a far more serious retelling of a horror classic, DE LA Dance reprises a full-length ballet, debuted last year, based on Mary Shelley’s famous story. The work, notes the company, “combines theatricality and dance movement to challenge perceptions of monstrosity and morality.” Through Oct. 13. Also in the local dance scene, Mutual Dance Theatre presents a guest troupe, Chicago’s highly praised Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, for 7:30 p.m. performances Oct. 3 and 4 in the Jarson-Kaplan Theater at the Aronoff Center downtown. The Oct. 3 event features a post-show Q&A session, and a pre-show interview with the company’s artistic directors precedes the Oct. 4 performance.
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Jack O’Lantern Glow | 6:30 p.m. Cincinnati Zoo, 3400 Vine St., Avondale. 513-281-4700. DETAILS: Last year’s family-friendly Halloween experience proved a success for the zoo, so Jack O’Lantern Glow is back with sponsorship by Medpace. The immersive, walk-through display features a half-mile trail with more than 6,000 hand-carved pumpkins and other displays celebrating the season. It’s a separate ticket event, not included with a zoo membership. Through Oct. 30; closed on Mondays.
Saturday, Oct. 4
FotoFocus, “Photo-Economics” Symposium | 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Lightborne Studios, 212 E. 14th St., Over-the-Rhine. DETAILS: FotoFocus’ Fall 2025 Symposium is an all-day program exploring the “industrial history of photography and its role in shaping social narratives” with a lineup of guest speakers and artists, various panels and sessions followed by an evening reception. The event is free to the public, but online registration has closed and walk-ins are welcome, at least until the venue’s capacity is reached.
Taft Museum of Art, “Indigo and the Art of Quiltmaking” | 316 Pike St., Lytle Park, downtown. 513-241-0343. DETAILS: In an exhibit organized by the International Quilt Museum, the Taft presents a look at how indigo, an ancient botanical pigment integral in the production of textiles for thousands of years, has been used by skilled quilt artists since the early 1800s. Through Jan. 11.
WAIF 88.3FM 50th Anniversary Party | 6-10 p.m. Five Points Alley, 2425 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills. 513-961-8900. DETAILS: Cincinnati’s oldest independent radio station throws a community party to celebrate its half-century on the air. It’s a chance for listeners to mingle with local artists and station personnel, and it will feature live music from several groups and food from various nearby restaurants.
Sunday, Oct. 5
59th Annual Hyde Park Square Art Show | 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Hyde Park Square, 2700 Erie Ave., Hyde Park. DETAILS: The area’s largest one-day art show and sale, which doubles as a sort of neighborhood festival, returns to Hyde Park Square, featuring outdoor booths filled with works by more than 200 artists from around the country as well as our area, chosen by jury for the event. The show helps support the arts and arts education, and admission is free.
Linton Chamber Music, “Grand Music for Winds & Strings” | 4 p.m. First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati, 536 Linton St., Avondale. 513-381-6868. DETAILS: Strings and winds combine for a rich and unusual Linton program: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quartet for Oboe and Strings, K. 370; Ernö Dohnányi’s Serenade for String Trio; and the impressive “Grand Nonet” by the prolific but often overlooked Louis Spohr, a contemporary of (and sometimes collaborator with) Ludwig van Beethoven.
Vocal Arts Ensemble, “Table of Contents: Chapters of a New Era” | 3 p.m. Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-381-3300. DETAILS: VAE celebrates the turning of a page – the debut of new Music Director Joe Miller – with a clever and varied program that presents chapter and verse on the vocal ensemble’s range and repertoire. The concert’s five “chapters” contain music by Francis Poulenc, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Johannes Brahms, William Byrd and many other notable composers. A post-concert reception is planned at Mellotone Beer Project, 1429 Race St., and the first drink is on VAE. In other choral action this afternoon, Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, 103 William Howard Taft Road (513-281-5945), holds its bi-annual October Festival Choir, part of a weekend choral workshop, with a concert centered on Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem.” One of the soloists is none other than M&M co-publisher Thom Mariner, a baritone who performs often locally when not writing, editing and selling ads! The event is free with an optional goodwill donation.
Monday, Oct. 6
CCM Brass Choir, “79 Years of Brilliance in Brass” | 7:30 p.m. Corbett Auditorium, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: CCM’s nationally noted brass ensemble, led by Musical Director Timothy Northcut, presents a program of music for various combinations of instruments (including percussion) showing off the students’ skills. And who knows what “80 Years” will bring?
Jazz at the Park, Marc Fields | 6-9 p.m. The Porch, Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. DETAILS: Yes, it’s October, but Washington Park’s outdoor entertainment series continues, so take advantage of the (we hope) still-great weather to hear the group headed by renowned jazz trombonist Marc Fields, a Cincinnati native and former CCM professor who’s toured internationally for decades. The event is free, and drinks will be available for purchase.
Tuesday, Oct. 7
Faculty Recital, “Beethoven, Liszt, and the Domestic Piano Concerto” | 7:30 p.m. Werner Recital Hall, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: What a terrific idea for a recital: Back when there was no TV, radio, phonograph or even (gasp!) the internet, families and friends would gather for entertainment in their homes’ music rooms, often playing piano arrangements of great symphonies, concertos and other works. With musicologist Jonathan Kregor on hand to explain the practices of “19th-century domestic pianism,” pianists Dror Biran and Michael Chertock perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 in arrangements for two pianos by Franz Liszt (who also, by the way, arranged all of Beethoven’s nine symphonies for solo piano!).
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