Music Festivals and Shaping History

Aside from Reds games and local breweries, the Queen City has a lot to offer in the way of music. Since 2012, Bunbury Music Festival, which takes place along the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati throughout Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove, has hosted top artists including Tom Petty, Snoop Dogg, Incubus, The Black Keys, Weezer, and many others. Bunbury was founded by MidPoint Music Festival co-founder and former Fountain Square managing director Bill Donabedian. The name was taken from a line in Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest. For Donabedian, Bunbury Music Festival meant giving Cincinnati an excuse to get out of something boring, which holds true to the definition and action of “bunburying”. Additionally, he believed that local music was the soundtrack of Cincinnati and asset that needed to be leveraged. Since its debut, the three-day festival typically features over 100 acts performing on five different stages.  Aside from music the event features several vendors, local food trucks, and craft beer. To get the full experience, the public can purchase three-day general admission and VIP packages.

In 2014, the festival was purchased by PromoWest Productions, an entertainment company out of Columbus, Ohio.  Since then, Bunbury has attracted concertgoers across the United States. With the music festival craze, Bunbury has become a summer tradition for those living in the Miami Valley and other surrounding communities. Most importantly, it has enriched the unique culture and history of Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the years it has contributed the revitalization of the city, and the efforts to make it sustainable. This summer the Queen City will be hosting its seventh annual concert event on May 31-June 2, 2019.  Be sure to put on your dancing shoes and participate in this year’s festivities! Performers will include Fall Out Boy, Stone Temple Pilots, Run the Jewels, Sublime with Rome, The 1975, and many more.

Sources Used

Rhiney, Sean. " My Soap Box: Bill Donabedian & The Bunbury Music Festival." Soapbox Cincinnati. April 12, 2011.http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/0405billdonabedianbunburymusicfestival.aspx.  

PromoWest Productions. "About Us." Bunbury Music Festival,  accessed April 8, 2019. https://bunburyfestival.com/festival-info/about-us.

"Bunbury Music Festival." Wikipedia, last modified February 1,2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunbury_Music_Festival. 

Edmonds, Allie. Bunbury Music Festival Entrance. June 2, 2017. Personal Photograph Collection, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Edmonds, Allie. Bunbury Music Festival Stage. June 2, 2017. Personal Photograph Collection, Cincinnati, Ohio.