Free Art for the Holidays!

From singing carols to decorating trees to seeing your favorite shows, the arts make the holidays in Cincinnati amazing.  We’ve pulled together just a few of the fun and FREE things to do this holiday season.  Enjoy and share your experiences with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #HolidayArts!

  • Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra presents small group performances at the Kenwood Towne Center food court over lunch on Dec. 3rd, 10th and 17th.  View more information here. 
  • Help create a holiday communal sound sculpture with the first-ever Cincinnati edition of "Unsilent Night" at the Contemporary Arts Center Saturday, Dec. 15th. Arrive at 6:30 to make the walk at 7:00 p.m. from the CAC to Fountain Square while playing an original piece of music on multiple boomboxes. 
  • The May Festival Youth Chorus presents seasonal music and choral selections Sunday, Dec. 9th at the Taft Museum of Art at 2:30 p.m. 
  • Blue Ash Symphony presents its annual holiday concert Sunday, Dec. 2nd at 7 pm at Montgomery Assembly Church of God.
  • Visionaries and Voices presents its annual Wrap-Up show December 6 – January 1.
  • Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra presents a FREE concert Sunday, Dec. 2nd at 2 p.m. at St. Catherine Siena.
  • Taft Museum of Art is FREE all Thanksgiving weekend for its Holiday Season Kickoff, Friday, Nov. 23 - Sunday, Nov. 25, 11 am to 5 pm.  See the historic house decorated for Christmas and enjoy their antique ornament displays!  The Taft is FREE every Sunday.
  • Cincinnati Art Museum is FREE every day!  Stop in for Family First Saturday on Dec. 1st for A Parisian Holiday, featuring special performances by Happen, Inc. and Kinderballet.
  • Kennedy Heights Arts Center presents the exhibit Cold Hands/Warm Heart through Dec. 22. Also, check out their Winterfest neighborhood holiday celebration on Dec. 7th from 7 - 10 pm.  Tree-lighting at Pleasant Ridge Community Center is at 6 pm.
  • Stay Tuned to Cincinnati Public Radio all season long for holiday programming including a the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Cincinnati Boychoir performing selections from Handel’s Messiah on Dec. 2nd on WGUC; and a 1988 recording of a radio theatre version of “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 23rd on WVXU.
  • The Over-The-Rhine Chamber has a comprehensive listing of holiday events in the Quarter including Santa in the Bandstand at Washington Park every Saturday in December, OTR Aglow, and the City Flea Wrapped Up Holiday Market.
  • Macy’s Downtown Dazzle is back on Saturday nights with fun FREE activities including live music, strolling musicians and performers from the Cincinnati Pops and Playhouse in the Park (Dec. 15th), a fireworks display and, of course, Santa rappelling down an office building.  Saturdays starting at 5:45 p.m., Nov. 24th, Dec. 1st, 8th, and 15th.
  • Tuba Christmas returns to Newport on the Levee Dec. 22nd at 3:00 p.m.  A free holiday music concert featuring dozens of Tuba players of all ages! Play the Tuba? Registration to play along opens at 12:30 p.m.
  • Cincinnati Brass Band Benefit for the Glenmary Home Missioners on Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at St Monica-St George Parish and the Cincinnati Brass Band Holiday Concert on Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at Crestview Presbyterian Church.

Do you know of another great FREE holiday arts event?  Email it to Rebecca.bromels@theartswave.org and we’ll add it to our list.  Happy Holidays!