Downtown Events have become Hamilton’s Signature
At the heart of any City is the downtown area, and Hamilton is no different. Over the past decade, the City has emerged as one of the most happening places in southwest Ohio. From the growing restaurant and nightlife scene to the shops popping up, downtown is thriving. Nothing shows the commodity that Hamilton has blossomed into quite like the downtown events.
From the yearly festivals that shut down the roads that intersect our downtown like Operation Pumpkin, to the weekly concerts at RiversEdge in the summer, to shop hops like Alive After 5 and everything in between, the events that bring citizens downtown as a shared space has made an unquantifiable impact on our community. And these events run on the generosity of time from volunteers.
RiversEdge, which of course sits at Marcum Park downtown, and their concert series celebrated their 10th anniversary this past summer. The concerts have been a beacon of pride and fun for the City since their inception and wouldn’t be possible without the droves of volunteers that help with every show. From the drink vendors who keep the show a well-oiled machine, to the hands that set up and tear down before and after. With the help of the City of Hamilton, sponsors, and their volunteers, RiversEdge can bring free music to citizens.
Closing down High Street every October to bring the local area together, Operation Pumpkin has been a fantastic inclusion in Hamilton’s calendar. Also celebrating its 10th anniversary this past fall, the annual celebration was noticeably absent with its scale-down during the COVID pandemic. In 2021 the giant pumpkins and droves of people once again flooded the streets, all thanks to the vision of the non-profit group that coordinates the festivals, led by founders Jason and Tammy Snyder.
While it’s easier to see the joy brought to our City by the larger events happening, you can find yourself missing some of the smaller events. Mallory Greenham, of the City manager’s office, first started working with the City as a small business developer.
“Since moving to the City manager’s office, I’ve become a liaison for the Merchants Association,” said Greenham. “So I work one-on-one with small businesses, which sometimes means I get to help coordinate events for them.”
Greenham recognizes the benefits these smaller events create for the small businesses on Main and High Streets. They help generate economic development and overall bring citizens to these areas. Recently, the holiday slate of events such as the Ornament Crawl, Illuminate Hamilton, Sip n’ Shop, Shop Small Saturday, and the Hamilton Tree Lighting—just to name a few. They, just like the other larger non-profit events that happen in Hamilton, share the main purpose of making the City a better, more enjoyable place to live. The holiday events were just a small blip in the larger scale of events on Main and High—Music on Main and Alive After 5 being some more notable ones.
All well-run community events don’t function without the help of passionate volunteers who see the benefits they bring to the City. The non-profit groups that have brought these events to downtown Hamilton have once again brought life to the City.
This story is a part of a collaboration between the Hamiltonian and City of Hamilton for their 2022 annual report. You can view the whole issue of this report here: https://issuu.com/1pridepub/docs/city_of_hamilton_annual_report_2022_9a17dd50f62e00