Ohio Black Expo hosts its annual Riverfront Culture Fest during Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-25.
Experience #blackexpollence at Genoa Park, 303 W. Broad St., from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tickets are currently available at a discounted rate, and children 10 and under are free to attend. For additional information regarding weekend events or to purchase tickets, visit ohioblackexpo.com.
The Fest kicks off with the Black Expollence Kickoff Parade at noon on Saturday, featuring dance teams, marching bands and drum lines, Power Circle Corvette Club, and Miss Black Ohio USA queens, among others.
A free Level Up Youth Summit is held Friday, from 6-9 p.m., at the Center of Entrepreneurial Development (COED), 1899 E. Main St.
SHELLEE FISHER
Ohio Black Expo's 2025 Riverfront Culture Fest is a weekend packed with entertainment, featuring big-name artists such as Emmy, Grammy and Oscar Award-winner Common and Grammy Award-winner Marsha Ambrosius. Other performers include R&B singer-songwriter, Teedra Moses along with hip-hop legends, Talib Kweli and J. Rawls.
The Fest consists of three main areas. The two stages, Main and Empowerment Stages, will feature both live DJs and performers or discussions from leaders in their respective fields. The third space, known as the Special Zones, hosts inflatables, group yoga, an HBCU college fair and other engaging activities.
On site are more than 100 black-owned businesses and vendors.
With the amount of variety in food offerings, vegans and other specialty diet followers have lots of options to choose from. Pick up lunch or dinner at food trucks such as Junior's Sweetpotato Pie, Family Affair Catering or Soul Crave. Just want a snack or drink? You can check out places such as Dirt Rich Brew, Just Naturally Yummy Bakery and Turtle Island.
Health and wellness and youth development organizations will be on-site to provide resources to families.
A brief history of the Ohio Black Expo
The first Black Expo event – known as the Columbus Black Expo at that time – was held in 1981 at Mt. Vernon Plaza. After seven years of drawing in vistors and vendors from all over the state, and even outside of Ohio, founder Rhonda D. Robinson changed the name to Ohio Black Expo to reflect its growth.
The Ohio Black Expo was held at the Veterans Memorial downtown from 1988-1991, seeing as many as 300 exhibitors and more than 30,000 visitors.
In the early '90s, Robinson moved the event to Dayton for a year before bringing it to her hometown, Cincinnati, in 1993, where it remained through 1994.
The event took a hiatus until 2020 when Robinson returned the Expo and its vibrancy back to Columbus. Two years later, Robinson passed the torch to Sherri Hamilton (CEO) and Lawrence ‘Butch’ Hamilton III (COO) who have been leading the charge and celebrating #blackexpollence ever since.
Maxwell Knauer is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
