The Pride Festival isn't the only big event going on downtown this weekend.  The Columbus Symphony is kicking off its 2019 Picnic with the Pops at the Columbus Commons park.  Friday, June 14 will feature Kool and the Gang (yep they're still around) with the orchestra.  Then on Saturday, June 15, its Jefferson Starship (yep they're still around too!) with the orchestra.  The full Picnic with the Pops summer series is at http://picnicwiththepops.com/

And if you can't get to Downtown Columbus, but still want some music and crowds -- there is the Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival in downtown Gahanna:

 

http://www.creeksidebluesandjazz.com/

The rain stayed away from the gigantic Saturday afternoon Columbus Pride Parade.  An estimated 500,000 people packed the parade route that featured a record-high 13,000 participants.  Below are a few images of the Pride Parade.  More images are available at https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190615/columbus-pride-parade-allows-participants-spectators-to-just-be-themselves and at https://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-columbus-pride-parade-2019-me1

 

So start your engines everyone!

 

And let the parade begin!

 

Pride Parade Grand Marshall Nina West in all of her drag queen glory:

 

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther in all of his chubby glory:

 

Openly gay Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin:

 

So many people on High Street:

 

And with the downtown condo/apartment building boom, more people get to enjoy the parade from on high:

 

The Pride Parade was so awesome, it even brought the long-awaited streetcars downtown!  (Okay, this was just part of the Chipotle parade entry - BTW Chipotle has a major corporate office in Central Ohio)

 

After nearly one mile on High Street, the parade makes a turn onto Rich Street:

 

Going down Rich Street toward the weekend long Pride Festival located along the downtown riverfront:

Its ComFest weekend at Goodale Park in the Short North:  https://www.comfest.com/

 

And as you can see from the 2019 illustrated map, this year's ComFest is back with more stuff (to paraphrase the late great Chuck Barris from the Gong Show):

 

Tonight's CD102.5 Summer Festival at Express Live in the Arena District is now sold out:

 

http://cd1025.com/event/cd1025-summer-festival

Twenty One Pilots is holding two sold-out concerts at Nationwide Arena on Saturday and Sunday.  Although what's getting more attention is the dozens (and counting) hardcore Twenty One Pilots fans who have been camping out in the Arena District since last weekend to line up for general admission floor spots close to the stage.  These fans started camping overnight in the park across the street from Nationwide Arena until the police informed them that you can't camp overnight in a public park.  So now these superfans camp outside until 11PM and then go to a local hotel or airbnb overnight before returning the next morning(!)

 

There's been two reddit threads about this and a Dispatch article so far.  Some of these Twenty One Pilots superfans have come from as far as Chicago for these weekend concerts.  Below are the two reddit threads (which are very entertaining) and the Dispatch article link.  Also below is a photo from one of the reddit showing the Twenty One Pilots superfans camping in the Arena District (complete with a tree-to-tree hammock setup!):

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbus/comments/c4o7gg/people_camping_in_the_arena_district/

https://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20190626/happy-campers-await-weekends-twenty-one-pilots-shows

https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbus/comments/c68hy6/camping_out_for_21_pilots/

 

^They all look like high school kids who don't have summer jobs and nothing better to do.

48 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said:

^They all look like high school kids who don't have summer jobs and nothing better to do.

 

High school age to early 20's (I think the girl from Chicago interviewed by the Dispatch was 23).  If this kind of superfandom seems borderline insane, these replies from the reddit threads may prove instructive:

• "You've never met a 17 year old high school girl that loves Twenty One Pilots more than anything else in the whole wide world apparently."

• "The core of the Twenty One Pilots fan base is mostly high school girls.  These girls tend to be fairly emotional and what we probably would have classified as "emo" ~10 years ago.  As a result, many of them have an overly obsessive love of the band while having nothing to do during the summer.  Logically (for a 17 year old overly emotional girl with no summer job), this would lead to camping out a week prior to the concert with the hope of getting as close to the stage as physically possible.  Take a trip over to r/TwentyOnePilots and this will all make sense."

• To which someone replied:  "I’m afraid to click on that sub!"

I'm willing to give them a bit of break.  I'm sure we've all had a band we thought was "the most important thing in the world" at that age.  Only to outgrow it and find out otherwise.  Despite these superfans being easy to ridicule, there are much worse things they could be doing with their free time.  However, I'll bet the people who live and work in the Arena District will be glad to see them gone on Monday!

On 6/28/2019 at 1:10 PM, Columbo said:

However, I'll bet the people who live and work in the Arena District will be glad to see them gone on Monday!

 

I may have spoken too soon:  https://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20190701/twenty-one-pilots-fans-asked-to-appear-in-locally-shot-music-video

 

Quote

The Twenty One Pilots hoopla isn’t over yet, apparently.  A recent message from the Twitter account of Reel Bear Media (aka Mark Eshleman, the emo rock-rap duo’s video producer) requested extras for a music video set to film in Columbus on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Specifically, the tweet — since deleted — asked for local fans age 18 to 30 willing to appear in a music video scene for an undisclosed Twenty One Pilots song.

 

The message came on Friday, a day before the Columbus pair began its run of hometown shows at Nationwide Arena on Saturday and Sunday.  The specific location was not revealed.

 

CU has a photo thread of last weekend's Twenty One Pilots concerts at Nationwide Arena:

 

https://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-twenty-one-pilots-at-nationwide-arena-me1

 

It looks like all those days of camping outside the arena paid off for these Twenty One Pilots superfans.  One fan on the left appears to be experiencing an orgasm during the show - so good for her!

 

But why shouldn't she experience an orgasm when her idols are performing mere feet in front of her on a stage with a burning car?  At least I think that is Twenty One Pilots.  They always seem to perform wearing masks and hoods.  Presumably they remove the masks at some point to prove they didn't hire stand-ins!

 

More photos at https://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-twenty-one-pilots-at-nationwide-arena-me1

Moving on from Twenty One Pilots...

 

Tonight's the night for RED, WHITE & BOOM (featuring Twenty One Pilots playing a live soundtrack to the fireworks) - okay one last reference to 21P and j/k:

 

RED, WHITE & BOOM website:  https://redwhiteandboom.org/

 

RED, WHITE & BOOM article:  https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190702/behind-boom-how-columbus-largest-single-day-event-comes-together

 

The best Fourth of July parade in Columbus - the Doo Dah Parade in the Short North.  Two photothreads linked below:

 

https://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-doo-dah-parade-2019-me1

 

https://www.dispatch.com/photogallery/OH/20190704/PHOTOGALLERY/704009983/PH/1

 

This year featuring #SaveTheCrew being honored as the parade's Less Than Grand Marshal:

 

And featuring the hot Short North topic of the moment:

 

And also featuring lots more "stuff":

As part of CAPA's 50th anniversary, they are offering free tours of their three beautifully restored historic downtown theatres - The Ohio Theatre, The Palace Theatre and the Southern Theatre - starting this Saturday at 1PM:

 

https://www.capa.com/events/detail/capa-theatres-free-open-house-walking-tour

 

Saturday, July 13, 2019 -- 1:00 PM

 

Event Info:  Join us for a FREE open house walking tour of the Ohio, Southern, and Palace Theatres!  The three historical theatres will be open for self-guided tours that include access to their stages to take photos with the theatre as a backdrop.  Local docents will be scattered throughout, offering historical information and interesting, and perhaps lesser known, facts about each venue.

Actually Twentyone Pilots stuck around yet another day to play "Camptown Races" during the Doo-Dah Parade

There's an Excessive Heat Warning for this weekend with predicted highs of 94 today, 96 tomorrow and 93 on Sunday - so of course this means its time for the Downtown Jazz & Rib Fest.  Because what better way to beat the heat then firing up a couple dozen huge cooking implements(!)

 

Actually, it is one of the premier downtown summer festivals - but take care to hydrate and look for the shade:

 

https://www.hotribscooljazz.org/

 

...and uhh...the UrbanOhio 15th Anniversary Meet too!

Who says there aren't any heroes left in America:

 

https://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20190723/state-fair-vendor-never-stops-innovating-deep-fried-candy

 

---

By the way, the State Fair opens tomorrow and runs until August 4:  https://ohiostatefair.com/

 

This year's butter sculpture at the Ohio State Fair celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing:

 

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190723/state-fairs-butter-sculpture-is-out-of-this-world

 

https://www.10tv.com/article/we-have-liftoff-2019-ohio-state-fair-butter-cow-display-celebrates-apollo-11-moon-landing

This weekend:

 

-- Pelotonia at the Arena District in Downtown Columbus:  https://pelotonia.org/

 

-- Dublin Irish Festival at Coffman Park in Dublin:  https://dublinirishfestival.org/

This weekend:

 

--  Breakaway Music Festival - Friday and Saturday at Mapfre Stadium:  https://www.ohio.breakawayfestival.com/

 

--  Urban Scrawl 13 - Saturday and Sunday in Franklinton:  http://www.franklintonartsdistrict.com/urban-scrawl.html

This Labor Day Weekend:

 

-- Columbus Greek Festival in Downtown Columbus:  https://www.columbusgreekfestival.com/

 

-- Obetz Zucchini Festival:  http://www.obetzzucchinifest.com/

 

-- Saturday Football at Ohio Stadium:  OSU vs. FAU at noon

 

-- Saturday Football at Mapfre Stadium:  Columbus Crew vs. Chicago Fire at 7:30PM

1 minute ago, Columbo said:

This Labor Day Weekend:

 

-- Columbus Greek Festival in Downtown Columbus:  https://www.columbusgreekfestival.com/

 

-- Obetz Zucchini Festival:  http://www.obetzzucchinifest.com/

 

-- Saturday Football at Ohio Stadium:  OSU vs. FAU at noon

 

-- Saturday Football at Mapfre Stadium:  Columbus Crew vs. Chicago Fire at 7:30PM

Vivo Festival has been going on, too.

 

https://www.vivofestival.org/

An eclectic mix of events for the last weekend of September:

 

http://cartooncrossroadscolumbus.com/ - Been happening since Thursday and runs into Sunday:

 

Jurassic World Live at the Schottenstein Center has been going on since Thursday and runs thru shows on Sunday:  https://www.columbusnavigator.com/jurassic-world-live-columbus/

 

Country music star Luke Bryan has six tours stops in his 2019 Farm Tour.  Miller Family Farms in Fairfield County is one of those stops today - where about 20,000 people will watch a concert on an actual farm.  More about this at https://www.lukebryan.com/farm-tour and at https://www.10tv.com/article/miller-family-farms-fairfield-county-ready-host-luke-bryans-farm-tour-stop-2019-sep

HighBall Halloween is this weekend: Here's what to expect

 

 

HighBall Halloween, one of the nation’s most elaborate costume parties, will liven up the Short North this weekend.

 

It's an earlier date than usual for the two-night festival, which is expected to bring 15,000 attendees on both Friday and Saturday nights to the neighborhood. Typically, the event – featuring a couture fashion show as well as public costume contests – occurs in the second half of October. 

 

“We were so excited for HighBall Halloween that we just couldn't wait to celebrate,” Betsy Pandora, executive director of the Short North Alliance, quipped when asked about the early date.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/10/10/highall-halloween-is-this-weekend-heres-what-to.html

Two events mere blocks from each other this weekend - and they couldn't be more different.  Enjoyment for all!

 

---

HIGHBALL HALLOWEEN:  https://highballcolumbus.org/

 

https://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20191010/highball-halloweens-main-stage-events-to-take-place-inside-convention-center-for-first-time

 

---

COLUMBUS ITALIAN FESTIVAL:  https://www.columbusitalianfestival.com/

 

https://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20191011/columbus-italian-festival-marks-40-years

On 10/11/2019 at 6:32 PM, Columbo said:

HIGHBALL HALLOWEEN:  https://highballcolumbus.org/

 

https://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20191010/highball-halloweens-main-stage-events-to-take-place-inside-convention-center-for-first-time

 

 

Lots and lots of photos from Highball Halloween 2019:

 

https://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-highball-2019-me1

 

https://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-highball-2019-part-2-me1

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/10/13/photos-highball-halloween-hosted-by-nina-west.html

 

Featuring two Nina West's???

 

From Highball to high politics:  The Democratic Presidential Debate will be held at Otterbein University in the Columbus suburb of Westerville tonight

 

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191014/total-transformation-otterbein-athletic-center-becomes-ultra-modern-debate-venue-in-weeks

 

CNN transformed Otterbein's Rike Center - a 3,100-seat domed-roof basketball facility - into their debate venue.  Below are some photos of the transformed facility from https://www.dispatch.com/photogallery/OH/20191014/PHOTOGALLERY/101409988/PH/1

 

As students from Otterbein University stand in for the candidates during a rehearsal, workers finish installing lighting on the stage for the Democratic Presidential Debate at the Rike Center. Twelve candidates will take the debate stage Tuesday at 8pm:

 

Wider view of Otterbein's Rike Center transformed into the Democratic Presidential Debate venue:

 

The nearby Clements Recreation Center has also been transformed into the spin room and press center to accommodate nearly 700 credentialed media:

 

Television crews set up for live shots from Otterbein's Memorial Stadium - with the domed Rike Center (debate venue) in the background:

I should have posted about the Circleville Pumpkin Show before today - its been going on since Wednesday in downtown Circleville and ends today.  But whatevs, here's a couple photos from the Dispatch and check out the festival website:  https://www.pumpkinshow.com/

If you've ever wanted to tour the former headquarters of the Longaberger Company (aka “The Big Basket”) in Newark - you'll have your chance tomorrow.

 

On Sunday, October 20 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Big Basket will be opened for tours.  More about it at the link below:

 

https://www.columbusnavigator.com/longaberger-basket-building-tour/

 

 

And now for a more conventional event - the 2019 Columbus Marathon - sponsored by Nationwide Children's Hospital:  https://www.columbusmarathon.com/

 

According to https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20191017/commuters-as-well-as-runners-need-to-prepare-for-columbus-marathon - there will be nearly 18,000 athletes from 45 states, along with approximately 100,000 spectators for Sunday's marathon.  The marathon will start at 7:30 a.m. Sunday at North Bank Park on Long Street.  Roads will be subject to partial or full closure based on expected arrival times of the first and last athletes with Spring Street, Long Street and Neil Avenue reopening at 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Westerville Public Library held a Wizards & Wands Festival yesterday at their State Street location in Uptown Westerville.  Although this festival is over, a dragon created for the festival on the outside of the library building will still be on display until October 31.  The 30-foot, smoke-breathing dragon - named Hilda - is currently perched on the library’s roof and breathes smoke and roars every 30 minutes from 5-9pm.  She was designed and created by Otterbein University students for the library festival:

Here's when the WonderBus music festival will return to Columbus

 

The WonderBus music and arts festival will return to Columbus for the next seven years after its organizers received “positive barometric readings” about the inaugural event hosted in August.

 

WonderBus’s 2020 event will take place Aug. 29 and 30 on the lawn at CAS on Olentangy River Road. It also announced it will return to Columbus through at least 2026.

 

It will continue to benefit the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health. The festival contributed $50,000 to the OSU department this year.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/12/04/heres-when-the-wonderbus-music-festival-will.html

Here's when Justin Bieber will perform at Ohio Stadium in 2020

 

Justin Bieber will be the latest musical artist to perform in Ohio Stadium now that the pop singer has announced a North American tour that is scheduled to bring him to Columbus in August.

 

The Biebs is slated to perform Aug. 8 in the Horseshoe, one of 45 stops as part of his new tour, which starts May 14 in Seattle at CenturyLink Field and closes Sept. 26 at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

 

The only other Ohio date on the tour is Bieber's scheduled appearance on Aug. 14 in Cleveland at First Energy Stadium.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/12/26/heres-when-justin-bieber-will-perform-at-ohio.html

A new film festival is launching in Columbus

A new annual film festival will launch in Columbus this year. 

 

Cinema Columbus, the new event, is being spearheaded by a partnership including CAPA, the Drexel Theatre and Gateway Film Center. The event aims to celebrate “new and diverse cinematic works from around the world,” according to a news release.

 

The event will take place May 7-17 at the Drexel Theatre, Gateway Film Center and certain CAPA venues. CAPA owns and operates historic theaters including the Ohio Theatre, Palace Theatre and Southern Theatre, and manages the Riffe Center Theatre Complex, Lincoln Theatre, Drexel Theatre, Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts and the Shubert Theatre in Connecticut. 

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/01/09/a-new-film-festival-is-launching-in-columbus.html

$2M winner-take-all basketball tournament coming to Ohio State this summer

 

Ohio State University will host a regional round of The Basketball Tournament's this summer, the first time the 64-team, $2 million winner-take-all event will come to the Columbus sports powerhouse.

 

The games - which were hosted by Capital University in 2018 and 2019 - will take place at Ohio State's newly opened Covelli Center from July 23-26.  The Basketball Tournament is broadcast on ESPN and features retired college players, international players and former NBA players.

 

Carmen's Crew - an Ohio State alumni team that won the TBT last year - is one of eight teams that will compete in this regional round.  The winner of the regional will advance to TBT's Championship Week at the University of Dayton Arena, running August 6-11.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/02/18/2m-winner-take-all-basketball-tournament-coming.html

Here's why Columbus could be in line for more major sporting events in years to come

 

Dan Sullivan’s vision for Columbus’ sporting events scene is simple: “Just more.”  For Sullivan, president of HNS Sports Group and the chairman of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, that means Columbus successfully bidding to host bigger sporting events more often in order to bring more tourists and visitors to Columbus.

 

The Greater Columbus Sports Commission is getting off to a promising start in 2020.  Executive Director Linda Logan’s staff has submitted 53 bids to the NCAA for the 2022 through 2026 bidding cycle.  That includes 25 championship events for 13 sports, including new events like the Division II fall festival, which includes six championship events in one week. ... Also this year, Columbus was named a finalist to host the NCAA Women’s Final Four event again in either 2025 or 2026.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/02/18/heres-why-columbus-could-be-in-line-for-more-major.html

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool replace Metallica at Sonic Temple festival

 

"The Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival has announced that the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool will be replacing Metallica as the Friday and Sunday headliners this year.

 

Metallica was scheduled to headline both May 15 and 17 but the band recently announced they would be pulling out of the festival and Louder Than Life in Louisville."

 

https://www.10tv.com/article/red-hot-chili-peppers-tool-replace-metallica-sonic-temple-festival-2020-feb

A rare C-BUS sports trifecta tomorrow:

 

It's like that one week in late October when all sports are raging!

Yeah, those are the two times each year when its possible to have the CBJ, Crew and OSU all playing at the same time:

 

March:  CBJ, Crew and OSU basketball

October:  CBJ, Crew and OSU football

 

Although November is also a possibility if the Crew make the playoffs.  Usually all three teams will play during the same weekend, with two of three on the same day.  But it's extremely rare to have all three teams playing on the same day.  I'm not even sure if it has happened before.

 

But even rarer is the staggered start times on Sunday and the venues’ proximity — they’re within about 4 miles of each other — which are allowing some superfans just enough time to take in all three games over about nine hours.  The Dispatch did a profile about some of those superfans who are going to attempt it tomorrow:

 

https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20200228/columbus-to-have-sports-trifecta-with-crew-ohio-state-basketball-cbj-games-sunday

A perfect sweep of the Sunday C-BUS Sports Trifecta:

 

City, state officials prep for Arnold Sports Festival amid coronavirus concerns

 

Local officials are taking precautionary steps to keep the public safe as fears about the novel coronavirus rise ahead of this weekend's Arnold Sports Festival, Columbus' biggest annual tourism event.

 

The city of Columbus is working with county, state and health department officials to "look at the most important things that need to happen to keep the public safe, both the visitors and residents," Mayor Andrew Ginther's spokeswoman, Robin Davis, told Columbus Business First.

 

The event is expected to draw 200,000 attendees to downtown Columbus and has an estimated economic impact of $53 million, according to Experience Columbus.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/03/03/city-state-officials-prep-for-arnold-sports.html

Arnold Sports Festival cancels convention due to coronavirus

 

The event was expected to bring 250,000 people to Columbus, Schwarzenegger said, from 80 different countries.

“We would never choose making money over people’s health,” he said.

 

This is the first time the event has been interrupted. All told, the event was expected to bring an estimated $50 million to the region.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/03/03/arnold-sports-festival-cancels-expo-limits.html

No spectators except for finals at this year’s Arnold Sports Festival competition

 

The Arnold Sports Festival’s athletic competition will go on this week but spectators will not be allowed and the annual trade show is being canceled because of coronavirus fears, the state and city announced Tuesday.

 

There is one exception: Spectators will be allowed to attend the Arnold’s finale Saturday, Gov. Mike DeWine said during a news conference.  Holding the festival as planned “simply was an unacceptable risk,” DeWine said.  

 

“Things are rapidly evolving, and given the uniqueness of this particular event, we must do anything we can to slow the spread of the disease into Ohio and keep our guests and citizens as safe as we can,” DeWine said.

 

MORE:  https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200303/coronavirus-no-spectators-except-for-finals-at-this-yearrsquos-arnold-sports-festival-competition

 

7 minutes ago, Columbo said:

No spectators except for finals at this year’s Arnold Sports Festival competition

 

The Arnold Sports Festival’s athletic competition will go on this week but spectators will not be allowed and the annual trade show is being canceled because of coronavirus fears, the state and city announced Tuesday.

 

There is one exception: Spectators will be allowed to attend the Arnold’s finale Saturday, Gov. Mike DeWine said during a news conference.  Holding the festival as planned “simply was an unacceptable risk,” DeWine said.  

 

“Things are rapidly evolving, and given the uniqueness of this particular event, we must do anything we can to slow the spread of the disease into Ohio and keep our guests and citizens as safe as we can,” DeWine said.

 

MORE:  https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200303/coronavirus-no-spectators-except-for-finals-at-this-yearrsquos-arnold-sports-festival-competition

 

More about the Arnold straight from The Arnold:

 

This weekend's scaled-down Arnold is still a bit of a developing story.  Update from Business First below:

 

---

Here’s what we still don’t know about the Arnold Sports Festival's partial cancellation

 

As organizers of the annual Arnold Sports Festival make final preparations for the scaled-down 32nd running of the event, questions remain about the scope of the event after its partial cancellation due to coronavirus concerns.

 

Tuesday evening, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the athletic competition, which draws 22,000 athletes in about 80 events, would “move forward.”  But the event will no longer allow spectators, other than for the finals of the Arnold Classic competition Saturday night, DeWine said.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/03/04/here-s-what-we-still-don-t-know-about-the-arnold.html

Arnold Sports Festival organizers say they hope to allow spectators

 

With less than 24 hours before the scaled-down Arnold Sports Festival is poised to start, state and festival officials are still negotiating with each other about who will be allowed to attend the athletic events that are still scheduled to take place this weekend.

 

Though Arnold Sports Festival officials agreed with state and local leaders that the giant, vendor-filled trade show and expo that takes over the Greater Columbus Convention Center be canceled due to coronavirus concerns, there is disagreement between those groups over other portions of the event.

 

Arnold Sports Festival officials said at a press conference on Wednesday evening they want the public to be able to come to watch the dozens of athletic events that are still going to take place this weekend.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/03/04/arnold-sports-festival-organizers-say-they-hope-to.html

Arnold Sports Festival to comply with state order banning spectators

 

Arnold Sports Festival officials will comply with an order they received Thursday morning from the Ohio Department of Health forbidding spectators beyond parents and guardians at dozens of sporting events planned for the weekend due to concerns about the coronavirus.

 

The order from the Ohio Department of Health, signed by Health Director Amy Acton on March 5, requires the Arnold to “prohibit general public spectators” at events. ... Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff, Daniel Ketchell, told reporters Thursday morning that the event's organizers will continue to talk to the governor’s office, but "will not fight them legally on this issue.”

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/03/05/arnold-sports-festival-to-comply-with-state-order.html

Arnold Sports Festival spectator restriction prompts affiliated event to cancel

 

A youth sports tournament affiliated with the Arnold Sports Festival has decided to cancel its event entirely due to the state of Ohio’s order prohibiting spectators at the event, its organizers said Thursday.

 

The Columbus Futsal Club said Thursday it would cancel its Arnold Futsal Classic Youth tournament, which would have brought between 350 to 400 youth athletes from the Midwest to the Taft Coliseum this weekend for futsal competitions.  Malissa Galiffo Garcia, president of the organization, said keeping the event going would not have been fair to the 500 or so family members and friends who would have wanted to come to watch.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/03/05/arnold-sports-festival-spectator-restriction.html

Arnold Sports Festival 'still committed to Columbus' despite disagreement with state over coronavirus concerns

 

Despite Arnold Sports Festival officials’ disagreement with Gov. Mike DeWine and the state of Ohio over limiting spectator attendance at sporting events during the scaled-down event, Arnold officials said they are committed to keep hosting the event in Columbus in future years.

 

“As of right now, we’re still committed to Columbus,” former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff Daniel Ketchell said during a media availability Thursday, in response to a question about whether the event would be moved in the future.  “This is a bump in the road to us, so we’re not doing anything drastic like threatening that we’re leaving Ohio or leaving Columbus as of right now.”

 

Ketchell said Schwarzenegger has been coming to Columbus since 1970 when he attended the Mr. World competition.  Since the Arnold started as a one-day even in 1989, “we have had a great relationship with city and state officials,” Ketchell said.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/03/05/arnold-sports-festival-still-committed-to-columbus.html