Returning for its 18th year, Second Sunday on Main (SSOM), presented by the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, is a free neighborhood street festival in Cincinnati’s historic Over-The-Rhine neighborhood, celebrating community, creativity, and the city’s culture. With support from presenting sponsors P&G and Kroger, the festival continues to grow and thrive, providing vibrant arts and music programming, a diverse vendor market, biergarten lounge, with the backdrop of historic Main Street and its many brick and mortar businesses. “P&G is thrilled to return as the Presenting Sponsor of Second Sunday on Main and be a part of celebrating the iconic festival’s 18th season and enhancing Cincinnati’s culture by way of its diverse local vendors, music and programming.” said Barbara Hauser, Community Relations Manager at P&G.
Second Sunday on Main, or “SSOM”, started in 2004, as a way to drive more daytime traffic to what was then known as the Main St. Entertainment District. The OTR Chamber, local property owners, businesses and residents started putting together plans for what was then known as “Sunday Markets on Main”, a street fair featuring Main Street businesses, crafty vendors on sidewalks, and pop-up shops in vacant storefronts – which are harder to find these days as Main Street’s storefronts are now full of over 50 diverse small businesses offering all sorts of amazing products, eats and neighborhood services.
Today, SSOM continues to drive Main Street’s local business economy but has also evolved into being known as an accelerator for aspiring entrepreneurs, as the event provides a platform to network, sell their products, and build a customer base. Small businesses including The Bagelry, Brown Bear Bakery, The Arepa Place and WolfPack, participated in the festival and recognized Second Sunday as being a key piece to their business expansion. The OTR Chamber is intentional about its vendor recruitment, looking for up and coming entrepreneurs who are interested in opening a brick and mortar in OTR, especially those from underrepresented populations. “Our goal is for Second Sunday on Main to be a successful springboard for entrepreneurs.” said Kelly Adamson, Executive Director of the OTR Chamber. “We hope to provide a platform which gets them a step closer to opening a successful brick and mortar and demonstrate that OTR is the place to do it, being home to strong entrepreneurial support systems and a community always willing to help.”
To support this goal, vendor fees are intentionally lower than competitive markets in the region, to make participating in Second Sunday accessible for all. The OTR Chamber is also partnering with Model Group, Urban Sites and 3CDC to have representatives from each company available for questions and advice to Second Sunday vendors about the process of opening a storefront in OTR, share resources and help make referrals.
The Second Sunday Biergarten returns to the corner of Main and Woodward St., with new partners and sponsors for the 2022 season. MadTree Brewing will offer varieties of beer and Sway by MadTree, their new canned craft cocktails, alongside Revel OTR, selling canned wine, which until now, was only available at the TQL stadium. The MadTree Brewing partnership reflects the company’s excitement to continue their engagement in the OTR community, as they opened Alcove by Madtree on 1410 Vine Street in March of 2022. MadTree, who is a 1% for the Planet member working with local, sustainable nonprofits, is also leading efforts to green the Second Sunday on Main festival. “We are excited to be part of the OTR community and Second Sunday. We are equally as thrilled that the OTR Chamber has embraced the idea of making the festival more sustainable and look forward to collaborating with them.” said Rhiannon Hoeweler, Director Strategic Impact. The biergarten will be staffed throughout the entire season by volunteers from the Big Brothers Big Sisters Young Professionals Board and all tips will go to their organization, supporting local youth mentorships.
The event’s monthly themes reflect the culture of the Cincinnati and OTR community, creating a unique space for local artists and musicians to showcase their talents, including the Cincinnati Music Accelerator and their Mobile Stage Trailer. The festival will kick off this weekend, Sunday June 12th, with “PRIDE on Main” theme, celebrating national PRIDE month and will close out the season on the third Sunday of the month in October, to coincide with this year’s BLINK festival. Full season dates and themes are below.
2022 Dates:
June 12th – Pride on Main
July 10th – Music City on Main
August 14th – Second Line Sunday on Main
September 11th – Sustain on Main
October 16th – Blink on Main (daytime festival from 12pm – 5pm, biergarten and music on Woodward St. from 6pm – 11pm)
Location: Main Street OTR, Between 12th and Liberty Street
Time: 12:00pm – 5:00pm
Vendor Registration: Vendor registration for June is open through Friday, June 10th. Season registration remains open, interested vendors can register at https://www.secondsundayonmain.org/vendorapplications
