RedsFest

For better or worse (lately worse, sad to say), fans of Cincinnati baseball love their Reds. True, it’s been a long time since the Big Red Machine or even the 1990s, but every era has its heroes & every era has its fans. This annual two day festival hits just before winter sets in & is the perfect remedy to anyone longing for spring in the stands, with their favorite players taking the field. I did not come to Cincinnati a Reds fan. I am still not a Reds fan, going to games mainly when there’s a cool promo item or the fireworks are set to the music of Star Wars or something equally unrelated to the team itself. But I do enjoy baseball, whether the history of the game, as told through the nearby Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, or the amazing Reds Hall of Fame & Museum & even though the Reds have stunk up Great American Ballpark in recent seasons, they are still a part of this city.
Rarely in recent history has that been more evident than this summer, when the city played host to the 2015 MLB All-​Star Game. I’d volunteered for this event twice in NYC & was delighted to participated a third time here in Cincinnati. This major event took over the Duke Convention Center & multiple other venues throughout the area. Redsfest, held the first weekend in December, is very similar to this event, albeit on a significantly smaller scale. Player appearances from the current roster, Reds legends, photograph & autograph opportunities, interactive elements such as batting cages & speed pitch, things for collectors, things for young children, mingling with the mascots, fundraisers, freebies — it’s all here over this two day period.
Cincinnati may not always have a winning team, but it puts everything it can into the team it has.

Attended RedsFest for the first time this year and I was a bit underwhelmed. I guess it’s for really hard core fans, but it seemed to mostly involve a whole lot of standing in lines (at least if you wanted any autographs or photographs with players). It seems like there should be a more efficient way to do that – maybe give out tickets or something that give a specific time. Autograph/​photo schedules aren’t posted before the event, but you can follow @Reds on Twitter for 30 min advance listings or just walk around and look at the signs by each line.
Food options were as expected: limited and expensive. I pretty much just saw LaRosa’s and Skyline on the main level and there was an Ovations kiosk in the (lame) VIP lounge for season ticket holders.
There were a good number of activities for kids, particularly on the third level, but if you’re bringing a child, keep in mind that they need to be old enough for independent play and young enough to be easily impressed.
There are additional opportunities to spend money at various memorabilia shops and the official Reds gear store. And there’s a main stage that has different player panels or other speakers, so just check the schedule in advance to know if there’s anything specific you want to see.
RedsFest is a 2-​day affair and to really maximize the experience, you would probably want to go both days and just be prepared to be there all day to have the chance to see and get autographs/​photos with the players you like. Those with significant others and/​or kids who aren’t as hard core, should probably leave them at home or drive separately.

Surprised that the regularly held RedsFest was not on Unilocal.I wish I could give 2.5 stars — if you have lots of money to spend and are willing to stand in HOURS and HOURS of lines for autographs and pictures then this is the place for you. It’s fairly expensive too. I love baseball and historical trivia and there were a couple of exhibits which catered to this such as the Hall of Fame exhibit and a large vendor area for various independent and not-​so-​independent sellers hawking their wares. It’s a kids paradise — especially the kidzone upstairs. The stage antics were mostly slated toward kids but there was a «Hot Stove» event for adults that wasn’t actually too bad except for the idiot media guys running it.
I would go again IF I have some money to spend and IF I can get in for free. I’m not the type of fan this is geared toward but you might be. :)