A little bit of history about Tall Stacks...

October 1988
Tall Stacks was first held as part of Cincinnati's Bicentennial year in 1988. It was one of five events that took place throughout 1988 to celebrate Cincinnati's 200th birthday. Tall Stacks was by far the most popular and well attended of those five events. Because of the unique qualities of the festival, the Toronto Globe & Mail and the Chicago Tribune named Tall Stacks one of the top ten events in the world that year. The first Tall Stacks welcomed 14 riverboats and over 700,000 people to the city's riverbanks for three days in October. Tall Stacks launched a legacy of pride in Cincinnati's rich river history and rekindled the nation's love affair with the steamboat.

October 1995
Cincinnati once again threw itself a party, welcomed 19 riverboats, and then invited the nation to relive the romance of the steamboat era in one of the nation's thriving river cities. Nearly 850,000 people enjoyed five days of riverboat tours, cruises and races. Five stages of musical entertainment and 100 acres of onshore displays and activities kept the crowds on the shore busy. The neighboring communities of Newport and Covington joined the festival by holding historical Civil War re-enactments and erecting historical displays and exhibits along the river's edge just across the Ohio River. Tall Stacks had grown into one of the most anticipated and attended events in the Midwest.

October 1999
With their tall stacks steaming, calliopes blowing and red paddlewheels turning, 19 riverboats gathered once again at the Port of Cincinnati for Tall Stacks '99. For five days, the cities of Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington and Newport, Kentucky partnered in re-creating the era of riverboat romance with continuous onshore entertainment, riverboat races and tours, living history exhibits and hundreds of costumed characters telling tall tales of the riverboat age. In addition, Tall Stacks '99 was named the nation's Top Tourism Event by the American Bus Association (ABA). Riverboats from ten states and fourteen cities made Tall Stacks ‘99 the nation's largest celebration of the Steamboating Era. "Tall Stacks is a celebration like no other," said Leonard A. Weakley, former chairman of the Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Commission, the non-profit group that organizes the event every four years. "The adventure and romance of life on the river are recreated for five days on the banks of the Ohio River. Mark Twain himself would be impressed." Over 660,000 people enjoyed the event that year.

October 2003
In 2003, the Tall Stacks Music, Arts & Heritage Festival lasted five days and expanded on previous events by adding enhanced onshore entertainment and educational activities. The five-day event saw over 900,000 visitors and had an economic impact on the Greater Cincinnati area of $48.5 million. This number includes over 60,000 children attending the event on school field trips or with their families, visiting Sawyertown and its ten, interactive learning centers, watching Children's Theatre performances and taking harbor cruises on one of the Tall Stacks riverboats. In addition, thousands enjoyed performances by some of the top names in music including BB King, Ricky Skaggs, Mary Chapin Carpenter, the Blind Boys of Alabama and Los Lobos. In all, over 100 artists gave musical performances at Tall Stacks. In addition, there were nightly fireworks displays, hot-air balloon events, theatrical performances and bicentennial commemorations. The 2003 event also saw the introduction of the Theme Cruise. This new ticket option introduced thousands to the riverboat experience through Wine Tastings, Ice Cream Socials, Riverboat History cruises, Family Fun cruises, Cincinnati Zoo cruises and many more. As stated in one headline that appeared during the event in the Cincinnati Enquirer, "Tall Stacks told the world we know how to party".

October 4-8, 2006
The Tall Stacks Music, Arts & Heritage Festival will return to Cincinnati in 2006 with even more music, food, fun and riverboats to entertain and educate thousands and to once again shine positive national attention on the Tri-State. To read the event announcement follow this link. Please check back often for more information about Tall Stacks 2006. We will update this web site as details become available.