Axios Columbus

May 31, 2024
Happy Friday, everyone. Here's to a great weekend ahead.
π Today's weather: Sunny and beautiful, high of 77.
π΅ Sounds like: "Take Me to Church" by Hozier.
Today's newsletter is 840 words β a 3-minute read.
1 big thing: β¬οΈ Summer concert prices drop
Concert prices are down this summer from last year's heights, according to new data from SeatGeek.
Why it matters: It's great news for music fans as a handful of top touring acts have Columbus stops planned.
By the numbers: The national average resale ticket price to attend a summer concert is $224, down from $269 around this time last year, per SeatGeek.
- That comes alongside an 11% increase in the total number of U.S. concerts this summer compared to last year.
Between the lines: Experts say that last year's prices were likely due to historic demand to see Taylor Swift and BeyoncΓ©.
The big picture: Four of the summer's top-10 selling acts, per a SeatGeek analysis of tickets sold, have upcoming dates in Columbus.
π¦ Singer-songwriter Zach Bryan (No. 3) is playing two nights at the Buckeye Country Superfest at Ohio Stadium June 22-23.
πΈ Irish indie soft rocker Hozier (No. 8) is playing the Schottenstein Center on Aug. 7.
πͺ Country musician Chris Stapleton (No. 9) is playing the Schott on July 19.
π€ And finally Justin Timberlake (No. 10) plays Nationwide Arena on Oct. 23.
If you go: Zach Bryan's June 23 festival appearance is currently the best deal going, with single tickets starting at $65.
- Stapleton's start at $70 and Timberlake's at $80.
- Sadly, none of those prices include Ticketmaster's infamous fees.
Of note: Hozier's show is sold out and the artist, who has been outspoken against high resale prices, has set terms that prevent selling tickets on the secondary market.
- But fans who bought tickets and can't make the show can return them to Ticketmaster for resale at face value, so keep an eye out there for any seats that may open up.
Don't forget: Blink-182 and New Kids on the Block also have local shows in August.
2. What to do this weekend
π Take a sweet day trip to downtown Newark for the Strawberry Festival.
- 11am-10pm today and Saturday, 11am-6pm Sunday. Free!
π΅ Dance as the bass drops at the Breakaway Music Festival.
- 4-11pm tonight and 3-11pm Saturday, Historic Crew Stadium. $99 daily general admission, $159 weekend pass.
πΆ Get funky with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, innovators of the genre.
- 7pm tonight, Mershon Auditorium, 1871 N. High St. Tickets start at $42.
π Feel the Force during tonight's Star Wars-themed fireworks, as well as other promotions at Clippers games all weekend long.
- 7:05pm tonight, Huntington Park. $8-21.
π³ Watch "Crazy Rich Asians" at Topiary Park, the first of six monthly outdoor movie nights planned through October.
- 8pm tonight, 480 E. Town St. Free, but bring your own blanket or lawn chair.
π Devour and drink a delicious duo at the Chicken & Beer Fest.
- Noon-8pm Saturday. Dodge Park, 667 Sullivant Ave. Free!
πΌοΈ Hop over to the first Hops on High, an expansion of the Short North's beloved monthly Gallery Hop tradition.
- Noon-8pm Saturday. Free!
π€ Celebrate R&B and hip-hop at Summer614, featuring Scarface, MC Lyte and more at the Columbus Commons.
- 3-11pm Saturday. $60-100 general admission. Bring your own lawn chair.
β½ Cheer on the Crew during the "Clash for the Continent." Lower.com Field is hosting a Concacaf Champions Cup watch party.
- 8pm Saturday. Free! Registration required.
3. π³οΈβπ Grindr's Pride bus tour headed here
Grindr is celebrating Pride on the road next month, with plans for a local stop.
Driving the news: The dating app's Great All American-Gay Road Trip will visit 10 cities, including Columbus on Wednesday, June 19.
- The bus plans to stop at Union Cafe at 782 N. High St. from 8pm-1am.
What's on board: Portrait studios, drag queens and free Grindr swag and information on LGBTQ+ sexual health and wellness care.
4. π Meet Ohio's best speller

You might not be able to spell "sagacious," but 17 Ohio kids definitely can.
- That's s-a-g-a-c-i-o-u-s, an adjective derived from Latin, defined as "having or showing understanding and the ability to make good judgments."
Driving the news: Can we use it in a sentence? Sure: Over a dozen sagacious Buckeyes competed in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee.
- Ohio tied with California for the second-most participants from any state.
The latest: Six of the 17 made it to the quarter-finals and just one, Avinav Prem Anand, advanced to the semi-final round.
- Anand, a seventh-grader from Olentangy Orange Middle School, finished 23rd this year after coming in 32nd in 2022 and 74th in 2023.
- He lost this year on the word "gener," a noun from the Latin meaning son-in-law.
- His competitor bio says he's an avid martial artist, violinist, cyclist, hiker and bird-watcher who "loves visiting his local library on Saturdays."
5. π§ Take the weekly news quiz!
We've got spirit, we've got rizz, time to take our weekly quiz:
Easy: The wacky Savannah Bananas just played three exhibitions at Huntington Park. What color baseballs do the Bananas play with?
Medium: True or false: Cucho HernΓ‘ndez is the highest-paid player on the Columbus Crew.
Hard: What was the median wage for Ohio real estate sales agents in 2023?
- A) $25,000 B) $40,000 C) $87,000 D) $121,000
Impossible: Thomas Edison is one of two Ohioans who have statues inside the U.S. Capitol. In which Ohio village was Edison born?
News quiz answers: 1. Yellow 2. False: Diego Rossi 3. B) $40,000 4. Milan
This newsletter was edited by Emma Hurt and copy edited by Kate Sommers-Dawes and Anjelica Tan.
Our picks:
π Alissa and Tyler thank their colleague Ned Oliver for filling in as newsletter co-writer the past few months!
Sign up for Axios Columbus







