Organizers of the upcoming America’s River Roots, a big festival celebrating Greater Cincinnati’s river culture and heritage, are offering some new details about the event coming in 2025.
America’s River Roots will be a celebration of inland river culture to kick off the U.S.’s 250th birthday, bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors to the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Newport and Covington from Oct. 8-12, 2025. The Ohio River has played a vital role not just in Cincinnati’s history, but the history of the U.S. — from providing energy and industry to being a beacon of hope to those seeking freedom — and River Roots aims to showcase the multicultural art, history, music and cuisine that has come from the river connecting people to the region.
At BB Riverboat Cruises in Newport Monday, River Roots organizers and Cincinnati and Newport’s mayors gathered for a press conference to share the names of the riverboats joining Cincinnati’s Belle of Cincinnati and River Queen on the Ohio River in October:
- Steamboat NATCHEZ from New Orleans
- Belle of Louisville from Louisville
- Mary M. Miller from Louisville
- Celebration Belle from Moline, Illinois
- Belle of Memphis from Memphis
- Three Rivers Queen from Pittsburgh
- Anson & Betsey Northrup from Minneapolis/St. Paul
With all these boats heading to the Queen City, that means there will be around 200 cruise experiences available across the nine ships. Organizers say there will be brunch, lunch, dinner and late-night cruises, as well as the Riverboat Race cruises, Parade cruises and sight-seeing cruises. Tickets are on sale now here and start at $40 a person…