CANSTRUCTION

CANstruction is an international community service project of the design and construction industry to benefit community food banks. Every year, architects, engineers, designers and contractors compete to design and build elaborate, giant-sized structures made entirely out of canned foods. Teams of five people gather at five different locations around Cincinnati to build 10'x10'x10' sculptures in five hours.

Cincinnati consistently places at the top of America's best designs. Following the construction, the exhibits stay up for three weeks for public viewing. The sculptures are then dismantled and donated to Freestore Foodbank. In 2012, CANstruction raised 55,000 lbs of food which equals over 40,000 meals for families in need. Since it's conception 15 years ago, over 500,000 lbs have been donated.

The majority of the sculptures can be seen at Weston Art Gallery at the Aronoff, with other exhibits at Downtown Library, Downtown Macy's, Contemporary Arts Center, and the Scripps Center on Walnut Street.

FOUNTAIN SQUARE TREE LIGHTING

No better way to cap of the Thanksgiving weekend is with the holiday tree lighting at Fountain Square. The 60-foot Evergreen was wrapped with over 20,000 lights and kicked off a series of winter festivities Downtown.

In addition to the tree lighting, which was put on by Macy's, visitors could skate with Santa on the U.S. Bank Ice Rink, shop at CinciDeutsch's Christkindlmarkt, and receive goodie bags from Procter & Gamble including tissues, shampoo, tooth brushes and pet food.

Lighting the tree on Fountain Square.