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Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | August 24 – 30, 2026

Published on 2 Comments on Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | August 24 – 30, 2026
1968 Ford Mustang - Owner: Phil Spangler

ATTENTION: A Maserati engine cover was found in the parking lot following the Andon’s Pub Car Show on Sunday. If it belongs to you, please call 614-206-3179.

Hard to believe we’ve already reached the last week of August. We’re looking at September, October, and a couple of weeks in November, and then the Central Ohio car show season will be over.

There’s nothing on the schedule Monday, but things get underway Tuesday with the usual lineup of weekly cruise-ins and bike nights. Saturday’s schedule is a little lighter this week before we head into the final holiday weekend of the summer. The bad news is that some events drop off the schedule after this week.

Monday (August 24th):

  • No Events Found

Tuesday (August 25th):

Wednesday (August 26th):

Thursday (August 27th):

Friday (August 28th):

Saturday (August 29th):

Sunday (August 30th):

Be sure to check out the Save the Dates for 2026 page for the most comprehensive, best-organized list of upcoming Central Ohio car shows, cruise-ins, meet-ups, and bike events you’ll find anywhere online.

Don’t miss a single event — bookmark it and stay in the loop all season long.

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NEWS AND NOTES

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

For the second week in a row, heavy rains and saturated fields forced the cancellation of the Der Dutchman Cruise-In.

Full Throttle Thursdays:

Thursday’s cancellation of the Der Dutchman Cruise-In gave me the opportunity to check out Full Throttle Thursdays at Fortress Obetz. It’s definitely a different type of crowd than what you’ll find each week at Der Dutchman.

I estimated about 40–50 cars showed up while I was there, along with hundreds of motorcycles. Everything was parked outside the Fortress, while inside there were tables and chairs along with a stage set up for the band. Participants could enjoy food from the various food trucks as well as adult beverages.

This week’s band was Jackass Genius, with a lead singer who was definitely doing his best Mick Jagger impersonation.

The event clearly caters to the motorcycle crowd, with some cars and trucks thrown in for good measure.

Between the smell of weed and the obnoxiously loud car stereos blaring in the parking lot, I don’t think I’ll be rushing back anytime soon. If nothing else, I can now say I’ve been there.

Enjoy the photos from the evening.

NAPA Friday Night Cruise-In:

Just slightly more “laid-back” than Full Throttle Thursdays was the second NAPA Friday Night Cruise-in of the season in Hilliard.

With a perfect evening of weather, about 30 cars stopped by to hang out and talk cars. The quality of the rides was also top notch. And in a complete reversal from Thursday night, I counted exactly one motorcycle. No bands or blaring stereos here either—just a good old-fashioned Friday night cruise-in.

Columbus Cars & Coffee Meet @ Esoteric:

It was another packed house for Saturday’s corporate version of Columbus Cars & Coffee meet at Esoteric Fine Auto Finishing in New Albany.

I got there right when the event was scheduled to start, and the parking lot for participating cars was already full. Whoever does the marketing for the organization deserves a round of applause. Not only is there a lot full of cars, there’s also a large crowd of spectators at each meet.

This Saturday was no exception to the rule, with lots of expensive rides and a couple of unique vehicles thrown in for good measure. My favorite was the shark-bodied Corvette with Lambo doors.

My other favorite from the morning was a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder. It was most likely a replica since Porsche only produced about 90 of them, making an original an extremely rare sight.

There was certainly no shortage of interesting cars to check out Saturday morning, and my camera got a pretty good workout. Here’s a look at some of the cars and crowd from this week’s Columbus Cars & Coffee meet. Enjoy the slideshow.

Honda Heritage Center Cars & Coffee:

Keeping with the Cars & Coffee theme, the Honda Heritage Center in Marysville hosted its monthly Cars & Coffee meet-up on Saturday. Running at roughly the same time as the Columbus Cars & Coffee meet at Esoteric, this one had a decidedly more American vibe to it. Jeff Shankle stopped by and sent back these photos from the morning.

Byers Chevrolet Car Show:

Originally scheduled for April 18, then postponed to May 16 and postponed again to August 22, the Byers Chevrolet Fundraiser Car Show in Grove City finally took place Saturday after two weather-related postponements.

There were 44 vehicles registered for Saturday’s show. The organizers presented 15 trophies in various categories along with a Best of Show award. The show raised around $1,700 for Honor Flight and another charity.

Dave Bratton reported that the show was well run and stayed right on schedule, with the awards actually starting about 15 minutes early. Better yet, they didn’t drag them out. There was only one food vendor, but according to Dave, they served the best slaw dog he’s ever had. Even Ralph made an appearance.

The weather was perfect during the show, although Dave encountered wet roads by the time he reached the Tuttle Crossing exit on his way home. His timing couldn’t have been much better—about 10 seconds after pulling into his garage, the sky opened up.

Overall, a nice show considering all the competition for cars on Saturday, including the Purple Door Cruise-In just a little over 5 miles away.

Here are Dave Bratton’s photos from Saturday’s show.

Choctaw Lakeside Car Show:

The Choctaw Car Club in London hosted its third annual Choctaw Lakeside Car Show on Saturday, with all proceeds from the show benefiting the Gary Sinise Foundation.

This year’s show attracted 75 registered vehicles.

The awards included some unique 3D-printed trophies shaped like pistons for the Top 20, along with Car Owner’s Choice, Club Choice, and People’s Choice awards. The People’s Choice winner received a more traditional three-foot trophy.

Several familiar names made the Top 20, including Doug Glassburn, Russ Annis, Tom Lawrence, Gary Hamilton, and Richard Jones. Rod Scott’s Dodge D-100 Sweptside pickup received the Car Owner’s Choice award.

Steve Heider’s 2013 Vietnam Memorial Harley-Davidson Road King took home the Club Choice award.

With 75 vehicles, some unique awards, and plenty of familiar faces taking home hardware, there was a lot to see at this year’s Choctaw Lakeside Car Show. Doug Glassburn was there and captured the action.

Northside Church of Christ Car Show:

The Northside Church of Christ in Newark hosted its third annual car show on Saturday, with 42 registered vehicles participating.

The Hi-Way Starz Car Club was well represented, with members Bubba Hettinger, Jeff Tolley, Dave O’Brien, Don LaRue, Roy Frazier (not picture), and Bill Mason all taking home hardware.

Once again, Bubba Hettinger did a great job capturing both the atmosphere of the show and the vehicles that participated in the event.

Redemption City Car Show:

Redemption City Church in Canal Winchester hosted its annual car show on Saturday. Dave and Jackie Hiles attended for the first time and sent back this report.

The $5 entry fee was certainly a bargain, especially considering the church served participants a lunch of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, homemade macaroni and cheese, pasta salad, watermelon, assorted cookies, and other desserts. If that wasn’t enough, there were also snow cones, popcorn, and cotton candy.

Turnout was on the light side with around 26 entries, but Mother Nature cooperated. Despite storms showing up all around them on radar, not a drop of rain fell at the show. Several awards were presented in various categories.

Dave and Jackie came away impressed with their first visit to the show and said they’ll definitely be back.

Andon's Pub Car Show:

Mike Mitchell and company were back at their old stomping grounds on Sunday at Karric Square Shopping Center in Dublin, helping host the Andon’s Pub Car Show.

Years ago, Mike helped host two shows a year at the same location, usually in June and September, when the establishment was known as On the Rocks. After the bar and grill changed hands several times, the car shows eventually faded away.

For the past three years, Mike has helped with the Dub Pub Car Show across the street. This year brought a change of scenery — although not much of one — as the show made the short trip across the street to Andon’s Pub, bringing Mike back to where it all started.

With darn near perfect weather finally, the show registered 160 vehicles. Proceeds from the event benefited Back The Blue K9.

The show presented plenty of hardware, with trophies going to the 20 Favorite 2000 and Newer vehicles and the 35 Favorite 1999 and Older vehicles. Specialty awards included Best Truck, Best Street Rod, Best Bike, Best Mopar, Best Import, Best Ford, Best GM, Best Corvette, Runner-Up Best of Show and Best of Show.

This is one show where I can honestly say the quality of the rides was exceptional. I’m sure glad I only have to report on the show and did not have to judge the cars. It had to be tough deciding which vehicles received awards, but here are the special award winners.

  • BEST STREET ROD: 1937 Ford Wild Rod - Dave Bratton
  • BEST GM: 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo - Bryan Mauger
  • BEST FORD: 1965 Ford Mustang - Norm Silverman
  • BEST TRUCK: 1951 Ford F-1 - Pete Lieb
  • BEST MOPAR: 1964 Plymouth Belvedere - Mike Herman
  • BEST IMPORT: 1966 Volkswagen Beetle - Ted Dibiase
  • BEST BIKE - 1942 Simplex Military Motorcycle - Steve Elam
  • BEST CORVETTE: 1969 Chevy Corvette - Quentin Sayer
  • RUNNER-UP BEST OF SHOW: 1964 Pontiac GTO - Ron Cozzo

The top honor went to Kevin Foust's 1941 Dodge WC 40 Military Carrier, which was selected Best of Show.

Since I boasted about the quality of the vehicles in attendance, it would be a dereliction of duty if I didn’t present a video slideshow highlighting all of them.

With a top-notch field of 160 vehicles and finally some great weather, I’d say Mike Mitchell and company had a pretty successful return to their old stomping grounds. Hopefully, Sunday’s turnout was the start of something familiar and the Andon’s Pub Car Show will once again become an annual event, just like On the Rocks was years ago.

MoundBuilders Motor Mania:

The Moundbuilders DeMolay hosted its 9th Annual Moundbuilders Motor Mania on Sunday at the Eagles F.O.E. in Newark.

Moundbuilders DeMolay is a local nonprofit youth leadership organization dedicated to developing young men into the next generation of leaders.

With beautiful weather on Sunday, the show drew 83 vehicles. Thirty awards were presented at the end of the show.

Hi-Way Starz members Mike Marcum, Jeff Tolley and Jason Kenneth Sanders took home awards along with Wayne Scott.

The DJ Pick went to Dave and Jackie Hiles’ Plymouth Duster.

Rod Scott’s Dodge D-100 Sweptside pickup received the Senior Council Choice Award. There was no overall Best of Show award.

Other Area Shows:

  • Wayne Scott took home Best of Show honors with his 1977 Lincoln Continental at Saturday’s Summer Bash Car Show at the VFW Post 3761 in Baltimore. The show had been rescheduled from the previous Saturday because of weather.
  • On Saturday, Adam Squier's 1972 Volvo 142E received the People Choice award at the Equip Auto Show in Columbus.
  • The weather around Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs was a little “iffy” Saturday morning, but it didn’t keep 101 orphaned vehicles from attending the Bob Pool “Orphan” Car Show.
  • Rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday because of the weather forecast, the Mercy and Grace Gospel Car & Motorcycle Show in Columbus had 30+ Motorcycles and 65 vehicles in attendance. Steve Elam’s 1942 Simplex Military Motorcycle received one of the Top 3 Bike awards, while for the second year in a row, Bobby Wong’s 1967 Camaro RS was chosen Best of Show.

Mother Nature didn’t completely behave herself this weekend, with scattered showers Saturday afternoon and again Sunday evening. But for the bulk of the day on Sunday, she finally gave the Central Ohio car show community a break with beautiful weather and near-perfect conditions for a car show.

Judging by the turnout at several of Sunday’s events, everyone was more than ready to take advantage of it. After the weather we’ve endured the past few weekends, it was certainly nice to write about attendance numbers and award winners instead of rain delays, soaked show fields and early endings.

Let’s see if Mother Nature can manage an encore performance next weekend. I’m not asking for perfection — at this point, I’ll gladly settle for mostly cooperative.

Our great group of remote reporters this week includes Jeff Shankle, Doug Glassburn, Rod Scott, Dave & Jackie Hiles, Bubba Hettinger, Dave Bratton, Wayne Scott, Kevin Foust, Steve Elam, and Adam Squier. Thank you all for your time, dedication, and willingness to share your weekends with our readers.

Have a great week, stay safe and keep those wheels rolling.

Home » Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | August 24 – 30, 2026

2 thoughts on “Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | August 24 – 30, 2026”

  1. Michael Gilmore

    Really appreciate all you do! I read every post you send out. Love the coverage for the shows I cannot make it to.

    BTW, I have the orange CT4V Blackwing. We talked in Washington Court house 1 or 2 years ago. Hope to cross paths again some day.

    Reply ↓
    1. Kim Hawksworth Post author

      Hello Michael,

      I sure do remember talking to you in Washington Court House, I think back in 2024. I had only had my Blackwing for a couple of months at the time. Hope yours is treating you well. The Blackwings are great cars.

      Very glad to hear you find the website useful, and I’m especially glad to hear you read every post. About 11 p.m. on Sunday evening, I sometimes start to question why I’m spending all this time writing reports and whether anyone even reads them. Your comment has renewed my energy to keep doing it.

      Thank you! Hope we cross paths again soon.

      Reply ↓

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