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Cincinnati is the only U.S. city to host Flugtag this year. So what is it?

Competitors perform during Red Bull Flugtag in Auckland, New Zealand on December 10, 2022.
SAMUEL COSTIN
/
www.redbullmediahouse.com
Competitors perform during Red Bull Flugtag in Auckland, New Zealand, on December 10, 2022.

You may see some unusual contraptions flying over (or crashing into) the Ohio River this August as Cincinnati is the only city in the United States to host Red Bull's Flugtag event this year.

Mayor Aftab Pureval announced the upcoming event Tuesday morning alongside skydiver and Red Bull Air Force athlete Jeff Provenzano and Cincinnati Music Accelerator CEO Kick Lee, who will be providing music for the day's festivities.

The energy drink company hosts Flugtag in cities all over the world. Competitors create homemade, human-powered flying machines, then test their creations by jumping off a 27-foot-high deck over the Ohio River.

The competition will judge up to 40 teams on the creativity and uniqueness of their designs, as well as the distance their aircraft can fly.

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Provenzano says the event will be a spectacle that will attract people from all over.

"We're going to see some amazingly brave people pushing their crafts that they build to see how far they can fly," Provenzano said. "You're kind of tying in the two things of creativity and pushing human flight."

Cincinnati will be the first Ohio city to host the event in nearly 20 years.

Last year, Milwaukee hosted Flugtag and drew a crowd of about 50,000 people. Mayor Aftab Pureval says he hopes Cincinnati can bring even more people to the riverfront this year.

Teams of five (one pilot and four "ground crew") can register now through May 21. Red Bull will announce which teams can participate May 29.

The event is Saturday, Aug. 12 at Sawyer Point Park and Yeatman's Cove.

Learn more and register online on Red Bull's website.

Zack Carreon is Education reporter for WVXU, covering local school districts and higher education in the Tri-State area.