Happy Friday!

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 70 and a low of 50.

🎂 Happy early birthday to our members Susan Neff, Judy Fisher and Barbara Gill!

🍎 And happy early birthday to Johnny Appleseed, who was born Sept. 26, 1774 and spent much of his time in Ohio.

Today's newsletter is 774 words — a 3-minute read.

In the big picture of sports and hobbies, horse riding remains a relatively niche activity — but the All American Quarter Horse Congress returns to Columbus this week to buck that perception.

Why it matters: The event will draw hundreds of thousands of people to the Ohio Expo Center for what organizers call the world's largest horse show.

Galloping the news: Saturday kicks off the nearly monthlong event that includes a horse show and trade show with events through Oct. 24.

What's inside: More than 650,000 visitors are expected to attend and generate $159 million in spending at area businesses like hotels and restaurants, per Experience Columbus.

• Over 28,000 horse show entries will compete for $5+ million in cash and prizes.
• Nearly 200 trade show exhibitors set up shop across 20 acres.
• Dozens of teams participate in collegiate and youth judging competitions.

Marquee events include pro horsemen competitions, freestyle reining (choreographed routines to music), professional bull riding and the Congress Queen contest.

Flashback: The Ohio Quarter Horse Association has held its marquee event in Columbus since 1967.

• In the decades since, it's grown into one of the largest events of its kind in the world.
• Its presence has led to tens of millions of dollars spent on Expo Center upgrades like 1,000 permanent stalls and a 39,000-square-foot riding arena.

🚧 Between the exits: Thousands of horse trailers and visitors will stress the infrastructure of an area notorious for traffic slowdowns around big events.

• Much of 17th Avenue near the fairgrounds is already closed and won't open until after the congress — avoid it unless you're attending.
• Don't be surprised if I-71 gets congested in the area on busy days.

If you go: General admission is free.

• Special events are ticketed.
• Daily parking is $15 Monday-Tuesday, free Wednesday, $25 Thursday-Sunday or $75 for the full event.

It's officially fall — get into the spooky season spirit with a murderous classic.

🎭 Our pick: "Sweeney Todd" on the Short North Stage.

The intrigue: The Tony-winning musical is brought to life in a four-week run starting this weekend.

• Performances are 7pm Thursday-Saturday and 2pm Saturday-Sunday through Oct. 18.

🎟️ If you go: Remaining tickets range from around $40 to $100 depending on the day and seat.

• Student rush and "pay what you want" tickets are available for some shows at the door beginning 2 hours prior to showtime.

What else is happening:

🧀 Easton's Mac & Cheese Festival raises money for OSU cancer research today.

🌟 Country megastar Ella Langley plays the Schottenstein Center tonight.

🪩 COSI opens late for Blast, a "Sneaker Ball" featuring blacklights, candles and glowing cocktails tonight.

🐾 Franklin County Dog Shelter's 5K for K9s raises money for pups Saturday morning.

🏈 Ohio State football hosts Illinois Saturday afternoon.

⚽️ The Crew face a must-win game against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami Sunday night.

🛢️ Ohio's gubernatorial candidates have opposing views on fracking.

• Democrat Amy Acton and Libertarian Don Kissick support a temporary pause, while Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has expressed support for the industry. (Ohio Capital Journal)

✍️ Worthington's Democracy Before Developers group submitted hundreds more signatures than required to put its referendum against a local zoning decision on the November 2027 ballot. (Dispatch)

🚗 Honda plans to invest up to $2.5 billion into a new hybrid vehicle plant in Ohio, per a report from Japanese business publication Nikkei. (Reuters)

💥 An application for demolition has been filed for Franklinton's historic (but currently vacant) Holy Family School and Jubilee Museum building. (Columbus Underground)

🥪 Campus fixture PJ's Sandwiches, known for its enormous piles of food, appears to have quietly closed its doors. (614 Magazine)

Leaf-peepers, mark your calendars: Fall color is expected across most of the Ohio by the second week of October, according to a map on Explore Fall.

Zoom in: Peak foliage is expected to sweep south over the next several weeks.

• Colors will appear throughout the next month, and should peak in late October.

Yes, but: Weather could scramble the timetable.

• A strong El Niño could raise temperatures and delay some peak colors, according to The National Weather Service.

Thanks to Tyler Buchanan for editing today's newsletter.

Our picks:

📴 Alissa is off.

🎸 Andrew is excited for Two Door Cinema Club at Kemba tonight.

🎂 Tyler wishes his son a happy fourth birthday!