Happy 6th Birthday, Fiona!

One Cincinnati icon celebrates another in Rookwood’s newest collection, plus other ways to party with the Zoo’s lovable hippo mascot.
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The world’s most famous hippo turns six today at the Cincinnati Zoo, and Rookwood has released their newest collection to celebrate. A new Happy Hippos Candle featuring the Queen City’s favorite sibling duo, Fiona and Fritz, is the centerpiece of the collection, alongside two new Hippo Figurines.

Each piece in the collection is handcrafted by 12 artists, including Gary Simon, who has designed everything in Rookwood’s FIONA collection since she was born.

Photograph courtesy Rookwood Pottery

“When I was designing the Happy Hippo’s Candle, I was inspired by Fiona and Fritz’s playful nature and how they move so fluidly and dance around underneath the water. It reminds me of all the fun I had with my siblings playing in the pool when we were kids,” says Simon.

All figurines, hand-painted by Rookwood artists, feature symbols indicating what the family is best known for, like Fiona’s one-of-a-kind princess crown or her family’s favorite sweet treat, watermelon. The first 250 candles sold will be signed by Simon and numbered sequentially, and 20 percent of the profits will go directly to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

You can purchase the Happy Hippos Candle for $68 and a hand-painted hippo figurines for $85 exclusively at Rookwood.com, while supplies last.

Photograph courtesy Rookwood Pottery

The Zoo is also offering a chance to win the Ultimate Hippo Getaway now through January 31. When you donate $5 to the Zoo, you’ll be entered to win a $1,000 Visa gift card; a two-night stay at the Graduate Cincinnati, the Zoo’s official hotel; a $50 gift card to Fiona’s, the restaurant located in the Graduate Cincinnati; five tickets to the Zoo; a complete library of Fiona books illustrated by Richard Cowdrey; and a behind the scenes tour of Hippo Cove to meet all four hippos. You can enter that giveaway here.

There are plenty of other ways to celebrate this Cincinnati holiday, too, like grabbing a pint of Graeter’s Chunky, Chunky Hippo, a bag of Coffee Emporium’s Fiona’s Blend, or a Listermann Team Fiona brew before you tune into the Zoo’s livestream of Fiona eating her birthday cake.

And don’t forget to mark your calendars—new hippo baby Fritz turns one on August 3, 2023.

See six of our favorite Fiona pics below: 

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