From mid-May until mid-September, Cleveland and the surrounding area comes alive with dozens of festivals, many of which celebrate Northeast Ohio's rich ethnic heritage. Below are our picks for the top festivals in the area. Make sure that your summer plans include a few of these favorites (in date order).
• Hessler Street Festival
(© Stu Spivack; cc License)
Each year, University Circle's Hessler Street goes back to 1969 for the Hessler Street Festival. The two-day street fest features food, live music, crafts, dancing in the streets, and poetry readings. Held on Saturday and Sunday in late May, it's a celebration of the best that era...and lots of fun, too.
• Great American Rib Fest
(courtesy of Belkin Media)
The Great American Rib Cook-off and Music Festival, held each year on Memorial Day weekend, is the unofficial start of the Cleveland summer festival season. This popular four-day event, held downtown at the Tower City Amphitheater, features name entertainers, rib outlets from around the world, kid's activities, and lots of fun. It's a Cleveland summer must-do event.
• Greek Heritage Festival
(© 2006 S. Mitchell; Licensed to About, Inc.)
This three-day festival, held over Memorial Day weekend each year, is a treat for Greeks and non-Greeks alike. Tremont's Church of the Annunciation hosts this event, which includes a variety of wonderful food, cooked by the women of the church, Greek music and dance, a Greek marketplace, and a lively beer tent in the church's parking lot. Admission to the event is FREE (food and beer are extra.)
• Parade the Circle
(Courtesy of University Circle Inc.)
This University Circle annual event is as unique as the neighborhood that sponsors it. There's nothing commercial about "Parade the Circle," held each year in early June. All exhibits, floats, and marchers are individually-designed and supported. The event is FREE and the parade starts at 1pm. Food, music, and fun continue until 4pm.
• 185th Street Festival
This spirited festival, held the first weekend in August, celebrates the Slavic roots of the Collinwood neighborhood...and so much more. There's polka music and dancing, potato pancakes and pierogi, crafts, and kid's activities at this popular street festival.• Vintage Ohio
Held annually during the first week of August, Vintage Ohio, celebrates the ever-growing number of quality wines produced in Ohio, particularly in the NE and North Central Ohio wine-growing regions. This two-day festival, held at Lake Farm Park in Kirtland features samples of Ohio wines, regional foods, live music, and cooking demonstrations.• Twins Days Festival
(© Dreamtimes)
Twins Days, in Twinsburg, has drawn twins from all over the world since 1976...but you don't have to be a twin to enjoy this three-day festival. This event, held in early August, showcases twins and features food, live entertainment, activities, and lots of fun.
• Feast of the Assumption
(© Jim Covert; used with permission)
Held in mid-August each year, this Little Italy festival is one of the city's most popular. Centered at Mayfield and Murray Hill Roads, the Feast of the Assumption features a parade, lots of Italian food, carnival rides in the parking lot of Holy Rosary Church, and live music.
• Burning River Festival
(courtesy of GLBC)
Cleveland Ohio's Burning River Fest, begun in 2002, showcases environmental issues while creating an enjoyable day of food, music, and outdoor fun. The event is the brainchild of the Great Lakes Brewing Company, who crafts a Burning River Ale, a name that evokes the sad chapter in the city's history when in the 1970s the Cuyahoga River caught fire several times.
• Ingenuity Festival
(courtesy of Ingenuity Fest)
Cleveland's Ingenuity Fest, founded in 2004, is a celebration of the marriage of arts and technology. Held in downtown's Playhouse Square the activities, many of them free, include concerts, dance, exhibits, music, and fun.
