CLEVELAND (Dec. 12, 2023) – 2024 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting years for travel to The Land. A series of global events, expansions of historic arts and culture institutions, hotel projects and more make it the year for travelers to experience the passion, creativity and authenticity of the lakefront city. Visitors can see firsthand why the city is recommended by national media as a must-visit destination. Cleveland is featured in Travel + Leisure’s
50 Best Places to Travel in 2024 and, as a result of its place in the path of totality for the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse, is included as one of the
16 Best Places to Travel by The Points Guy.
Jump to: Arts & Culture, Music, Athletics & Outdoors, Restaurants & Bars, Hotels, Developments
MAJOR EVENTS
Cleveland’s calendar is filled with can’t-miss events that will attract visitors from near and far in 2024.
- 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four (April 5-7): The top teams in collegiate women’s basketball will face off for the championship trophy at the NCAA DI Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. In addition to the games, visitors can catch the excitement at tailgate events, free concerts, red carpets and open practices throughout the weekend.
- 2024 Solar Eclipse: It will be a blackout on April 8, 2024, as the city is in the direct path of the Total Solar Eclipse. With unobstructed views over Lake Erie and in the acres of greenspace throughout the area and special programming by local science institutions — including NASA’s Glenn Research Center and the Great Lakes Science Center — The Land is an ideal location to witness the celestial event.
- 2024 Pan-American Masters Games (PAMG) (July 12-21): Held every four years in the Americas, PAMG is an Olympic-like sports festival for athletes over 30 years old. It features 26 medal-contending sports including track and field, tennis, basketball, pickleball and cycling. The event is expected to be the largest international gathering in Northeast Ohio’s history, bringing more than 10,000 athletes from over 50 countries.
- 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (October): The 2024 induction ceremony returns to Cleveland in October, bringing rock’s greatest stars and biggest fans to the city to celebrate the pioneering music genre. Nominees for the Class of 2024 will be announced in February and inductees will be confirmed in May.
ARTS & CULTURE
From compelling performances to the reopening of a completely modernized Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland’s arts and culture institutions offer engaging experiences for visitors.
- Playhouse Square’s 2023-24 Broadway Season: As the country’s largest performing arts center outside of New York City, Playhouse Square is a premier Broadway touring partner. The 2023-2024 KeyBank Broadway Series features multiple Tony® Award-winning productions and tour debuts: “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Funny Girl,” “Company,” the North American tour debut of “Back to the Future: The Musical” and “MJ.”
- Karamu House 2023-24 Season: Karamu House, the country’s oldest Black producing theatre, begins its 2023-2024 schedule with four new plays covering topics of race, society and individualism in modern America: “Clyde’s,” “The Breakfast at the Bookstore,” “It Happened in Atlanta” and “Choir Boy.” An expansion of the theater campus will be completed later in the year, adding a bistro, outdoor stage and new performance space.
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History: The Cleveland Museum of Natural History will complete a multi-year, $150-million expansion in 2024. Pioneering a new model for natural history museums, the redesigned exhibits place visitors at the center of the museum experience and scientific discovery. New spaces include a 50,000-square-foot Visitor Hall that opened in late 2023, along with reinstallation of all exhibits with a focus on illustrating evolutionary change, biological diversity and human impact on the world.
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Monet in Focus (March 31-Aug. 11) Co-organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, Monet in Focus will present works created during the latter half of the artist’s life. The featured pieces reveal how Monet immersed himself in capturing the effects of light and atmosphere on subjects and affirm Monet’s status as one of the leading painters of his era.
- Africa & Byzantium (April 14-July 21) Africa & Byzantium considers the complex artistic relationships between northern and eastern African Christian kingdoms and the Byzantine Empire from the fourth century and beyond. The first international loan exhibition to treat this subject, the show includes more than 160 works of secular and sacred art from across geographies and faiths, including large-scale frescoes, mosaics, jewelry and textiles. Lent from collections in Africa, Europe and North America, many works have never been exhibited in the US.
- Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa)
- Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage (Feb. 2-May 26) The first North American retrospective of its kind, Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage presents over 50 works spanning 25 years. Using pen and ink, Ikeda creates works that bring attention and awe to the audience and also warn about the reality of climate change and environmental disasters. The artist will be in residence at moCa multiple times during the exhibition, working on a new, monumental drawing.
- Andrea Bowers: Exist, Flourish, Evolve (Feb. 2-June) Cleveland-raised artist Andrea Bowers is building awareness and action around the dangers facing Lake Erie and the Great Lakes ecosystems in Exist, Flourish, Evolve. The exhibit will present a new film and works from the artist alongside a series of public programs that engage with local climate and environmental concerns and community issues.
- Cleveland International Film Festival (April 3-13): The 48th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) will screen films in five of the iconic theatres at Playhouse Square. Known for highlighting a variety of genres, CIFF offers audience engagement opportunities through its post-film Q&As, panel discussions and special events. CIFF is one of the few festivals in the world that is Academy Award® qualifying for all three categories of short films—live action, animated, and documentary. The festival lineup will be announced in March 2024.
- BorderLight Theatre Festival (July 24-27): The BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival will return to Downtown Cleveland July 24-27. The Festival presents diverse and adventurous works through three areas of programming: a dynamic fringe festival that features dozens of shows, a curated selection of international touring productions and new works created by Cleveland organizations in partnership with international artists.
MUSIC EXPERIENCES
With indie record shops, ornate music halls, historic concert venues and neighborhood stages, Cleveland’s music scene calls out to visitors. These showstopping music events amplify the fun throughout the year.
- The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023-24 Season: The Cleveland Orchestra’s 106th season of concerts at Severance Music Center features 14 guest artist debuts, 12 works performed for the first time by The Cleveland Orchestra, three world premieres, two U.S. premieres and nine works by living composers, including the world premiere of a Cleveland Orchestra co-commission of Johannes Maria Staud’s Whereas the reality trembles.
- Brite Winter Music Festival (Feb. 24): The outdoor music and arts festival returns to Cleveland’s riverfront this winter. The event encourages attendees to embrace the fun of winter while playing skee-ball, warming up by a bonfire or enjoying light installations and ice sculptures as more than 30 musical acts perform during the free festival.
- Tri-C JazzFest (June 20-22): JazzFest returns to The Land for the 45th year, as musicians and jazz enthusiasts fill Playhouse Square’s theaters and outdoor public spaces. The event promises all the excitement of festivals past including artist talks, street performers, local vendors and a full schedule of live music and headlining acts.
- Wonderstruck (July): One of the Midwest’s largest contemporary music festivals, WonderStruck fills a 400-acre site in nearby Lake County with multiple stages hosting more than 25 performers. The 2024 lineup will be announced soon, and past headliners include Sheryl Crow, Vampire Weekend, Khalid, Nelly, The Lumineers, Walker Hayes and AJR.
ATHLETICS & OUTDOORS
Cleveland is ready to welcome sport fans, outdoor enthusiasts and thrill-seekers for unique events and record-breaking experiences in the year ahead.
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park 50th Anniversary: Cuyahoga Valley National Park was originally designated as a National Recreation Area in December 1974. Today, it is one of the most-visited national parks with nearly 3 million visitors in 2022. Celebrations for the anniversary will begin in September 2024, with staff delving into the fascinating stories of the valley’s past to tell a more balanced history, including contributions from Native Americans and pioneering women. Visitors can explore the park while hiking, biking, birding or taking a picturesque ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
- Cedar Point Amusement Park: Cedar Point will once again redefine roller coaster innovation in 2024 with the debut of Top Thrill 2, the world’s tallest and fastest triple-launch strata roller coaster. The strata coaster, known as any roller coaster eclipsing a height of 400 feet, was first pioneered by Cedar Point in 2003. The park will build on that legacy with not one, but two, 420-foot-tall track towers, putting riders in the driver’s seat for one of the greatest races of all time.
- Gameday Bay Waterpark (Fall): A football-themed water park will open at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village in Canton by the end of 2024. The 144,000-square-feet indoor waterpark will feature a slide tower, lazy river, wave pool and large jumbotrons throughout. Adults can enjoy a swim-up bar with TVs to catch the big game with friends and family.
- Blazing Paddles Paddlefest (June 21-22): This annual kayak, paddleboard and canoeing celebration of the Cuyahoga River commemorates the river’s transformation from an industrial pollution zone to an active urban water sports destination. The courses include an iconic turnaround point, the site of the infamous June 22, 1969 fire that fueled the birth of the EPA, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.
- Tennis in the Land – WTA 250 (Aug. 18-24): The top tennis athletes will compete in the fourth Tennis in the Land, a Women’s Tennis Association 250 event and part of the U.S. Open Series. The event’s temporary stadium court at the riverfront Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica provides spectacular views of the downtown skyline.
- Cleveland National Air Show (Aug. 31-Sept. 2): The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will headline the 2024 Cleveland National Air Show on Labor Day weekend. The lakefront event will also feature parachute teams, drone demonstrations and unique aircraft visitors can tour.
RESTAURANT & BAR OPENINGS
Cleveland’s newest bars and restaurants highlight the variety of experiences and influences that led Travel + Leisure to name the city one of the “
Best Food Cities in the U.S.”
- Parlay on Ninth (Nov. 2023): Located around the corner from the MLB and NBA action at Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage Field House, Parlay on Ninth offers a sophisticated sports viewing experience with custom lounge seating and a menu of exclusive whiskeys, craft cocktails and elevated bar food.
- La Cave Du Vin (Dec. 2023): A beloved wine bar has reopened in a new neighborhood as part of popular restaurateur Will Hollingsworth’s Buildings & Food group. The La Cave Du Vin revival is positioned as an intimate gathering place to enjoy a glass of wine in the Tremont neighborhood.
- Parilya (Dec. 2023): A popular immigrant-run Filipino food truck makes the transition to brick-and-mortar with the opening of Parilya, a casual 20-seat restaurant serving dishes like lumpia, pancit and chicken tocino as well as traditional Filipino dessert options.
- Lil Ronnie’s (Winter): A new eatery from the owners of the popular Il Rione will open in the Tremont neighborhood this winter. Dubbed Lil Ronnie’s, the shop will offer slices and full pies in a space connected to a longstanding neighborhood bar. Since opening in 2017, Il Rione has been acclaimed for its New York-style pizza.
- Colina Wine Bar (Winter): This opening will bring an intimate wine bar and restaurant with South American and Northern Italian influences to the artsy Larchmere Boulevard neighborhood.
- Banter (Winter): The gourmet sausages and Quebec-style poutine creations by the acclaimed team at Banter Cleveland will return to their original neighborhood with the opening of a new location in Detroit-Shoreway this winter.
- Cent’ Anni (Winter): Named for the Italian toast to one’s health, Cent' Anni will be a speakeasy-style lounge with a focus on amaro. Opening in the Little Italy neighborhood, the lounge will feature flights, negronis and Italian beer, wine and soda in an art deco-inspired lounge space.
- Evelyn (Winter/Spring): Featuring 1940s Art Deco décor, Evelyn will feature elevated tapas and paella in a whimsical environment. The new spot in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood joins a growing restaurant group from James Beard‐nominated chef Jill Vedaa and business partner Jessica Parkison.
- Kiln (Summer): James Beard-nominated chef Doug Katz will open Kiln in Summer 2024. Described as a modern take on a classic European bistro, the name reflects Katz’s love of pottery and wood-fired cooking. The two-level space in the Van Aken District entertainment center will also feature a rooftop bar and lounge.
HOTEL PROJECTS
The latest updates to Cleveland’s hotel landscape add restored historic buildings and renovated skyscrapers to an already wide array of visitor accommodations.
- Hotel Cleveland (Spring 2024)
After extensive renovations, the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel will be rebranded as Hotel Cleveland, returning the city’s oldest hotel to its original name. The 491‐room hotel will be part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, a group of hotels crafted to leave a lasting imprint on guests.
- Fidelity Hotel (Late 2024/Early 2025)
A once‐vacant office building and downtown landmark will be transformed into a 97‐room boutique hotel. The independent property will be named Fidelity Hotel in a nod to the building’s original name and will include dining, meeting rooms and a speakeasy‐style bar.
- W Hotel (2025)
A 1960s modernist skyscraper in Downtown Cleveland will host a new W Hotel and the first location for W Apartments. Plans for the 210-room hotel include a 15,000-square-foot ballroom and event center, a full-service spa and gym and a restaurant and bar on the 38th floor with panoramic city views.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTS
New community spaces reflect the more than 100 diverse ethnicities found in the city while also enhancing the visitor experience.
- CentroVilla25 (Fall 2024): Cleveland’s first major Latino Market, CentroVilla25, is slated for opening in late 2024. This market is expected to impact the Clark-Fulton neighborhood for generations to come as a celebratory space for the Latino community. Plans for the market include micro-retail spaces, a business innovation center, a commercial kitchen, a bar and lounge and coworking office space.
- Midtown Collaboration Center (Fall/Winter 2024): Development of the Midtown Collaboration Center is underway in the neighborhood that bridges Downtown Cleveland and the arts and culture hub of University Circle. When completed in late 2024, the Center will be a new model for economic development that centers around community. The 95,000-square-foot project will include research and training centers, a media lab, the city’s first Black-owned brewery, food vendors and a music venue.
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ABOUT DESTINATION CLEVELAND: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland’s destination marketing and management organization. The private, non-profit organization’s mission is to stimulate economic growth by attracting people and connecting them to experiences that illustrate Cleveland’s diversity, creativity and contagious passion. In 2022, visitation increased 12% over the year prior to 17.9 million visits. For more information, visit www.thisiscleveland.com.