CLEVELAND – The energy in Cleveland continues to rise with new developments, distinct events and intriguing exhibitions throughout the area. From sought-after sports events to world-class arts and culture (without a hint of world-class ego), visitors can experience the passion, creativity and authenticity of this lakefront Midwest city. The latest not-to-be-missed attractions, exhibits and upcoming events include:
- the 50th anniversary celebrations of contemporary art and professional basketball in Cleveland
- a festival of diversity and culture at One World Day
- the 25th anniversary of rock ‘n’ roll on the shore of Lake Erie
- two new hangouts for craft beer lovers, plus a remastered Brewery Passport program
- and a slew of coveted sporting events coming to Cleveland.
NEW ATTRACTIONS, EXHIBITS AND EVENTS
Visitors to Cleveland can take a trip down memory lane with the Wine and Gold, experience a mystical installation of light and culture and live out their Rockstar fantasies this Summer and early Fall 2019. Here’s a look at many new and upcoming exhibits, events and developments.
SPORTS AND RECREATION
- 2020 NCCA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament
College basketball’s greatest players and biggest fans can experience the heart-stopping moments of NCAA Basketball in Cleveland at the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament in the spring of 2020. The newly renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse will serve as the perfect setting for the tournament’s first and second rounds, as teams compete for a coveted spot in the tournament’s next round and ultimately vie to bring the championship trophy to their campus.
All eyes will be on Cleveland during spring 2021, when the city hosts the NFL Draft. This three-day celebration of the future of football will bring in tens of thousands of visitors eager to see their teams picks for the 2021-2022 NFL season. In Cleveland, the Draft is sure to be a non-stop party as various bars, restaurants and venues across the city will play host to fans of each NFL team, showing the country how Cleveland ‘Rocks the Clock.’
- 50th Season of the Cleveland Cavaliers and a newly renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
The 2019-20 NBA season marks the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 50th season in The Land. All season long, fans can take a trip down memory lane, remembering the franchise’s special moments, including the 2016 NBA Championship. This October, the Cavaliers will tipoff the team’s milestone season in the glow of the newly renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Guests will immediately feel the transformation as they enter through an all glass façade reflecting the Cleveland skyline. More spacious concourses will lead to eight new fan hospitality destinations, featuring specialty food and beverage experiences and cutting-edge technology.
- Cedar Point’s Forbidden Frontier
Part show, part interactive story-telling experience, Cedar Point’s new attraction, Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island, allows the guests to become the star of the show! Building on the Old West theme of Frontier Town, this family-friendly space invites visitors to work as a team to piece together clues and solve puzzles as well as embark on secret missions in between roller coaster thrills.
Just outside the city, the newly renamed MGM Northfield Park (formerly Northfield Park Hard Rock Rocksino) brings the excitement of Las Vegas to Cleveland. With more than 200,000 square feet of gaming space and 222+ nights of on-site harness racing at the adjacent Northfield Park grounds, visitors can bet and win big while taking in a concert at the acoustically perfect 1,876-seat Center Stage music hall.
CULTURE
- Asian Lantern Festival 2019
A second installment of the Asian Lantern Festival returns to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, running now - July 28. With attendance topping 150,000 spectators in 2018, the festival broke U.S. and international records for a lighting event of its kind. Forty new, large-scale illuminated displays featuring hundreds of individual lanterns, a walk-through 100-foot-long shark tunnel, numerous Chinese pagodas and much more, are sure to wow visitors. If all the glowing gloriousness isn’t enough, there’s even more festival fun on tap, including hourly live performances featuring foot jugglers, contortionists and martial artists, interactive experience zones, an Asian craft market and culturally inspired cuisine featuring local restaurants.
The Cleveland History Center’s newest exhibit, Si Jolie! French Fashion in Cleveland, highlights how Paris fashion motivated Clevelanders to travel abroad, influenced local trends and inspired the golden age of department stores like Higbee’s and Halle Brothers. Fashion lovers and museum guests can explore how Clevelanders showed off their fashion at cultural venues like the Euclid Avenue Opera and can expect to see pieces that range from the 1870s to today, including items from the golden age of Dior (the 1950s), Hermès, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton and more.
- BorderLight Festival of International Theatre
Performers from across the region and abroad will converge in Cleveland for this four-day, citywide festival of contemporary international theatre from July 25-28, 2019. Featuring world premiere collaborations between Cleveland-based theatre artists and international artists, BorderLight will activate performance and public spaces across the city from Playhouse Square to the Gordon Square Arts District, giving visitors a chance to see firsthand Cleveland’s world-class arts and culture scene.
With almost 120 ethnicities represented in Greater Cleveland, there’s a lot of diversity to celebrate. The 74th annual One World Day takes place on Sunday, August 25 in the picturesque Cleveland Cultural Gardens. The collection of 31 public gardens represent the ethnic backgrounds of the immigrants who made significant contributions to Cleveland and the country. One of the area’s oldest continuously running events, One World Day kicks off with a Parade of Flags and concludes with a Naturalization Ceremony to welcome recent immigrants to American citizenship. In between, visitors are invited to see the Posting of Colors, practice folk dancing, enjoy live music and indulge in international dishes.
- Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) Cleveland: Double Takes
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) Cleveland now offers patrons free access to the museum and its galleries. The museum’s summer show, “Double Takes: Historic and Contemporary Film + Video,” runs now through September 2, 2019. Guests can embark on a journey of movement, sights and sounds beginning with some of the industry’s most seminal work paired with contemporary pieces that present emerging global voices on urgent issues.
- Cleveland Museum of Art: Cai Guo-Qiang: Cuyahoga River Lightning
As part of the city’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the last Cuyahoga River fire, Cuyahoga50, Cleveland Museum of Art presents Cai Guo-Qiang: Cuyahoga River Lightning. Known for his explosion events, gunpowder paintings, and installations, all using environmentally friendly material, Chinese artist
Cai Guo-Qiang presents three works in monochrome and polychrome gunpowder, including one created especially for Cleveland. This special exhibition, illustrating reflections on the state of our planet, wildlife, and the world’s diminishing natural reserves of fresh water, can be seen now through September 22.
- Great Lakes Science Center
You won’t need a license to get hands on in the Great Lakes Science Center’s expansive new exhibition, “Vroom! A Car Adventure,” running now through September 2, 2019. From a Tot Garage area to an exhibit that demonstrates how self-driving cars can see using a LIDAR sensor, Vroom! is turning automobiles inside out and exploring the science, technology, engineering and math that makes them go.
MUSIC
Visitors can bring their dream of being a rock ‘n’ roll star to life in the Rock Hall’s newly opened interactive garage exhibit. The museum’s second floor has transformed into a hands-on area where visitors can play, mix and record their own hits on more than 15 drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and mixing boards.
- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary and 2020 Induction Ceremony
Built in 1995 and designed by world-renowned architect I. M. Pei, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will celebrate 25 years on the shore of Lake Erie in 2020. It is only fitting that during this milestone year, the annual induction ceremony will also be held in Cleveland, bringing rock’s greatest stars and biggest fans to the city to celebrate one of music’s most pioneering genres.
Celebrating the highlights and impact of the historic festival that took place over one rainy three-day weekend in August 1969, the “Woodstock Turns 50” exhibit launched in May 2019. Rare artifacts from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s collection celebrate everything from the ingenuity of those who mounted the festival to the performers who played it. Visitors will gain a deeper understanding of music festivals and how music connects us all.
Cleveland’s newest music venue reinforces the city’s reputation as the home of rock ‘n’ roll. Stella’s Music Club, located in the heart of Downtown, offers visitors a state-of-the-art listening experience with back-to-back bands and artists playing on studio-quality sound equipment. Guests can even show off their singing chops on stage at their weekly live band karaoke.
NEW RESTAURANTS & BREWERIES
Cleveland’s booming culinary scene blends the more than 100 diverse ethnicities found throughout the city. Recently opened eateries include:
- Lindey’s Lake House (Spring 2019)
Bringing the ease of the beach to Downtown Cleveland, Lindey’s Lake House is the newest addition to the bevy of dining options in the Flats East Bank. Striking the perfect balance between casual and formal dining, the restaurant includes a spacious patio, indoor-outdoor cast-concrete bar and large windows, which look out to the Cuyahoga River. Guests can indulge in menu favorites like jumbo lump crab cakes and brick-oven cracker-thin pizzas.
- Michael’s Genuine (Spring 2019)
Miami-based Chef Michael Schwartz is making a splash in Cleveland with his colorful, electric and spicy venture, Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink at the new Van Aken District. This small 65 seat neighborhood bistro serves up a globally inspired, seasonal menu offering approachable dishes like classic deviled eggs and pig ears to more adventurous plates, such as spicy moroccan lamb meatballs and crispy cobia collar.
- Good Company (Winter 2019)
Chef Brett Sawyer opened Good Company in Cleveland’s Battery Park neighborhood at the start of 2019, bringing a fresh-take to the typical neighborhood bar. With everything made from scratch, Good Company offers approachable bar fare like The Good Boi burger, potato skins and beer-battered celery root, appealing to vegans, vegetarians, families and anybody who simply enjoys good-quality food.
- Ohio City Galley (Fall 2018)
Last fall, Cleveland’s first restaurant accelerator opened in the Ohio City neighborhood. The Ohio City Galley, located in the historic Forest City Savings and Trust building, is home to not one but four new restaurants driven by aspiring Cleveland chef-owners who will test out their menus and concepts for one year. Serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, The Galley includes a shared bar and communal seating.
Cleveland’s Ever-Expanding Cocktail and Brewery Scene
Since 2016, 36 new breweries have opened in Northeast Ohio, helping the beer scene get recognized by USA Today 10Best and crowning Cleveland’s Ohio City one of “America’s 7 Hottest ‘Neighbeerhoods’” by Cheap Tickets. Upcoming and recent openings and developments include:
- 2019-2020 Brewery Passport
The second edition of Destination Cleveland’s Brewery Passport is sure to excite last year’s participants and entice newcomers. With four additional breweries and three prize levels, the passport encourages visitors to sip their way through Northeast Ohio’s thriving beer scene. Participants can explore as many as 34 breweries within a 25-mile radius of Downtown Cleveland, collecting stamps along the way, to get a taste of what makes Cleveland’s brews one-of-a-kind.
- Platform Beer Company’s Phunkenship (Coming Summer 2019)
This summer, brewing mega house Platform Beer Co. is set to open a dedicated barrel souring facility and tasting room called Phunkenship. It will be located in the city’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood. Recognized as one of the fastest-growing breweries in the country, the Cleveland brewhouse’s flagship location features recently debuted hard seltzers as well as more than 20 house beers to sample.
- Whistle & Keg (Spring 2019)
Cleveland’s ever-evolving craft beer scene now includes a new concept in the Gateway District, Whistle & Keg. This self-service craft beer bar (with no actual bar or made-to-order drinks), is the perfect location to try out some of the industry’s latest trends. With 48 rotating taps, ranging from beer, wine and cider to mead and kombucha, this cashless operation lets patrons check in with their driver's license and credit card to enjoy as little as one-ounce samplings to full pints of their favorites.
- Flight Cleveland Wine Bar (December 2018)
With 400 bottles in store, 29 wines on tap and 10 flight options, Flight Cleveland is a wine-lovers paradise. Guests are encouraged to let their taste buds soar in this modern and inviting space complete with chic couches, a booth for group gatherings and plenty of tables for those sharing a carefully crafted meat or cheese board. Begin with a small tasting of three perfectly paired pours, grab a glass of your favorite and take home a bottle to enjoy later.
- Western Reserve Distillers and Distill Table (Fall 2018)
Western Reserve Distillers, Ohio’s first organic distillery, gives visitors a firsthand look at and taste of the transformation of grains grown within 150 miles of the facility to handcrafted vodka, gin, rum, bourbon and whiskey. For the diehard spirit lover, Western Reserve also offers create-your-own and select-your-own whiskey and rum programs. In addition to tours and tastings of its small-batch spirits, patrons can enjoy a snack or meal made with locally sourced ingredients at the adjoining Distill Table restaurant.
NEW ADDITIONS & RENOVATIONS
Cleveland’s latest updates to infrastructure and public spaces not only enhance the visitor experience but also the city’s landscape. Recent projects include:
- Flats East Bank Phase III
The next phase of the Flats East Bank transformation is underway, giving visitors more riverfront access and a variety of new entertainment and food and beverage options. Phase Three will see the addition of 320 apartments, a movie theater, and four different restaurants, bar and nightclub concepts. All dining concepts will be housed in two new buildings, constructed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River as it pours into Lake Erie. A pedestrian alleyway that is envisioned as a beer garden will separate the buildings. Amongst the new entertainment concepts are a speakeasy-style bar, a nightclub and an Asian-fusion restaurant. Rooftop patios are sure to give all visitors spectacular views of Cleveland’s greatest assets, the water.
- Tru by Hilton Cleveland Midtown Hotel
Within a few minutes’ drive of the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic sits the newly-opened Tru by Hilton Cleveland Midtown hotel, offering visitors an affordable opportunity to unwind in the city’s Midtown neighborhood. Efficiently designed rooms with bright murals and bathrooms, a large, buzzing lobby ready for game play and lounging, and a 24-hour Eat. & Sip. Market, featuring local treats, snacks and single-serve wine and beer, gives the young and young-at-heart another reason to visit Cleveland.
- Residence Inn by Marriott
Conveniently located across from the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic and less than one mile away from Cleveland’s arts & culture hub, University Circle, is the Residence Inn by Marriott - Cleveland University Circle/Medical Center. Whether visiting a loved one in care or checking-out the latest museum exhibit, guests will appreciate one of 175 new extended stay suite options complete with a fully equipped kitchen, pullout sofa bed and work area in this new $38 million, eight-story property.
- Louis Penfield House, a Frank Lloyd Wright created home
Visitors seeking one of Northeast Ohio’s most unique and inspired overnight accommodations now can stay in a literal glass-house. The completely restored, 1,730-square-foot Louis Penfield House is a product of Frank Lloyd Wright, one of America’s most noteworthy architects. Surrounded by 30 wooded acres in Lake County, just 20 minutes east of Downtown Cleveland, the home is available for weekend getaways. It features breathtaking design elements such as a floating staircase, 12-foot floor-to-ceiling glass walls, heated floors, locally sourced kitchen counter tops and a panoramic view of the nearby Chagrin River. On top of that, all the Wright-designed furniture is included in the home, which was completed in 1955.
- Gervasi Vineyard Expansion
Gervasi Vineyard, a Tuscan-inspired winery resort in Canton, recently underwent a major expansion, adding to its footprint a new combined distillery, coffeehouse and craft cocktail lounge, as well as a luxury boutique hotel. Coffeehouse by day, cocktail lounge by night, offering signature cocktails, draft beers, Gervasi wines, live music and small bites, The Still House is the perfect hang-out for day and overnight guests. The new 18,000-square-foot hotel, The Casa, offers 24 Tuscan-mission style, individual suites, featuring king-sized beds, fireplaces and an adjacent covered veranda, wrapped around a picturesque courtyard and pond, making this the ideal getaway in Northeast Ohio’s wine country.
LOOKING AHEAD
Over the next five years, Cleveland is slated to host some of the largest sporting, arts & culture and rock ’n’ roll events. Here’s a look at what’s ahead.
The National Basketball Association’s top talent will head to Cleveland to compete in the 2022 All-Star Game. This is sure to be a star-studded February weekend as top names in sports, music and entertainment flock to The Land to see and be seen at the slam-dunk contest, celebrity game and rising stars competition.
- 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four
After hosting this Championship in 2007, Cleveland will again welcome the NCAA DI Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four in 2024.
It will be a blackout in Cleveland on April 8, 2024. The city is in the direct path of the Total Solar Eclipse and is one of just 13 states left in the dark as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun. The darkness will be longest in Northeast Ohio, for an estimated 3 minutes and 52 seconds.
To keep up-to-date on new developments and activities, please visit www.thisiscleveland.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
About Destination Cleveland: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland’s convention and visitors bureau. This private non-profit organization’s mission is to drive economic impact and stimulate community vitality for Greater Cleveland through leisure and business travel. Cleveland welcomes 18.5 million visitors annually. For more information, visit www.thisiscleveland.com.