It鈥檚 Northeast Ohio鈥檚 time to shine with arts, culture and fun in the sun. Schedule your free time with this guide to a few of the many events, festivals, beaches, parks, concerts and museums awaiting your senses in 2024!
Pride in the CLE and beyond
happens in August, with a 5K run from Canal Place on Aug. 23 and the festival Downtown on Aug. 24.
Festivals and food
June 14-16 & July 19-21 Kiss in Cuyahoga Falls if you鈥檙e Irish, or even if you鈥檙e not, when the annual brings food, music and dance to Downtown, June 14-16. A month later, the comes to the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, July 19-21.
Aug. 2-4
Twinsburg鈥檚 1976 Bicentennial parade featured 36 pairs of twins in a nod to the city鈥檚 founders. It was spun off in 鈥�77 and continues today as the in Glenn Chamberlin Park.
Aug. 3
There鈥檚 no surf in Cleveland, just volleyball and a sandcastle competition as the hits Edgewater Beach.
Aug. 3-4
颁濒别惫别濒补苍诲鈥檚 kicks off Aug. 3 at noon at MetroHealth Hospital鈥檚 main campus. The parade itself is at 11 a.m. on Aug. 4. Entertainment this year includes singers Edwin Lebron and Gaby Zambrano.
Aug. 17-18
The marks its 175th anniversary over two days of events including a donut eating contest, tractor pull, mullet growing demonstration, and a parade at 10 a.m. on Aug. 17 in Downtown Wooster.
Aug. 24-25
The breezes into Shaker Square with live entertainment in addition to the variety of garlicy eats.
Aug. 25
The are open year-round, but One World Day on Aug. 25 is a chance to learn more about the different cultures represented in Northeast Ohio. The day begins with a naturalization ceremony for new citizens and continues with music, dance and food.
Aug. 30-Sept. 2
Three dozen food trucks come to Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica for , while storms into the fairgrounds in Berea (and continues the following weekend, Sept. 6-7).
Sports
July 18-Aug. 5
The kicks off July 21 with a community parade in Downtown Canton. From July 26-28, the festival takes off with the Balloon Classic, bringing hot air balloons to Kent State University鈥檚 Stark campus. The week also includes a concert by Carrie Underwood, the annual Hall of Fame game and numerous chances to interface with the Class of 2024 before - and after - they鈥檙e enshrined on Aug. 3 at noon.
And if you can't get enough of balloons-in-Canton, the comes to town July 18-22. The traveling event brings 250,000 balloons to the city's Cultural Center for the Arts to create "a mystical folklore and fantasy world."
In the theater
June 8-July 28
奥辞辞蝉迟别谤鈥檚 presents six lyric theater titles throughout the summer: 鈥淭he Gondoliers,鈥� 鈥淭he Arcadians,鈥� 鈥淭he Count of Luxembourg,鈥� 鈥淢e and My Girl,鈥� 鈥淕uys and Dolls鈥� and 鈥淭he Sound of Music.鈥�
July 24-27
The returns to Playhouse Square with performances from around the globe spanning drama, comedy, dance and music.
Aug. 6-11
Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia vault from the 1980s to 2024 as Playhouse Square presents 鈥�,鈥� a reimagining of Miami鈥檚 sassiest seniors.
Live music
May 16-Sept. 21
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 6-8 p.m., Downtown Wooster pulses with everything from rock to big band to folk in the series.
Aug. 17
Music is everywhere in Akron鈥檚 Highland Square with the Music and Art Festival. In the evening, Franz Welser-Most returns to the Blossom stage in Cuyahoga Falls for his first show of the summer to conduct .
Juneteenth celebrations
June 15-July 26
ARTFUL Cleveland presents its third annual , with an opening reception June 15 at 6 p.m. Featuring emerging and established Black artists, the show runs through July 26.
Exhibits, programs and more鈥�
If you鈥檙e old enough to remember the dinosaurs at Cedar Point or actual dinosaurs, then the Cleveland Zoo鈥檚 new might bring back some great memories. A collection of more than 25 animatronic dinosaurs is open for a limited time.
The Akron Zoo has events throughout the summer and closes out the warm weather by thanking Summit County residents with . Tickets are limited and must be reserved in advance.
Beginning Memorial Day weekend, the in Ashtabula hosts visitors on weekends starting at 1 p.m. Learn the history of the Connecticut Western Reserve and see Civil War artifacts in the home which helped people to freedom.
Northeast Ohio is home to one of the few dark parks east of the Mississippi River, with Observatory Park in Montville. The environment, unpolluted by light, is perfect for astronomy with . If skies are clear, the park hosts night sky viewing through its Oberle telescope on May 24-25 and June 6, 7 and 22.
Celebrate M.C. Escher's 126th birthday with a visit to the new . It opens June 1 in the historic May Company building on Public Square鈥� or does it?
teems with activity on Wednesdays. A weekly happy hour on Cascade Plaza (5-9 p.m.) includes local music and a cornhole league. And on the second Wednesday of each month, there鈥檚 an open mic night at Northside Marketplace. Sign-ups start at 5:30 p.m.
Kick-off National Get Outdoors Month on June 2 with a hike at . The Cleveland Museum of Natural History鈥檚 at 5185 Corduroy Road is open on Sundays all summer, noon - 5 p.m.
Screen legend Katharine Hepburn worked closely with designers throughout her career, pushing for outfits which provided comfort, flattery and movement. 鈥溾�� opens at the Kent State University Museum on June 28 and runs until 2025.
Several exhibits of Indian, Korean, Andean, Native American and Jewish artifacts are on view all summer at the Cleveland Museum of Art. A photography exhibit, "," opens July 21 with images from the U.S.-Mexico border taken since the 1970s.
As if President William McKinley's victory in the Spanish-American War wasn't remarkable enough, he also championed鈥� the men's trouser crease. A in Canton will discuss how fashion, and world power, shifted on this fashion choice.
