The more we digitize, the more important local gets. We started promoting local holiday shopping over 10 years ago with what we called our Holiday Buying Guide to stimulate our local economy and encourage local entrepreneurs, artists and artisans. Now there’s over 1200 local shops, restaurants, boutiques, hip hangouts, coffee & tea shops, microbreweries & distilleries, museums and more using the ShopLOCAL, SUSTENANCE and CoolNEIGHBORHOODS listings on our website and mobile apps. Owners can even request free swag to promote shopping local and shopping cool.
Local philanthropy is in the spotlight in our feature by Claudia Taller. Cruel Winter Fest is CLE hip-hop artist Dirty Jones’ way of giving back. The Nutcracker has been localized, and Lake Erie Ink shows you how to personalize your holiday gifts. VegFest hosts a fundraiser, Neil Zaza hosts “One Silent Night,” and Matt Fish announces his next grilled cheeserie will open in Dayton. But Melt is still a local Cleveland restaurant.
Enjoy spoken word on Larchmere, BrewHaHa in Tremont, the Messiah at Trinity Cathedral, a winter cycling festival in Ohio City, a night of winter & noise at Hive Mind, a pajamarama movie party at GLSC, and a Heavy Metal Flea Market at Now That’s Class. And even though the CAC board has announced a pause in controversial changes to our region’s cigarette tax-funded individual artist grants, be there when they meet Monday to show you’re listening. And be there in January for our Bowie shows at BOP STOP. It won’t get any more local than that. —Thomas Mulready