Party in the Heart of Kamm’s Corners
By John Benson
If you didn’t know better, the Hooley sounds like some unneeded product being hawked on late-night television.
Instead, the Hooley — Irish slang for party or celebration — is the fabulously attended daylong free event tagged as West Park’s homecoming celebration, which this year takes place from noon to 8pm on Sat 5/12 on Lorain Avenue between Rocky River Drive and W.165th St. That’s right, on Lorain Avenue, the busy thoroughfare that cuts through this west side Cleveland community.
Sponsored by non-profit, community development organization Kamm’s Corners Development Corp., the 3rd annual Hooley will feature live music, food, informative booths, children’s activities and more. Cool Cleveland talked to its Executive Director Steve Lorenz about the unique festival that, weather permitting, continues to grow.
Cool Cleveland: Before we talk about this year’s Hooley, how exactly did this event begin?
Steve Lorenz: The first year we had it as kind of a kickoff to the new streetscaping that was done at Kamm’s Corners where they put up all of the historic lighting and planter boxes and so forth. That was kind of the genesis for it, as long as we have that new shiny streetscape we wanted to have a party to celebrate it. And once you start that kind of thing, it’s really hard to stop. People had been asking for a street festival at Kamm’s Corners for a number of years. So the pump was really kind of primed to do it. We just didn’t really have the infrastructure to show off until a couple of years ago. So once we had all of the new restaurants and bars come along, and retail was starting to fill in with nice storefronts and a nice streetscape, we thought it was time to try to show it off a little bit.
What’s incredible is the fact you’re actually closing down Lorain Avenue for a day? That’s not easy to do, right?
That’s one thing that people have said to us — “Why don’t we do it the whole weekend?” And it’s because it’s very hard to close Lorain Avenue. It’s a state route so you have that whole thing playing into it. It’s a major route for RTA and Fairview Hospital is right there, so you have a lot of ambulance traffic. It is difficult to close Lorain Avenue, and we do it for one day. We do it up right for one day. And that’s all we can do.
Just to be clear, no alcohol is served at the Hooley?
There is no alcohol allowed within the footprint but several of the bars do have large outdoor patios and front patios that are right along the Hooley, so it’s kind of indoor-outdoor. There are so many people who do walk to The Hooley, they come up with the kids in the afternoon and then take the kids home and get a babysitter and come back for the evening and do more of the adult thing.
How has the Hooley evolved over the past couple of years?
The first year we only had one stage and we only closed the street from W. 168th to Rocky River Drive. Last year we brought in the second stage at W.165th so we closed the street for three more blocks and added the second stage. This year there isn’t a whole lot different from last year when it rained like hell. We still had estimated 12,000 people show up. The first year we had around 20,000 people. Some of the bands are different this year but in terms of the footprint it’s pretty much the same. We do have a little more for the kids to do this year. We have a huge inflatable fire truck slide that’s going to be really cool and we added a petting zoo and pony rides this year.
So is this a Northeast Ohio event or a neighborhood event?
It’s a Northeast Ohio event in that we draw from all over the place but if you live in West Park there are so many people that live in the neighborhood now whose parents lived here or grew up here and came back for Hooley. So it really is a kind of a homecoming type celebration.
Finally, considering the Hooley is an Irish term, do you have to be Irish to enjoy the Hooley?
Not hardly. ‘Hooley’ is Irish slang for party or celebration but it’s really just fun for the whole family and fun for anybody that shows up. You don’t have to be Irish, that’s for sure.”
For more information, visit http://KammsCorners.com.
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio. When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria. John also occasionally writes for CoolCleveland.com.