Wed 6/19-Sat 6/22
Starting Wed 6/19 a torch makes its way from the headwaters of the Cuyahoga River to end up at the mouth of Lake Erie Sat 6/22 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the last Cuyahoga River fire which helped launched the environmental movement.
Along the way, there are stops and festive activities, beginning with a music and dance celebration at the launch point at Geauga Park District’s Headwaters Park Wed 6/19 @ 1pm where Ojibwe elder Sharon Day will also be starting her 100-mile water walk down the river’s course.
The torch arrives in downtown Kent Thu 6/20 where it will be passed at an event in downtown Kent with food, art installations and live music @ 4-6pm. On Fri 6/21, Cuyahoga Falls will greet the torch at Waterworks Park @ 11am, before it makes its way to Akron’s Cascade Valley Metro Park @12:30pm, Peninsula @ 1:30pm, and Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Station Road Bridge Trailhead @ 3:30. Most of those locations will have festive activities as well.
The torch arrives at the mouth of the river on Saturday morning where the legendary Putzfrau, which once cruised and cleaned the Cuyahoga River in the Flats, will lead the procession at 10:30am.
All day there will be events going on around the riverbanks in the Flats, starting at 6am (!) with Share the River’s Blazing Paddles Standup Paddleboard Race and canoe & kayak celebration called Blazing Paddles. Plan to spend the day: Drink Local Drink Tap’s All Things Water Festival and 4 Miles 4 Water 5K race will be going on from 8am-noon at Jacobs Pavilion, and the Xtinguish Celebration Village in Rivergate Park will be going on from 10am-5pm, with food trucks, a beer garden, a Family Zone, games, live music, speakers, local watershed steward organizations, environmental exhibits, painted rain barrels, and lots more. It’s all free.
Cleveland, OH 44113