As we’ve learned over 20+ years of publishing CoolCleveland, this region’s treasures present themselves freely. But you’ve got to step up to take advantage of the bounty at your feet.Make your way to one of Cleveland’s all-time coolest street fests, the Cleveland Asian Festival, if for no other reason than the food. Catch a 1980s vibe at Near West Theatre’s benefit. There’s food, farming and gardening for all at Ignite! Neighbor Night. Check out the Punk Rock author panel at Blue Arrow Records on Waterloo. Hear a selection of new operas at an event hosted by the Cleveland Composers Guild. Or hook up with Canalway Partners to help get you and your bike in shape for a summer of cycling. Catch a chat with the curators of Cleveland’s Venice Biennale exhibit as CAN Journal launches its summer issue at Abattoir Gallery at the Hildebrandt Building. Don’t let yourself get dull.
Just a few blocks east of Downtown Cleveland is a neighborhood brimming with more than 20 family-owned businesses boasting worldly cuisine and eastern grocers; unique trinkets, handmade wares and cool retail; and a global citizenship representing places like China, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.
It’s Cleveland’s AsiaTown — running from E. 18th to E. 40th streets, and from St. Clair to Perkins avenues — and it’s best experienced during the 2023 Cleveland Asian Festival on May 20-21. Here’s a few reasons you can’t miss this event. Read more
The petition drive to put reproductive rights on the November 2023 ballot is barreling ahead & rightwing legislators in Columbus are panicking over polls showing it has about 59% support.
Their response? Jump the gun with a ballot issue requiring 60% instead of 50% to pass such an issue — and they’ve scheduled it for August 8, just months after banning August elections due to their high cost and low turnout.
All their “reasons” for this sudden turnabout are false. Protecting the state constitution from out-of-state big-money interests? The biggest spender in favor of this is an Illinois billionaire! Be sure to vote NO in August and make sure you’re registered. Last day to register is July 10. Read more
The beloved Hessler Street Fair pulled the plug in 2019, 50 years after it was founded, before the pandemic did it in. And it always retained the flavor of its Woodstock founding summer: peace, love and lots of tie-dye.
Now the Grog Shop is hosting a “family reunion” of sorts, two nights that will features some of the bands, vendors, organizations and food that gave this grassroots festival its distinctive flavor. Old friends like Jim Miller, John McGrail and Alex Bevan will be taking the stage, along with new acts such as the Shoreline Funk All Stars who didn’t even exist when Hessler called it quits but would’ve been right at home there. Read more
Welcome Diego! The year-old bobcat has recently joined the family of rescue animals who live at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Perkins Wildlife Center, and he’s so cute it’s unbearable. “Our guests will surely enjoy watching his playfulness as he continues to develop and learn in his new surroundings,” says CMNH. You bet they will! Read more
In the last decade and a half, Akron jazz guitarist Dan Wilson has made a big name for himself in the local and national music scenes, including touring with the late jazz organ virtuoso Joey DiFrancesco. He’s now dropping his fourth album, Things Eternal, a tribute to the people who mentored and inspired him.Read more
MON 5/22 Monday MusicLocal musician Meganne Stepka has been hosting her Manic Monday open mic nights for years. They’re now at the Mercury Music Lounge in Lakewood; stop by if you’re looking for something to do.
There is a perception among the public that teachers work short hours and have their summers off. But they fail to understand that teaching involves preparation time, requires continuing education, staff meetings and time spent setting up a classroom, and often spending your own money for supplies not provided by school districts.
The motto of the United Negro College Fund is “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Good teachers are also a terrible thing to waste, and if we don’t do a better job of retaining good teachers and paying them a fair and living wage, we can only look forward to more and more teacher shortages and more and more wasted minds in the next generation. Read more
