08.16-08.23.17
Eclipse
Akron’s Highland Square bubbled along with a nice arts festival until they turned it into PorchRokr, and now things are off the chain. Weapons of Mass Creation is so successful it’s spawning imitators in other hometowns.
Open the streets along Detroit to peds, bikes and art with CiCLEvia. Meet the creator of Funky Winkerbean at Lakewood’s LibraryCon. Enjoy Latin fare at the La Placida pop-up. Check out 3D special effects projected on the Manor House with Stan Hywet’s LightNights. Discuss the growing white domestic terror threat at the City Club at the Happy Dog. Watch the frogs jump in Medina. Boat the Shaker Lakes.
And if you are going to watch the eclipse, don’t buy those cheap knock-offs from China. See the real thing through BW’s Observatory or use our guide. The eclipse is happening all around us. –Thomas Mulready
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When the Weapons of Mass Creation festival launched in 2010, it was modest in scale, bringing some artists, bands and speakers together to trade ideas and network. But it sparked a grassroots movement that has grown into something special and unique, attracting artists and entrepreneurs from around the country. And while WMC has grown exponentially, it has also spawned similar festivals as artists have taken the concept back to their hometowns.
This year, it shifts venues again, to Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood, where the event will fill every corner of the space for three days with talks, workshops, panels, displays, vendors, food, music and, yes, bowling. Event director Heather Sakai shares with Kendall Embrescia-Hridel all the things that will make WMC VIII special. Fri 8/18-Sun 8/20.
Are you excited about the big eclipse coming up Mon 8/20? Although it won’t be a total eclipse here in Cleveland, at about 2:30pm that day, the moon will cover about 75 percent of the sun. And there is a host of nature centers, park districts, libraries and more hosting events – check our listings for Monday for more.
Great Lakes Science Center is taking full advantage of this special heavenly event to hold a weekend of activities to prepare and share knowledge about what’s going on, with demonstrations. coverage from around the world, information about how to watch safely, and even sun salutation yoga. GLSC staff tells us all about it. Sat 8/19-Mon 8/21.
SPONSORED: Learn how to live a water-friendly lifestyle when you check out Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s Open House happening on Sat 9/16 @ 9AM – 4PM at their Environmental and Maintenance Services Center. Tour the Southerly Wastewater Treatment plant, enjoy workshops and special presentations, take home tips, kids crafts, and more. Exhibits, food, games, and surprises make up the free fun for friends and families. Details.
Once there was a nice little art fair in Akron’s cool Highland Square neighborhood. Then someone pointed out Cleveland’s Larchmere Porchfest and the mobs of people who came to hear music played on the porch of people’s houses, and they said, “Hey, we can do that!”
That was five years ago. Now the event has grown bigger than than the Larchmere event with four times more bands – around 135! – and the art fair is still part of the Highland Square PorchRokr Music and Art Festival, along with vendors, food trucks & more. John Benson looks into how it got this big. Fri 8/19.
Photographer Randy Norfus used to shoot concerts back in the 70s, primarily jazz and R&B, as a sideline from his day job as a pharmaceutical salesman. But when he retired three years ago, he not only threw himself entirely into photography, doing portraits and studio work, he also opened Larchmere Arts, a gallery and center for music, poetry and other performances.
His primary goal, he says, is to give exposure to emerging artists, especially black artists, who don’t have a place to exhibit. But his first annual Cleveland Photographic Invitational Fri 8/18 will feature two dozen artists, black and white, all ages and levels of experience to show the range of talent here in town.
Does your kid think they want to be a pirate? Bring them to Hudson’s Learned Owl Books for a storytelling afternoon in which they can hear about a little boy who temporarily joined a pirate ship, learning the ups and downs of the lifestyle, and finding it’s not all that romantic and they’d be better off living in Hudson. There will be crafts and refreshments too! Sun 8/20.
* It’s time for another Family Fun Festival and Movie Night at Akron’s Lock 3. There’ll be inflatables, games and more for kids starting at 3pm, and hopefully they’ll stay awake for the screening of Trolls, at 8. Sat 8/19.
Click here for more CoolCleveland Kids events
1920: Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was having a great season when he was hit and killed by a pitched ball thrown by the New York Yankees Carl Mays.
If you have visited his grave at Lakeview Cemetery, or just love baseball history, come hear the whole story as recounted in The Pitch That Killed: Carl Mays, Ray Chapman and the Pennant Race of 1920, by Mike Sowell on Sat 8/19 at noon. Details. Get the book for 20% off if you mention the Museum at Macs Backs Books on Coventry. Thank you to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture for its support.
The tomato season is at its peak, with vines bursting with juicy fruit. And no place in Cleveland grows more varieties of heirloom tomatoes than Cavotta’s Garden Center in Collinwood. So it’s prime time for its annual tomato-tasting event, when a bevy of local chefs will be turning those tomatoes into tasting dishes for guests, and tomato cocktails will be on hand to wash them down. Sun 8/20.
Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Eats and Drinks.
Cellist Nick Diodore is one of the core members of Cleveland’s avant-garde No Exit New Music Ensemble. He’ll be performing a solo show of pieces by adventurous composers, including two locals, at the Euclid Tavern Wed 8/23 and the Bop Stop Sun 8/27.
Read more picks by Anastasia Pantsios here
Cleveland Metroparks and Nalu Standup Paddle & Surf present the 4th Annual Whiskey Island Paddlefest at Wendy Park on Sat 8/19 from 7:30AM – 4PM.
Kayaking will be a new addition to this year’s race. A festival following the race will feature demos, exhibitors and more. For more information, visit ClevelandMetroparks.com.
WED 8/16
Put togther quickly to respond to the urgent concerns people have right now, a City Club panel at the Happy Dog will address the emboldening of white racist domestic terrorist groups and how communities can best respond.
Click here for more events on Wed 8/16
THU 8/17
LightNights is a new thing at Akron’s Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens to help transition visitors into the fall. It’s a high-tech, 3D special-effects show projected onto the Manor House that tells that story of the historic estate. Through Sun 9/17.
Click here for more events on Thu 8/17
FRI 8/18
For 16 years, Great Lakes Brewing Company has presented its Burning River Fest, which takes place in and around the old Coast Guard Station on Whiskey Island. Yes, it’s about beer and food and music on two stages, but it’s also about encouraging appreciation of the lake and promoting water conservancy – and great sunsets! Also tomorrow.
Click here for more events on Fri 8/18
SAT 8/19
For two days, the sky above Edgewater Park will be filled with colorful kites as the Cleveland branch of the Ohio Society for the Elevation of Kites celebrates its 39th annual Cleveland Kite Festival.
Click here for more events on Sat 8/19
SUN 8/20
NeoComic Con in North Olmsted celebrates the edgier side of comics, with guest artists who have worked for DC and Marvel, Akron filmmaker Ted Sikora, the creators of Invasion of the Podcast, memorabilia for sale and Star Wars chocolates from Fear’s Confections.
Click here for more events on Sun 8/20
MON 8/21
At 2:30:56 this afternoon most of the sun will be covered by the moon in a rare eclipse. Local nature centers, park districts, observatory and more will be hosting special events to explain what is happening and to warn people not to look directly at the eclipse!
Click here for more events on Mon 8/21
TUE 8/22
The 2005 film Kinky Boots had a pretty outrageous plot line, involving a struggling shoe factory in England that’s saved when it changes its business model from men’s shoes to shoes for drag queens. Bt it’s based on a true story. The Cleveland Museum of Art screens the film this afternoon and also Fri 8/25.
Click here for more events on Tue 8/22
WED 8/23
Ob/gyn Dr. Willie Parker was once opposed to abortion as part of his Christian beliefs. But the more he was exposed to women in crisis, he came to realize the truly Christian thing to do was to provide abortions without judgment. He’s now an advocate for reproductive choice and has just written a book about his journey which he’ll talk about at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle.
Click here for more events on Wed 8/23
Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com
Omarosa Manigault, the curvaceous black member of the Trump administration (who, since first appearing on The Apprentice, has been described as everything from an Aunt Jemima to the president’s bed wench), was a last-minute inclusion on a panel of journalists set to discuss police brutality, and in short order all hell broke loose….
* The Myth That Just Won’t Quit Some myths, especially urban myths, once they take hold, they just won’t die. Such is the case with “food deserts.” Some very well-meaning university folks came up with the term a few years ago and now, no matter how much thoughtful and educated residents…
Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here
A look back at the last week
Submit your own review or commentary to Events@CoolCleveland.com
THEATER REVIEW: Equus @ Blank Canvas Theatre by Roy Berko
THEATER REVIEW: A Doll’s House @ Mamai Theatre by Laura Kennelly
THEATER REVIEW: Pippin @ Rubber City Theatre by Lisa DeBenedictis
THEATER REVIEW: An Overview of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake by Roy Berko
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–Thomas Mulready
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