📰 Summer Festivals You Didn’t Know You Needed 🌞

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Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop. Your trusty sidekick for summer chaos in Cleveland! Whether you're mapping out your festival hops, waiting for a chicken-themed space launch in Parma 🗺️🎪🐔

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Yes, there’s food and drinks and music. But there’s much more, something bigger that makes Cleveland festival season the highlight of the year.

The celebrations boast what’s best about Cleveland: Diverse people coming together to tell the stories of communities and neighborhoods with culture, cuisine and traditions.

From May through September, dozens of ethnic and cultural celebrations, street parties and fairs will assault the senses with enough music, food and partying to make you feel as if you’d traveled your way around the world.

The recent Asian Festival marked the start, but things get going Memorial Day Weekend with four celebrations.

Roll out the 216 Scoop Cleveland Festival Guide – down below in the 216 Rundown.

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The fast-food chicken coup is about to get a new tenant. Layne’s Chicken Fingers has set a tentative opening date for its Ohio debut – June 9, in the former Boston Market space, 1350 W. Pleasant Valley Road, Parma.

A sign on the front door hyped the tentative opening date: “Hello there future Astro Chickens… Come back and see us then! Let’s Get Cluckin!”

Founded in 1994, in College Station, Texas, the restaurant chain is known for its “soon to be famous chicken fingers,” crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast and signature sauce – not to mention small-town, homespun approach and ‘Astro Chicken’ mascot that is central to its branding.

Layne’s, which has 20 franchises in Texas, has added sandwiches and wraps and milkshakes as it pursues an ambitious expansion plan in the Midwest en route to doubling its shops to 50 by the end of the year.

 “The Parma location is a great starting place for us to serve the community,” said Layne’s CEO Samir Wattar. “And there’s potential for even more restaurants in our future.”

Houses are taking longer to sell. Homebuilding sentiment is down. And high prices and soft demand are projecting a downturn.

Yet, Cleveland remains resilient amid national headwinds.

A new report by Redfin finds that the spring homebuying season has been lackluster, with record-high housing costs and economic instability keeping would-be homebuyers at bay. 

Mortgage-purchase applications are down 6% month over month, while pending home sales fell, too, declining 2.8% year over year nationwide.

Cleveland is hanging in, however.

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May 22-25

Blossom Time Festival: Hot air balloon races, a carnival, pizza-eating contests and live music amid Chagrin Falls’ picturesque setting. Info.

May 23-26

Berea's National Rib Cook-Off: A chowdown filled with countless sauces served with ribs, yes, but also chicken, carnival food, rides, games and bands. Info.

53^rd Tremont Greek Festival: Greek culture served with delicacies, music, beer and spirit – a season highlight for 50-plus years. Info.

May 24-25

Reggae Fest: Everything’s irie as soulful food and chill vibes and 10 bands makes it feel like Jamaica. Info.

June 7

Pride in the CLE: One of the season’s biggest parties: A parade with 3,000 marchers, 150 vendors, performers and ancillary events. Info.

June 14

Juneteenth Freedom Fest: Family-friendly celebration with stage shows by Karamu House, DJ sets, live bands, games, a Vendor Village and ‘Soul Food Row.’ Info.

The Hooley: Irish street party with two live music stages, step dancing, art, a beer garden and vendors. Info.

Parade the Circle: Giant puppets, stilt-walkers and floats and an artful celebration with music, activities and food.  Info.

June 27-28

Ohio Scottish Games & Celtic Festival: Since 1977, it has celebrated traditional dance, music and athletics of the ancient Highland Games and Celtic culture. Info.

Saturday June 28

Larchmere Porchfest: More than 30 acts -- from rock to folk to funk to jazz – play on porches to create a swinging street party. Info.

June 28-29

11^th Lebanese Food and Music Festival: Small plates, traditional dishes and grilled items served with performers, music, games and activities. Info.

June 28-29, July 4-6

51^st Boston Mills Artfest: Two-weekend soiree: 300 artists from 35 states to go with scenic views, live music, wine and food. Info.

July 5-Aug. 17 (Saturdays and Sundays)

Great Lakes Medieval Faire: A song-, food- and crafts-filled Renaissance and medieval party with wizards, wenches, knights and patrons gnawing on turkey legs. Info.

July 9-13

99^th Our Lady of Mount Carmel Italian Festival: Old-timey festival and fair that look, feels like something out a movie. Info.

July 11-13

48^th Cain Park Arts Festival: Arts-sensory overload, with more than 150 artists, countless food possibilities and folk, bluegrass and jazz. Info.

July 18-20

Irish Cultural Festival: Three days of bands from America and Ireland to go with dancers, bagpipers, art, drama, food, beer and, yes, Celtic pooches. Info.

July 19

Lakewood Summer Meltdown: Block party blow-out with 15,000 attendees, vendors, activities and races. Link

July 20

Taste of Tremont: A spotlight on Tremont’s foodie scene served with live music and church tours. Info.

August 1-3

Twins Day Festival: The gathering of twins (and other multiples) rolls out look-alike contests, a parade and entertainment. Info.

August 2

Lakewood Arts Fest: Multiple stages for bands and performers, along with street-party vibes and offerings. Info.

August 2-3

Puerto Rican Parade and Festival: The parade and fest are a colorful mix of Caribbean food, Latin art and sweaty dancing. Info.

August 5-10

Cuyahoga County Fair: The animals and the demolition derby are grand. It also rolls out human tricks – clowns, amusement rides and games, tractor pulls, tons of bands. Info.

August 14-17

126th Little Italy Feast of the Assumption: A religious observance meets a street party, carnival, art fair and a food fest… a fine way to pasta time away. Info.

August 15-17

Cleveland Pagan Pride: Drum circles, Druids and broom dances – not to mention magic, music, spells, rituals and herbs. Info.

Romanian Festival: The oldest Romanian parish in the U.S celebrates tradition with folk dancers, bands, church tours and food. Info.

Donauschwaben Sommer Oktoberfest: Break out the lederhosen, dirndls, bands, folk dancers, bratwurst and beer. Info.

August 22-24

Egyptian Festival: This celebration bridges old and new worlds. Food and music are paired with a bazaar and tours of St. Mark’s that recount the early days of Christianity. Info.

August 24

Cleveland Cultural Gardens 79^th One World Day: A celebration amid the beautiful stretch of gardens and monuments that was started in 1916 to honor ethnic groups. Info.

Aug. 28-Sept. 1

Geauga County Fair: The 203^rd edition of Ohio’s oldest fair rolls out a demolition derby, truck-tractor pull, pig race, frog jumping competition and rooster crowing contest. Info.

Aug. 31

69th Scout Festival: Ohio's largest Hungarian fest is a marathon of music, dance, food and drink -- colorful costumes, violinists, game and goulash. Info.

Aug. 31-Sept 1 and Sept. 5-6

Cleveland Oktoberfest: Bavarian bash with hose beloved Wiener Dog Races, and enough food, bands and entertainers to keep even King Ludwig entertained. Info.

Aug. 31-Sept. 1

Serbian Cultural Festival: It's a fest and a feast – and partyers of all background come to eat cheese strudel, grilled meat and drink plum brandy. Info.

September 13

Waterloo Arts Fest: This street party has been instrumental in reviving Collinwood and boasts bands, performers, DJs, food and vendors. Info.

The Foundry Concert Club has expanded its themes and offerings since reopening in a bigger space on March 29 in Old Brooklyn. It’s hosted records fairs, Goth proms, new wave dance and trivia nights – and, recently, kicked off a  classic CLE punk night dubbed ‘Personality Crisis.’ The evening digs into Cleveland’s storied punk past with DJs spinning bands – local and out-of-town – that defined and impacted the scene. At 9 p.m. Tuesday, the latest installment of the punk-a-rama hits the Foundry, 4256 Pearl Road, Cleveland.

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59 🌡️ 50 | ☁️ | 6% | 💨 WSW 6 mph

64 🌡️ 57 | 🌧️ | 57% | 💨 NNE 12 mph

70 🌡️ 59 | 🌧️ | 56% | 💨 N 4 mph

_{Please note that weather conditions can change rapidly. For the most up-to-date information, consider checking a reliable local weather service.}

Away vs. Twins, 7:40pm EST, Monday 19th.

Away vs. Twins, 7:40pm EST, Tuesday 20th.

Away vs. Twins, 1:10pm EST, Wednesday 21st.

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