If there's one thing we Clevelanders can count on, it's that when the weather heats up, so too does the festival schedule. Summers here are filled with all matter of artsy, edgy and just-plain-fun festivals. Here is a visual tour of some of the best in town, including Parade the Circle, Cleveland Asian Fest, Hessler Street Fair, Gay Pride, the Feast, and more.

Before a packed house at Severance Hall, Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard touted the city's accomplishments in becoming a hub of innovation and taking bold steps to address big problems at the foundation's annual meeting this Tuesday.

Waxing poetic on the gilded stage for a moment, Richard harkened back to the foundation's early days in the 1910's as a time of tremendous innovation in Cleveland. "I still wonder if the past might be prologue... Read more >

Chloe Hopson knows firsthand the disparity between urban and suburban arts education programs. Having grown up on South Moreland on the edge of Shaker Heights and Cleveland, she flourished in the arts-rich Shaker Heights school system while many of her Cleveland friends lacked similar opportunities.

That's why Hopson founded the Passport Project 14 years ago. She wanted to provide arts programs to youth living in the Buckeye, Larchmere and Shaker Square neighborhoods,... Read more >

When the McDonald’s on Sloane Avenue in Lakewood closes this fall, it will be replaced by a considerably healthier happy meal option. The natural foods store Nature’s Bin will purchase the building and expand its catering operations there, hiring up to six new workers.

These new employees will be placed at Nature’s Bin through its owner, Cornucopis Inc., a nonprofit that prepares disabled individuals for the workforce by giving them real world experience... Read more >

Global Cleveland will host a job coaching event on Saturday, June 23 to help people find a job in Northeast Ohio. Job coaches will be available by appointment to review resumes, provide job search resources or simply serve as a personal connection to Cleveland.
 
“It’s always been a part of our program,” says Global Cleveland president Larry Miller. “We have HR professionals who help newcomers with their job search. But this is the first time w... Read more >

Born David Harrill in Mayfield Heights, "Dee Jay Doc" relocated with his wife to the Glenville neighborhood. By helping area youth write and record music, Doc is able to merge his professional talents with his passion to cultivate a better future for the children. Now, giving back to his community and city is his living.

Santina Protopapa is a self-professed high school "band nerd" who learned about hip hop while organizing a Rock Hall conference, then used it as a launching bad to start her own arts nonprofit.

Ten years later, the Progressive Arts Alliance (PAA) serves more than 1,000 students across Northeast Ohio every week through hip hop arts education.

"Our students have really grown to be leaders through hip hop," says Protopapa, a percussionist and DJ ... Read more >

During Langston Hughes' heyday, African American theatre was "booming, expressive, avante garde and politically punching," says Anthony Elfonzia Nickerson-El of Project1Voice, a national group that aims to spark renewed interest in black theatre. "Hughes and his contemporaries were the conscience of the community."

Fast forward 80 years. Historically African American theatres continue to play an important role in exposing young people in urban area... Read more >

Nine northeast Ohio minority companies were recognized on May 22 at the JumpStart offices as inaugural members of the Charter One Launch100 Leadership Circle. The Circle recognizes diverse entrepreneurs committed to turning their business ideas into some of the region’s most impactful minority-owned or led companies. 
 
“It was a really wonderful event,” says Gloria Ware, JumpStart senior advisor. “It was a really good example of companies... Read more >

The term "Rust Belt Chic" has been bandied about in urban journalism circles for over a decade. But lately, the connotation and import of that catchy phrase seem to be taking on a welcome new identity. A book in progress from Cleveland-based writers aims to take ownership of the phrase and help define what it truly means to live in a recovering Rust Belt city.

Cleveland's original artisan bakery, Lucy's Sweet Surrender, has finished its move from Buckeye Road to a larger, better situated space in the former Chandler and Rudd building in Shaker Heights.

The new, 3,500-square-foot space features a small retail storefront that opens up to a bakery where visitors can watch the scratch baking process. The traditional Hungarian bakery, a dying breed that once thrived in Cleveland neighborhoods, intends to ramp up its retail b... Read more >

The Princeton Prize in Race Relations is awarded each year to outstanding high school students across the country who are helping to increase understanding and mutual respect among all races and cultures.

The Cleveland prize, now in its second year, was recently awarded to Demi Zhang, a freshman at Orange High School who has devoted herself to achieving racial and cultural harmony through teaching others. Zhang has exposed her community to Chinese culture through art and ... Read more >

Two Cleveland boys from modest backgrounds in the Glenville neighborhood dreamed up Superman 80 years ago. The beloved character -- and many more like him -- have been rescuing boys from boredom and engaging them in reading and writing ever since.

This week, in an inspired twist on this fabled story, a group of third grade and seventh grade boys from Citizens Academy and University School are participating in a superheroes story workshop at Ohio City Writers, a new nonpro... Read more >

This weekend, tens of thousands of visitors will descend on the St. Clair Superior neighborhood for the Cleveland Asian Festival. During their visit, they will be delighted by 25 colorful dragon sculptures painted by local artists and installed outside businesses to beautify the area and celebrate the arts and Asian culture.

The public art project commemorates the Chinese Year of the Dragon, which began with the new moon in January and continues for a full 12 months.
... Read more >

For a teenager, it's the opportunity of a lifetime to spend a week sailing on a 150-foot tall ship -- tying ropes, keeping watch and sleeping in hammocks while learning to work together as a close-knit team.

Through Project YESS -- Youth Empowered to Succeed through Sailing -- a handful of lucky teenagers are offered this rare opportunity each summer in Cleveland.

The program, which is organized by the Rotary Club of Cleveland, began in 2010 during the Tall S... Read more >

Registration for the 2014 Gay Games (GG9) begins in May. This represents an opportunity to sell Northeast Ohio as a welcoming, inclusive region to a global audience, says GG9 Director Tom Nobbe.

"Cleveland represents a blank slate to many people in Western Europe and Asia, and that's both a challenge and an advantage," he says. "We have a compelling story to tell. We can position our region as not only welcoming to outsiders, but also as inclusive."... Read more >

Recently, an artistically-minded student at Glenville High School was so inspired by his school's first-ever Sustainability Awareness Day that he painted a rain barrel with the school's signature "G" logo and displayed it at last week's inaugural event.

"It was kind of like a small-scale science fair," says Anthony Body, Community Organizer with the Famicos Foundation, a nonprofit community development organization that serves the neighborh... Read more >