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Start of the Cleveland Holiday Season! PlayhouseSquare Holidazzle - Cleveland Winterfest - TubaChristmas Cleveland

Blog Date
Author(s)
Julie Smith
Stuart O. Smith, Jr.
Tags
Cleveland
Winterfest
PlayhouseSquare
Cleveland Play House
Theatre
Public Square
Cleveland Foundation
TubaChristmas
Holiday Lights

Start of the Cleveland Holiday Season! PlayhouseSquare Holidazzle - Cleveland Winterfest - TubaChristmas Cleveland
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Traditionally, on the weekend after Thanksgiving, Cleveland kicks off the holiday season! On Saturday and Sunday, November 24 and 25, 2018, we took part in some great holiday celebrations!

We wrote this blog post as our way of saying thank you to PlayhouseSquare (@PlayhouseSquare) and Cleveland Play House (@ClevePlayHouse) for Holidazzle 2018, and to Downtown Cleveland Alliance (@DowntownCLE) and Cleveland Public Square (@CLEPublicSquare) for Cleveland Winterfest 2018.

We also want to mention the great Cleveland Foundation (@CleveFoundation) skating rink on Cleveland Public Square! The Foundation has been sponsoring a winter skating program since 2016 as a great addition to the year-round programming that takes place at the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Plaza.

 

In addition to Holidazzle and Cleveland Winterfest, we have included in this blog post tweets with photos and videos from this year's TubaChristmas Cleveland. Julie performs in TubaChristmas concerts in either Cleveland or Akron every year.

 

PlayhouseSquare Holidazzle 2018

PlayhouseSquare Holidazzle 2018 Activity Map
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On Saturday, November 24, 2018, we started our visit to PlayhouseSquare Holidazzle 2018 by touring the Festival of Trees. We have always enjoyed the Cleveland Play House Festival of Trees over the Christmas season, both at their old location (the 86th Street Theatre) and their current theatres in PlayhouseSquare. We are so glad that they continue this holiday tradition as a gift to the community -- there is no admission charged to see the Festival of Trees!

Cleveland Play House Festival of Trees
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Video shows highlights from the 2017 Festival of Trees Display

For families who visited, balloon artists created some incredible, wearable art. A string quartet was amazing as they performed holiday favorites in the beautiful Gund Foundation Lobby of the Ohio Theatre. We also enjoyed relaxing to the music of the Kimball organ in the Connor Palace Theatre.

Here is the Holidazzle 2018 schedule, followed by our @sos_jr tweets and retweets that relate to the event:

Click here for a full list of Holidazzle activities and locations!

Idea Center - 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Enjoy cartoons for the whole family throughout the day in the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre, and create Holiday themed children’s crafts and meet balloon artists in the Gund Dance Studio. Stop by the Playhouse Square Partners raffle table and purchase some chances at amazing holiday themed gift baskets.

KeyBank State Theatre - 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Kick off your Holiday shopping with local vendors from the Cleveland Bazaar Holiday Market and various family friendly activities sponsored by the U. S. Army in the State Theatre Lobby. Make sure that you record a special holiday message to the troops.

Connor Palace - 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
The Kimball organ will wow crowds with a holiday concert, while facepainters decorate young faces with holiday themes. Enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or a cookie and the refreshment stop in the lobby.

Allen Theatre - 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. The lobbies of the Allen Theatre will be adorned to dazzling perfection as Cleveland Play House brings back their beloved holiday tradition, Festival of Trees. This endearing holiday favorite features a grand display showcasing more than 20 trees exquisitely decorated by various local designers, with each tree offering a unique design or theme.

Theaters, Lobbies and Outdoor Holiday decorations - 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. Delight in the sounds of the season from local musicians while enjoying the beautiful Playhouse Square theaters! Visit U. S. Bank Plaza, the GE Chandelier and the entire Playhouse Square neighborhood to discover unique and amazing photo opportunities both inside and out that will help make Holiday memories that will last a lifetime!

 

Arriving at PlayhouseSquare Holidazzle

 

Cleveland Winterfest 2018 - #WinterfestCLE

There was so much happening at multiple locations at Downtown Cleveland Alliance's (@DowntownCLE) Cleveland Winterfest 2018 (#WinterfestCLE), that we could not see everything.

We did get to enjoy watching people skate on the Cleveland Foundation ice rink, the holiday lighting ceremony (including fireworks!), and the after-party in the Huntington Bank building.

The best thing is that Cleveland Public Square will continue to have outdoor activities through February.

Here are our @sos_jr tweets and retweets that not only share our experience and those of others attending the Cleveland Winterfest 2018, but also have information of what is happening at Cleveland Public Square.

 

Arriving at Public Square for #WinterfestCLE!

 

#WinterfestCLE After-Party!!

 

More Tweets...

 

 

 

 

TubaChristmas Cleveland

TubaChristmas Cleveland 2018
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Julie performed in TubaChristmas Cleveland
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On Sunday, November 24, 2018, Julie performed in TubaChristmas Cleveland. She has been playing her euphonium in Akron's TubaChristmas for over 15 years, and has participated in TubaChristmas Cleveland since 2015.

 

Related Blog Posts

We have written many blog posts about PlayhouseSquare (view here) (including our Cleveland Play House posts), and Cleveland Foundation programs (view here), and a few about Public Square (view here). We welcome you to learn more about these great organizations by reading our related blog posts.

Here are our three blog posts about past Winterfests:

 

Thank You!

We are fortunate that we have PlayhouseSquare (@PlayhouseSquare), Cleveland Play House (@ClevePlayHouse), Downtown Cleveland Alliance (@DowntownCLE), and the Cleveland Public Square (@CLEPublicSquare) planning activities that enhance the quality of life for people living in Greater Cleveland. We look forward to attending more great events at these sponsoring institutions year-round. We are also grateful for the Cleveland Foundation's (@CleveFoundation) support of the good work of these institutions.