The 20th Annual Día de Muertos Festival on Saturday brought thousands to Cleveland Public Theatre and the Detroit Shoreway. Curated by Artistic director Héctor Castellanos Lara, the event featured a colorful procession, traditional music and dance, ofrendas created by local artists, and Mexican cultural traditions to honor ancestors and lost loved ones.

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Cleveland will host its inaugural fundraiser, "reprise '24: A Benefit to Celebrate Refugees through Music" this weekend. The event features musicians Rahim AlHaj and Emmanuel Jal, for an evening of music. Find out how you can win free tickets to this great event!

Neighborhood Connections announced this week that it has approved $382,114 in grants to support 121 projects in Cleveland and East Cleveland. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture will co-fund 27 of the resident-led arts and culture projects. Read about what community groups are doing with the funding to improve our neighborhoods.

The Mandel Foundation's Neighborhood Leadership Development Program (NLDP) has been producing neighborhood leaders since 2006. The younger Community Development Corporation Leadership Program (CDCLP) successfully empowers CDC leaders to create positive change in the communities they represent. Both programs are now looking for the next cohort of community leaders.

GardenWalk Cleveland will feature more than 400 gardens in 11 Cleveland neighborhoods this weekend—showing off the work, creativity, and neighborhood pride of local gardeners.

Cleveland Heights artist Robert Jursinski is about to share the works of his late partner and multi-talented artist David Batz in the exhibit Raiders of the Lost Art. The exhibit celebrates Batz' talents 30 years after his untimely death at 78th Street Studios and Ohio Design Centre.

The Cleveland Museum of Art and Ideastream Public Media kick off their Third Thursdays series with live local music from Talons' and related conversations, this Thursday, June 20 at CMA's newest venue, the Transformer Station in Hingetown. This week's show is sold out, so don't miss your chance to attend the future free Third Thursdays this summer.

FreshWater managing photographer Bob Perkoski provides a peek into the everyday lives of Clevelanders going about their business in the neighborhoods and on the streets of Cleveland.

Empowerment was top-of-mind for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress when it recently invested $2.013 million into 17 CDCs, with focus on the residents and needs like home repairs, community engagement, and real estate development.

From the Near West Theatre in Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway neighborhood and Chagrin Valley Little Theater in Chagrin Falls, to Akron, Medina, and Ashtabula, "The Prom" musical is flourishing with audiences and actors alike. Ken Schneck, editor of "The Buckeye Flame" and Baldwin Wallace University professor, decided to find out why.

The 14th annual Dyngus Day promises a fusion of Polish tradition and local culture on closed streets in Gordon Square Arts District, around Happy Dog, and in Gordon Green. Revelers will enjoy polka, pierogis, and beer, while showing city spirit and a strong community bond.

Billionaire and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott last week awarded Towards Employment $2 million—the largest donation in its history—and also awarded gifts to Birthing Beautiful Communities, LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, and Fairfax Renaissance Development.

During the Puppy Bowl 2024 yesterday—a highlight for many during Super Bowl LVIII between San Francisco and Kansas City—Destination Cleveland aired its 30-second sport "Dog’s Day Off” to promote Cleveland as a great place to live, play, and visit. The ad featured places like North Coast Harbor, Studio West 117, East 4th Street, Grog Shop, and the Capitol Theatre in the Gordon Square Arts District.

Rust Belt Fibershed will convene textile artists, farmers, and community members at 78th Street Studios this weekend for its first annual Rust Belt Fibershed Symposium to discuss the potential of a place-based, soil-to-soil textile system.

Celebrating its 25th year, the Y-Haven Theatre Project—a collaboration between YMCA of Greater Cleveland and Cleveland Public Theatre—will present "Troubled Waters," a play based on the lives of Y-Haven Treatment and Recovery Center residents.

Facing History & Ourselves, the organization that uses the lessons of the past to create a better future by helping navigate student conversations about race, equity, justice, and citizenship, worked with LAND studio and artist Isaiah Williams to send its message through a mural on the side on their building on the Urban Community School campus.

Cleveland Public Theatre, Teatro Público de Cleveland, and Día de Muertos Ohio will present the 19th Annual Día de Muertos Festival this Saturday—a celebration that integrates harvest festivities and gathering family to remember past family and friends.

There's a lot happening in the CLE this weekend! It's sometimes hard to keep track of all the weekend entertainment and activity options, so we chose three not-to-miss events hosted by Lake Erie Ink, 78th Street Studios, and Towards Employment.

Two local artists—Kelle Schwab and Lisa Quine—just completed the first two murals in Murals Across the City Campaign sponsored by Destination Cleveland and partner Graffiti Heart. Four more murals are to come.

FreshWater managing photographer Bob Perkoski provides a peek into the everyday lives of Clevelanders going about their business in the neighborhoods and on the streets of Cleveland.