If you ask Steve Presser what the Heights Music Hop is all about, he won't mince words or metaphors.

Austin Walkin' Cane playing outside of Marotta's on Lee Road."I call it the pu pu platter of playing," laughs Presser, community engagement and events manager for FutureHeights, a nonprofit Community Development Organization (CDC) serving Cleveland Heights and University Heights and the longtime manager of the beloved Cleveland Heights novelty shop Big Fun.

"You have choices, and that's the beauty of it,” Presser continues. “If you want to stray away from your passion and you want to have a taste of something else—one from column A, two from column B—you go for it."

That smorgasbord of sonic delights is exactly what's on the menu when the Heights Music Hop returns Friday, Aug. 28 through Sunday, Aug. 30, spreading across four Cleveland Heights commercial districts: Cedar Fairmount, Noble, Cedar Lee, and Coventry.

This year, Presser says the Music Hop has grown into something spectacular.

"It's 90 bands at 46 venues in four commercial neighborhood districts over a three-day weekend," Presser boasts. "And the beauty of it is that it's free."

A natural fit
Presser, who came on board with Future Heights about four months ago, says he was born for this new role, and recruited his wife, Debbie Apple-Presser, who runs Planet Joy Studio in Medina, a collaborative art studio that encourages adults with developmental differences to explore their imagination and creativity through the arts, to join him.

The Pressers are dedicated Cleveland Heights advocates. They have hosted house concerts in their backyard for nearly a decade, helped organize the Coventry Street Fair, and, years ago, put on a music festival at Cain Park. But the Heights Music Hop is a particular love, they say.

"We go every year and we just love it," Steve Presser says. "It's one of those things that's on the calendar for us—kind of like Larchmere Porch Fest and Parade the Circle.

“And I just thought, ‘there's a great group of people involved with FutureHeights, a really good volunteer board, and it was ripe and prime to try and grow it,’” he continues. “And we did.”

The one word that Presser says keeps coming back him is “community.”

"This is a community event,” he explains. “It's in commercial retail districts that are strong, strong, strong—the strong majority are locally-owned small businesses. And it's music. It checks all the boxes."

Apostle Jones at The Tavern Company on Lee RoadFriday night lights up Cedar Fairmount
The Heights Music Hop kicks off Friday, Aug. 28 in the Cedar Fairmount district, where Cedar Fairmount Special Improvement District (SID) director Julie Mostov has curated 18 bands at 11 venues.

An early set from singer-songwriter Chuck Fink at Luna Bakery Cafe is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. with the remaining musical sets scheduled from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Highlights include back-to-back outdoor patio action at The Fairmount and Barrio, with their adjoining patios and staggered sets so the music never stops.

The Latin psychedelic band Hello! 3D plays the Ascent Pocket Park stage from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., following the 5:30 set by Cleveland blues legends Blue Lunch, who have been playing together for more than 40 years.

Checkered Shelf Bookshop, a newcomer on Cedar Road, joins the fun with two acts. Rockabilly, surf, and garage rock band Velocity Stax will play from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., while indie pop group By Light We Loom plays from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

"She just opened up, she's less than a year old," Presser says of Checkered Shelf owner Mary Pat Jolivette. "People are going to walk in, listen to music, see what she has to offer, and find another new place they're going to have to go back to again and again and again."

A Noble community celebration
Saturday, Aug. 29 brings the Heights Music Hop to the Heights Libraries Noble Neighborhood Branch from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a more intimate, family-friendly affair that Presser and Noble branch manager Steve Sanders designed to reflect the neighborhood's unique character.

The 2026 Heights Music Hop will feature 90 bands playing at 46 Cleveland Heights venues from Friday, Aug. 28 through Sunday, Aug. 30.The afternoon opens with Soulful Steps line dancing on the library's back deck from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. "The community asks for line dancing, and we're giving it to them," Presser says.

The dancing is followed by Nikish and the Band, a Nepalese group chosen specifically to honor the Noble neighborhood's large Bhutanese-Nepalese population.

"The library has been an important center for immigrant populations that have come to our city, and they have found comfort there," Presser explains. "We thought this would be a great way to give flavor back to the city with a Nepalese band."

Free activities for kids will include a face painter, balloon artist, and a bead bracelet maker.

The Heights Bicycle Coalition is leading a community bike ride, which is expected to depart from Noble Road around 3 p.m. and head over to the Cedar Lee District to continue the festivities.

The main event in Cedar Lee
If Noble is the warm-up, Cedar Lee is the headliner. Saturday evening on Lee Road is the biggest, boldest chapter of the Heights Music Hop, with 51 performers at 24 venues.

Lee Road between Meadowbrook and Silsby will be closed to traffic again this year, with Cedar Lee's DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) designation allowing attendees to stroll the street with drinks.

Blue Lunch at The Tavern Company on Lee Road"It was magical," Presser recalls of last year's street closure. "Concertgoers were allowed to legally walk in the street. And because Cedar Lee's a DORA district, they were able to drink. It made it like a real, real festival. Not that it wasn't a real festival before, but that convenience of having it in the street just makes it incredibly enjoyable."

Bottle House Brewery and Meadery, under new owner Dave Mazzoni, and the new Abundance Culinary are joining the Heights Music Hop as sponsors, creating a tag-team setup that will draw Lee Road festivalgoers across Cedar Road to open up a whole new stretch of the district.

The Church of the Savior is co-sponsoring the Kids Hop from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on its front lawn, featuring Mr. Haney and Friends and the remarkable 12-year-old DJ Lily Jade.

"She's a phenomenon," says Presser of the young DJ. "She’s an incredibly bright, engaging young girl whose maturity level is beyond, beyond."

Apostle Jones will close out Saturday night on the Tavern Company patio. Presser says the band’s performance last year made the Heights Music Hop finale, as Presser puts it, nothing short of legendary.

"For those who were there last year, that was magical,” he recalls.

Sunday finale on Coventry
The hop wraps up Sunday, Aug. 30 on Coventry from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Presser says this year the neighborhood is bringing serious heat.

With the help of Mac’s Backs Books owner and manager Suzanne DeGaetano and the Grog Shop owner Kathy Blackman, Coventry has assembled 19 performers at 10 venues—a lineup boost over previous years, says Presser.

"Kathy knows music, and she really helped bring Coventry up a level,” says Presser, “Coventry's got a lot of venues this year."

Yiddishe Cup.

The musical range is large: Yiddish Cup Klezmer Band will share its soul sounds on the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Campus Stage. Mekimi will play its classic rock and Hebrew rock at Mac’s Backs. Blues and swing will be provided by the Bluesdrivers.

In perhaps the most unique offering of the entire weekend, the Cleveland Silent Film Festival will make its Heights Music Hop debut at the Heights Theater, with an hour-long program of four silent comedy shorts and live piano accompaniment by David Blazer from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

"You're going to have silent movies with a piano player doing all that stuff in that magical space," Presser says. "That's just completely different than having a hip hop DJ out on the patio at B-Side, which is right next door. We offer just a smorgasbord of delights."

Coventry SID director Matt Moore has organized a Coventry Street Sale, with merchants and vendors selling their wares on the sidewalks throughout the day.

The heart of it all
Behind the scenes, the Music Hop is powered by a dedicated volunteer committee, including 2026 Cleveland Heights volunteers of the year Bob Landis, who is attending his 13th consecutive Heights Music Hop this year, and Cleveland Heights City Council president and bass player Tony Cuda, who screen every band that submits an application.

"I like to say it's a curated music festival," Presser says proudly. "Sure, we'd love to have everybody who submits play, but we can't. There are many more who submit than we choose, and we chose 90 this year."

At the end of the day, Presser says, Heights Music Hop is about something bigger than any single set or venue.

"Come down, enjoy, bring your dancing shoes, bring an open mind, and see your neighbors and the community come out," he urges. "It’s not just [people who live in] Cleveland Heights and University Heights. The Music Hop has become a regional draw."

The Heights Music Hop runs Friday, Aug. 28 through Sunday, Aug. 30. All events are free and open to the public. Visit the Future Heights website for the full schedule of bands and venues.