CLEVELAND (December 16) - After a vibrant year in which Cleveland was deemed the “new center of the world,” 2025 highlights thoughtful and energetic investment into Cleveland’s cultural and architectural assets. Historic restaurant spaces are getting new life, museums are unveiling unprecedented renovations, and a new boutique hotel will return a historic building to its Gilded age grandeur. The Land is bursting with appreciation for its history and excitement for the future.
 
The Land Takes Center Stage

• NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament – Rounds 1 and 2 (March 21-23): After hosting a record-breaking 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four, Cleveland will again welcome thousands of March Madness fans and the best regional teams to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the first and second rounds of the 2025 Men’s Division I tournament.
• “Superman” film release (July 11): The newest reboot of the “Superman” film franchise, and the first movie in the new DC Universe, debuts this summer and brings the Man of Steel back to the city where he was conceived. Written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, six weeks of principal photography were filmed in The Land in the summer of 2024. The film settings include several iconic Cleveland locations, such as the Cleveland Public Library, the Arcade on Euclid Ave. and Progressive Field.

 
New Boutique Hotel Enriches Downtown Cleveland Accommodations Offerings

• Fidelity Hotel opens (January 2025): As Downtown’s newest hotel, the 97-room Fidelity Hotel will offer an intimate boutique experience in the historic Baker Building. With custom-designed rooms, artful event spaces and a unique social impact initiative, the hotel breathes new life into the 105-year-old building. Drawing inspiration from its Gilded Age origins, the property blends old-world glamour with modern style, showcasing bespoke artwork from talented local artists to create a one-of-a-kind destination.
• W Hotel project moves forward: Adding to the city’s downtown lodging portfolio, a new W Hotel will bring luxury accommodations, a full-service spa and panoramic city views. An opening date remains to be determined, as the hotel is part of the multi-phased redevelopment of the 40-story Erieview Tower, which will also include the first location for W apartments.

 
New Spaces & Exclusive Exhibits Headline 2025
As museums unveil groundbreaking, first-to-the-United States exhibits and grand openings in 2025, The Land continues its role as a leader in timely national cultural dialogues and thought.

• Cleveland Museum of Natural History unveils $150-million transformation
  • ​With more than 375,000 square feet of reimagined spaces thanks to a wide-reaching transformation and expansion project, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History unveiled in December a bold new model for natural history museums. Exhibits journey through space and time to explore the wonders of the world and put visitors at the center of the experience, highlighting the relevance of science and nature to everyday lives and encouraging action toward a healthier planet.
  • The reconfigured architecture reflects the influences of the natural world and makes it the first museum in the United States to earn LEEDv4 BD+C NC Platinum certification.
• ​Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Picasso and Paper (through March 23): Pablo Picasso’s prolonged engagement with paper is the subject of the groundbreaking exhibition Picasso and Paper, organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in partnership with the Musée National Picasso-Paris. Showcasing nearly 300 works spanning the artist’s career, the exhibition explores lesser-known and key works, including some for the first time in the United States.
  • Karamu Artists Inc.: Printmaking, Race and Community (March 23 – Aug. 17): As America’s oldest producing Black theater, Cleveland’s Karamu House once housed a printmaking workshop where artists and community members—including a young Langston Hughes—could experiment with printmaking. This exhibition is the first to place Karamu Artists Inc. and its innovative use of the graphic arts within the broader context of American art during the 1930s and ’40s.
• Cleveland History Center 
  • History in Their Hands: Black Photographers in Cleveland (through August): This inaugural exhibit highlights the significant work of Black photographers from Cleveland as part of a new permanent gallery dedicated to honoring African American contributions to American history. The exhibit features the works of Van Dillard, Gina Gayle, Jimmy Gayle, Amanda D. King, Mychal Lilly and Charles J. Pinkney.
  • Wild Horses: 60 Years of Ford’s Mustang (through May 4): The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum celebrates a true American automotive icon with displays of Mustang body styles from 1964 to present, filling the museum’s Upper Gallery with cars that evoke nostalgia, envy, curiosity and enthusiasm.
• Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa)
  • Gala Porras-Kim: A Hand in Nature (Jan. 24 – June 1): The artist's work in this exhibition imagines what might be possible if natural forces and phenomena had the agency to self-determine. Artworks on view distill natural processes into sculptures, paintings and drawings that will grow, evolve or degrade throughout the span of the exhibition.
  • Harminder Judge (Jan. 24 – June 1): The artist’s first exhibition in the U.S. displays vibrant plaster and pigment works that explore themes of alchemy, spiritual processions and the body’s transformation through death.
• Cleveland International Film Festival (March 27-April 5): The 49th Cleveland International Film Festival returns to the iconic theaters at Playhouse Square. CIFF49 will showcase hundreds of films with accompanying post-film Q&As as well as audience and juried awards with more than $130,000 in cash prizes for feature and short films. CIFF is one of the few festivals in the world that is Academy Award®-qualifying for all three film categories: short film-live action, animated and documentary.
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame expansion underway (expected completion 2026): One of Cleveland’s most-visited attractions has begun its $135 million expansion project. Expected to be completed by early 2026, the development will nearly double the museum’s footprint. The black and steel granite addition – a nod to Cleveland’s industrial past – will include exhibit space, an atrium lobby with views of Lake Erie and a 2,800-person indoor event venue for concerts, as well as an ADA-compliant outdoor park.

 
Live Shows Feature Serious Star Power and Debut Performances
The Land of Rock n’ Roll is no stranger to a volume-soaring and soul-affirming show, and 2025 brings global superstars like Cynthia Erivo of “Wicked” to Cleveland’s diverse indoor and outdoor stages.

• Brite Winter Music Festival (Feb. 21-22): There’s no more authentic example of Cleveland’s passionate spirit than this outdoor music and arts festival in the heart of winter. In its 16th year, the festival will take place in the Flats East Bank entertainment district, in close proximity to dining and public transit. The event encourages attendees to embrace the season while playing skee-ball, warming up by a bonfire or enjoying light installations and ice sculptures as around 30 musical acts perform across three outdoor stages and two indoor areas near Collision Bend Brewing Co.
• 2025 Cleveland Orchestra Blossom Music Festival (July- Aug.): The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2025 summer concert series showcases Hollywood favorites including “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and Disney’s “The Lion King.” Also on the schedule: “An Evening with Cynthia Erivo,” the Oscar-nominated and Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award–winning actress, singer and producer known for her leading role in the Hollywood movie production “Wicked.”
• Playhouse Square debuts two award-winning hit musicals (Fall): In addition to a stunning lineup for the 2024-25 Broadway season, audiences at Playhouse Square will be the first outside of New York City to experience two hit new musicals – “The Notebook” and Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” – as they make their national tour debuts in Cleveland.
• Karamu House 2024-25 season (through May): The nation’s oldest Black producing theater continues its 2024-25 season with “Weathering,” a powerful drama about birth trauma among Black women, and concludes with “Choir Boy,” a look at the journey to manhood through a boys’ school gospel choir. Looking ahead, the 2025-26 season will mark the institution’s 110th anniversary.
• Globe Iron opens (May): This 1,200-capacity live music and event venue located in Cleveland’s Flats district is slated to kick off its inaugural concert lineup in May. The building, once home to the Globe Iron Works Foundry, was built in 1853 and is being adapted into an intimate industrial-chic performance setting with Midwest charm.

 
New Food & Drink Offerings
This slate of restaurant and bar openings showcases the signature can-do attitude, grit and creativity of The Land’s culinary entrepreneurs and star chefs.

• The Friar’s Table (Dec. 2024): James Beard finalist Brandon Chrostowski of EDWINS partnered with Cleveland Capuchin Ministries to open a new restaurant in Downtown’s Playhouse Square theater district, offering seasonal menus that blend monastic tradition with modern innovation.
• Whiskey Bar (Dec. 2024): Visitors to Downtown Cleveland can now stumble upon the second location of this speakeasy-style whiskey bar, which offers over 400 types of whiskey in a subtle, tucked-away locale.
• Good Pizza (January): After successful pop-ups around Cleveland and a Kickstarter campaign, this new pizza shop will open in Downtown, offering an artisan take on the classic New York pizza.
• Abundance Culinary Expansion (Spring): A “Plate Magazine” 2024 “Chef to Watch,” Liu Fang will expand her popular Abundance Culinary authentic Chinese restaurant concept to fill the entire historic diner car it currently occupies. Fang will also launch a new Dumpling Subscription Club.
• Decades Cleveland (March): A retro 80’s and 90’s-themed bar and club will transform a former dueling piano bar in the Flats East Bank entertainment district with throwback vibes and nostalgic entertainment.
• Jolene’s Honky Tonk (April): This Nashville-style honky tonk will bring live music and an electric country bar atmosphere to Downtown’s vibrant East 4th Street entertainment district.
• Greens Salad Co. (Spring): Wellness-minded foodies can soon grab their greens at this fast casual salad and soups eatery, tucked within the food-centric Ohio City neighborhood.
• Market Garden Brewery adds rooftop patio (Summer): Next door to the iconic West Side Market, Cleveland’s Market Garden Brewery will offer beer enthusiasts a new view of the vibrant Ohio City neighborhood and a sunnier spot to appreciate the warmer months.
• Urban Meyer’s Pint House (Summer): The owners of Cleveland-based brewery Saucy Brew Works will bring an elevated sports watching experience to Downtown Cleveland with this three-floor sports bar and events space.

 
Outdoor Assets Celebrated and Expanded in 2025
The Land’s industrial past has nothing on the region’s rich natural assets, from the 25,000 acres of Cleveland Metroparks that surround the city to a celebrated National Park and diverse array of urban outdoor sports.

• Cuyahoga Valley National Park 50th anniversary (through end of 2025): Celebrations of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s 50th anniversary continue in 2025 through the park’s “CVNP 50” initiative, including a national speaker series, additional resources for visitors and a star-studded summer concert series.
• Cleveland Cultural Gardens dedicates Colombian garden (Dec. 2024): The Colombian Cultural Garden was officially added to the Cleveland Cultural Gardens at the end of 2024, marking it the first Hispanic or Latin culture represented in the gardens’ nearly 100-year history. The Cultural Gardens are a unique park space, celebrating Cleveland’s ethnic diversity and the prospect of international peace and cooperation among nations.
• Cleveland Guardians to unveil $200 million in Progressive Field renovations (April): The surprise underdogs of the 2024 baseball season and American League Central Champions will enjoy a newly updated home by Opening Day of the 2025 season. Highlights of the more than $200 million renovation include an expanded clubhouse, a revamped Upper Deck with a beer garden and a new, expansive “Cleveland Beer Hall” food and beverage experience open to all ticketed fans  at Progressive Field.
• Cedar Point reveals “Siren’s Curse,” the tallest, longest and fastest tilt coaster in America (May): Lake Erie’s legend of sirens luring sailors is the inspiration behind the newest coaster at Cedar Point, “Siren’s Curse.” The structure utilizes an old 160-foot Lake Erie shipping crane where riders will come to a dead stop and “tilt” off the track. The new coaster will tell its story across from the Iron Dragon and near the Cedar Point Marina to lure in riders.
• North Coast Harbor $5 million makeover (May): Waterfront visitors can expect a fresh experience at Downtown Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor just in time for summer. The project includes public access improvements, elevated aesthetics and more elements for visitors to enjoy, including re-paved walking paths and additional lighting.

 
To keep up to date on new developments and activities, please visit www.thisiscleveland.com or follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
 
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ABOUT DESTINATION CLEVELAND: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland’s destination marketing and management organization. The private, non-profit organization’s mission is to stimulate economic growth by attracting people and connecting them to experiences that illustrate Cleveland’s diversity, creativity and contagious passion. In 2023, visitation increased for the third straight year to 18.34 million visits. For more information, visit www.thisiscleveland.com.