ClevelandPeople.Com Celebrating Cleveland's Cultural Diversity
Annual Irish Famine Memorial Mass
Annual Irish Famine Memorial Mass
The Irish Famine Memorial monument, and surrounding area on the East bank of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland’s Flats, is a memorial to the Great Hunger, the potato famine of the 1840’s.
Each year Members of the Cleveland Irish community celebrate a Mass at the monument to remember those who died in what is called a famine but in reality was more of a political action.
The Mass was concelebrated by Fr. Thomas Mahoney and Fr. Francis Walsh.
President of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar in Cleveland
President of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar in Cleveland
Nataša Pirc Musar, Slovenia's first female president, visited Cleveland Ohio after her speech at the United Nations. Cleveland has the most people of Slovenian heritage outside of Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia. She spoke at an event at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland on Friday September 26, 2025.
The Slovenian Cultural Garden, one of over 40 ethnic heritage gardens in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens chain, celebrated its 30th anniversary on September 21, 2025. It was dedicated as the Jugoslav (Yugoslav) Cultural Garden on December 4, 1932 and after the breakup of Yugoslavia it became the Slovenian Garden in 1995. Separate gardens were established for former Yugoslav communities Serbian and Croatian.
The afternoon event included food, music, camaraderie and a program.
Celebrando at Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center
Celebrando at Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center
Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center in Cleveland Ohio was founded in 1989 as a family oriented center to serve the Latino youth and their families through programs and activities designed to foster cultural pride and art appreciation. On Sunday September 14, 2024 they celebrated their 10th annual Celebrando which is dedicated to honoring the rich cultural heritage of the Hispanic and Latino communities in Cleveland. It's a vibrant and engaging occasion filled with music, dance, and traditional cuisine, as well as educational and artistic presentations.
As part of 2025 Global Cleveland, Global Cleveland hosted a panel at the Cleveland Public Library titled From Neighborhoods to Nations: The Power of Sub-National Diplomacy. The purpose was to explore how cities, counties and states play a powerful role in advancing global collaboration, economic opportunity and international engagement.
Cleveland Council on World Affairs new CEO Marti Flacks
Cleveland Council on World Affairs new CEO Marti Flacks
The Cleveland Council on World Affairs hosted a welcoming reception on September 11, 2025 to introduce their new CEO, Marti Flacks. CCWA Board Chair Paul Clark introduce Ms. Flacks and then she gave her remarks.
Bharat Kumar founded India Festival USA (IFUSA) in 2010 to celebrate diversity through one-day of togetherness and display the rich culture and diversity of two of the greatest nations on earth - India and USA.
The event featured performances, talent competitions, cultural displays, Indian food and more. The performances were terrific.
The Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland was founded in 1952 by displaced scholars who took on the mission of collecting and preserving items from Ukrainian history and culture during an era when this kind of material was being deliberately destroyed in Soviet Ukraine. Over the course of its first quarter century, the UMA compiled a huge collection that includes many rare, even unique items.
The UMA’s collection includes over 45,000 books and over 1,800 unique titles of periodicals. In addition, the Ukrainian Museum-Archives (UMA) has a very large collection of materials published and created in the post WWII Displaced Persons Camps with approximately 1,600 titles of books and 500 periodicals.
The Museum (and Gift Shop) is open for public hours are Tuesday – Saturday – 10:00 am to 3:00 pm (or by appointment)
The Parade of Flags at the 79th annual One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. One World Day chair Sheila Murphy Crawford introduced the four MC's: Daniele Wiggins from WKYC, Tracy Carloss from WEWS, Kelly Dobeck from WOIO and Dontae Jones from Fox8.
After the One World Day banner and Cleveland Police, the parade featured Grand Marshal and Cleveland baseball legend Carlos Baerga. He was joined by Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne and Dr. Wael Khoury, president of the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation.
The Irish American Club Eastside Pipe Band was followed by communities representing cultural gardens and communities from Puerto Rico, Ukraine, Korea, Dominican Republic, Armenia, France, Latvia, Ireland, Switzerland, Hungary, Finland, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Brazil, Iran, Haiti, Iraq, Bangladesh, China, Morocco, Italy, Philippines, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Carpatho-Rusyn, Lithuania, Palestine, Japan, Lebanon, Serbia, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Uzbekistan, Hebrew, Indonesia, Albania, India, Croatia, Britain, Mexico, Syria, Scotland, Peru, Ethiopia, Poland, Vietnam, Colombia, Jordan and the African-American Garden who went last because they had a float and the Warrensville Hts. Marching Band. Watch.
India Independence Day 2025
India Independence Day 2025
Independence Day is celebrated annually on August 15 as a public holiday in India commemorating the nation's independence from the United Kingdom on August 15, 1947, the day when the provisions of the Indian Independence Act, which transferred legislative sovereignty to the Indian Constituent Assembly, came into effect.
The Cleveland Indian community gathered in the India Cultural Garden to sing the national anthems and patriotic songs and have a short program.
I was honored to do an interview with WKYC anchor Russ Mitchell about ClevelandPeople.com, the Cleveland International Hall of Fame, the Cultural Gardens, etc. which ran the other day confirmed two of my beliefs: 1) Russ Mitchell is a real pro and 2) I have a face for radio. Lol. I didn't speak much/enough about Mom or Debbie because I still get choked up. Watch the interview (broken into 2 segments) below.
Cleveland International Hall of Fame 2025 Inductions
Cleveland International Hall of Fame 2025 Inductions
The pictures and videos are now posted. (more to come too)
We always get asked what are the best ethnic events each year. While "best" is a subjective term we decided to put together a list of annual ethnic events that we have experienced and think that every Clevelander should attend at least once. There are a lot of one-time or every few years' events that you should attend as well (like the Lithuanian Song Festival in June or the Convencion Hispana every 3 years). But this initial list will be annual events.
We want your input. What does every resident of, and visitor to, The Land need to witness? We will be collecting your input and merging with our long list and then narrowing down to a definitive (in our opinion) checklist. Let us know how many of these you have already experienced. You can email us with your suggestions.
Here's a short alphabetical list of "must-do's" to get started. Don't be offended or worry if your favorite is not listed. This is just the start.
Cleveland Asian Festival (AsiaTown - 30th and Payne)
Columbus Day Parade (Little Italy)
Cleveland International Hall of Fame inductions (Windows on the River)
Feast of the Assumption (Little Italy)
Greek Independence Day Parade (West 14th)
India Republic Day (various)
Juneteenth Celebration (African American Cultural Garden)
Liszt Concert (Hungarian Cultural Garden)
Lunar New Year (AsiaPlaza and other)
Mexican Day of the Dead (Gordon Square)
Ohio Scottish Games & Celtic Festival (County Fairgrounds)
Oktoberfest (County Fair Grounds)
One World Day (Cleveland Cultural Gardens)
Opera in the Italian Garden
Polish Constitution Day Parade (Polish Village in Parma)
Puerto Rican Day Parade (West 25th by Metro)
Romanian Festival (St Mary Romanian Orthodox Cathedral)
Slovenian Kurentovaje (62nd and St. Clair)
St. Patrick's Day Parade (Superior Ave downtown)
Ukrainian Independence Day Parade (Ukrainian Village in Parma)
They're Baaaaack - in AsiaTown
They're Baaaaack - in AsiaTown
The three young unintentional heroes who solved a series of murders in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens find themselves in the middle of another mystery.
In Murder in AsiaTown DJ, Ren and Peggy, called a modern Mod Squad, discover a decades old murder case from Cleveland’s Chinatown. While working to showcase and document the history of the Chinese community and neighborhood they stumble upon some disturbing news. Their efforts take them all over the Chinatown and AsiaTown neighborhoods of Cleveland Ohio and includes numerous historic facts and stories. When it looks like they have the case solved, a surprising twist emerges.
This is Cleveland author Dan Hanson's second book. The first book, Murder in the Cultural Gardens, is a “whodunit” murder mystery set in the real world Cleveland Cultural Gardens. An unlikely new “Mod Squad” stumbles upon a series of murders in their beloved Gardens and assist in solving the crimes. All 30+ of the Cultural Gardens are covered in the book so readers learn about this treasure while trying to figure out the mystery.
You can find them on Amazon and in local bookstores like Mac'sBacks on Coventry. Or email for autogaphed copies. They make great Christmas gifts!
Murder in the Cultural Gardens
Murder in the Cultural Gardens
"It just didn't seem right to DJ. A body found bludgeoned in a place known for "Peace through Mutual Understanding." But there she was, crumpled behind a bust of composer Franz Liszt in the Hungarian Cultural Garden. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. "What is the nature of your emergency?" the dispatcher queried. With a suddenly very dry mouth DJ managed to get out, "There's been a murder in the Cultural Gardens."
That's the beginning of the recently published first novel by Dan Hanson.
The whodunit, titled Murder in the Cultural Gardens, takes place in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens and all 30+ gardens are featured during the mystery. You may even recognize some of the characters.
Click the link above to learn more or to purchase in paperback or Kindle version from Amazon. Or contact Dan via the Murder in the Cultural Gardens webpage to have a signed book delivered.
Cleveland is a diverse city with about 120 distinct ethnic heritages represented. We at ClevelandPeople.com and the Cleveland International Hall of Fame believe that this ethnic diversity makes us a much richer city and that we should all celebrate this fact.
We asked people from various ethnic groups to create a tile representing their heritage. These 3 quilts are a product of that effort. We hope that other ethnic groups will want to add their own tile to these patchworks showcasing our ethnic diversity.
This DVD is a Living Rosary in the sense that over 200 people participated in saying a prayer. 3 bishops, numerous priests and sisters and a variety of lay people all said a prayer (Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary or Glory Be) that when put together combine to form the complete Rosary.
We hope that you will pray along with the diverse group of people on this DVD. They are young and old, different races and ethnicities, in Church and outside, alone and in groups. The prayers are said in English, but occasionally there is a prayer in another language. You may not know the language but will understand, and be able to pray along, because of the context.
We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Please note that some of the links on this website are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, we will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
If you want your group's events listed in our Calendar, please send an e-mail to events@clevelandpeople.com with the details. Please allow at least 2 weeks lead time.
Do you need a Hungarian Flag? A shirt that says "I love Slovenian girls"? How about a sign that says No Parking except for Irish Grandmother?
These and hundreds of other items for your particular ethnic group are available for browsing at our on-line store. It's safe, fast, easy and fun. And there is a wide selection you will never find in the stores!
