ClevelandPeople.Com Celebrating Cleveland's Cultural Diversity
Cleveland Armenian Festival 2023
Cleveland Armenian Festival 2023
The annual Armenian Festival was held September 15 and 16 at St. Gregory of Narek Armenian Church. There was food, music, church tours and fun for all ages.
Egyptian Art architect Sahar Makar at Egyptian Festival
The annual Egyptian Festival at St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Seven Hills Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) was held August 25-27, 2023. Architect Sahar Makar created a big entrance gate for the Festival which might be seen in Egypt. It took her a month to complete.
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation presented a series of World on Stage events during the summer of 2023 at the Centennial Peace Plaza in the Gardens. A large crowd gathered to see a variety of performances and enjoy Asian food and culture.
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation presented a series of World on Stage events during the summer of 2023 at the Centennial Peace Plaza in the Gardens. The September 9, 2023 event celebrated Asian heritage and culture. The New Cleveland Indians group performed a few Bollywood songs.
China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta
China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta
A new exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art called China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta will be open from September 10, 2023 to January 7, 2024.
It's a large and diverse exhibition. It features more than 200 objects from Neolithic times to the 18th century, ranging from jade, silk, prints, and paintings to porcelain, lacquer, and bamboo carvings.
Portraits of the Qianlong Emperor and His Twelve Consorts
32nd anniversary of Ukraine's independence celebrated in Parma
32nd anniversary of Ukraine's independence celebrated in Parma
United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio hosted a parade and ceremony on Saturday August 26, 2023 to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of Ukraine's independence. After the Parade there was a ceremony followed by a festival at St. Josaphat Church.
The Parade of Flags at One World Day was the biggest and best ever. There were 53 heritages represented with about 1500 marchers! Both are records.
In a sign of unity, the MCs for the Parade were from the 4 major TV stations in Cleveland: Danielle Wiggins from WKYC. Kelly Dobeck from WOIO. Nadeen Abusada from WEWS and Tino Bovenzi from Fox 8 TV.
The Cleveland Police Color Guard led off the parade followed by students from the CMSD John F Kennedy High School ROTC carrying the One World Day banner. The Grand Marshall was Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne who walked with Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation President Dr. Wael Khoury.
This is the order of the units in the Parade: Native American, British, Pakistani, Dominican, Estonian, Irish, Finnish, Greek, Mexican, Croatian, Czech, Italian, Slovenian, Ukrainian, Lebanese, Uzbek, Colombian, French, Albanian, Brazilian, Hebrew, Vietnamese, Swiss, Turkish, Serbian, Moroccan, Syrian, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Azerbaijani, Iranian, African-American, Filipino, Ethiopian, Bangladeshi, German, Indian, Scottish, Latvian, Chinese, Hungarian, Peruvian, Lithuanian, Armenian, Haitian, Slovak, Carpatho-Rusyn, Kazakh, Puerto Rican and Palestinian.
Watch the video of the Parade of Flags.
Filipino Cultural Garden getting ready for One World Day
Filipino Cultural Garden getting ready for One World Day
The new Filipino Cultural Garden is just north of the Hebrew Garden on East Blvd. A crew was on hand Sunday August 20 to spruce up the land for the annual One World Day on Sunday August 27.
In this video, Rose Ferguson, leader of the Filipino Garden coalition, told us about the new Garden and the importance of José Rizal.
Greek Cultural Garden Lecture Series - The Golden Ratio
Greek Cultural Garden Lecture Series - The Golden Ratio
The Greek Cultural Garden hosted a Lecture Series in the summer of 2023 showcasing some of the great thoughts from Greek cultural luminaries. On August 19, 2023 the topic was Demystifying the Golden Ratio and it was presented by math professor Athanasious Sarantopoulus.
Romanian Festival at St Mary Romanian Orthodox Cathedral
Romanian Festival at St Mary Romanian Orthodox Cathedral
St. Mary's, founded in 1904, is the oldest Romanian Orthodox parish in the United States. Prior to the building of today's cathedral in Cleveland's Kamm's Corners neighborhood in 1960, the church's home was on Detroit Avenue in the old Romanian area of the city. The Festival featured Romanian Cuisine, Imported Beverages, Romanian Pastries, Audio-Visual Romanian Heritage, Church & Museum Tours, Games For Kids, Vendors, Souvenirs and more.
Entertainment included Transylvania Band, Ceata Children's Romanian Folk Dance Group, Doina Dance Group and a Romanian Costumes Parade.
On August 18, 2023 in Cleveland, members of the Dominican community gathered on the steps of Cleveland City Hall for a ceremony and then the raising of the flag of the Dominican Republic above the building. This was the first time the Dominican flag flew over City Hall.
Fun with Maps - The island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands
Fun with Maps - The island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands
This episode of Fun with Maps is, sadly, about an area that has been devastated by wildfires, the Hawaiian island of Maui. As of this recording on August 15, 2023 the death toll in the Hawaii wildfires is at 99 with more than 1,000 people unaccounted for.
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean. Maui is the 2nd largest of the eight: smaller than the Big Island of Hawaii but larger than the well-known Oahu, home to Honolulu. Before the recent fires, on an average day, there would be 42,000 tourists on Maui.
In this episode we look at how the island was formed by the overlapping of two volcanoes. Also how humpback whales, like humans, like to spend their winter there. And we look at the areas most devastated by the tragic disaster.
The annual Little Italy Feast of the Assumption (referred to informally as The Feast) is a four-day Catholic street festival centered on Holy Rosary Church on Mayfield Road near its intersection with Murray Hill Road in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood.
Fox 8's Kickin' it with Kenny Crumpton featured a preview of One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens on Thursday August 10, 2023. There were appearances and performances from Pacific Paradise Entertainment, LENAC Native American group, FICA Indians and Cajun food from the Dawg Bowl.
A favorite moment was when the two Indian groups (Asian and Native American) got together.
The annual Glenville Festival was back on Saturday August 12, 2023 with a theme of Hip Hop at 50. There were family activities, music, food trucks, kids games, classic cars, boxing, community resources and performances.
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation presented a series of World on Stage events at the Centennial Peace Plaza in the Gardens to showcase various heritages such as African, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Asian. On Saturday August 5, 2023 a special community night was presented by the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation and Famicos Foundation. The evening began with a performance by Russell Thompson and Free Agent.
Russell Thompson and Free Agent
This was followed by the first annual Glenville's Got Talent competition. Acts submitted a video of their performance and the best were chosen to appear on stage.
The annual Cleveland Puerto Rican Parade was held Sunday August 6, 2023. The Parade was put on by the Hispanic Police Officers' Association (HPOA) which has been proudly serving it's members and the greater Cleveland community since it was founded in 1986.
Cleveland's number one traditional Polish Food festival came back after missing a few years due to Covid. The Taste of Casimir festival at the historic church featured traditional Polish food, a Polish Beer Garden, Bi-lingual Masses and Church Tours, live Polish music, shopping, raffles and more.
The annual festival on the beautiful grounds of the Pokrova Ukrainian Greek Catholic Parish was held August 4-6, 2023. There was food and drink, live entertainment, a Ukrainian Bazaar, sports contests, a Kid's Corner and more.
On October 14, Ukrainians celebrate the Feast of the Protection (Ukrainian "Pokrova") of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos. Pokrova Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. On August 3, 1973, the parish of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was incorporated in the state of Ohio. They purchased a 35 acre homestead at 6812 Broadview Rd Parma, OH.
The need for a Greek Orthodox Church in the eastern suburbs of Greater Cleveland was felt prior to World War II, when many Greek Orthodox communicants had scattered throughout the city. In 1957 the first service was held at the new Sts. Constantine & Helen in Cleveland Heights. On December 17, 1967, the Archbishop designated Sts. Constantine & Helen a Cathedral.
Like the other Greek festivals this summer there were lots of activities - music, dancing, shopping, Church tours and, of course, food!
This episode of Fun with Maps is about a vitally important stretch of 120 miles - the Suez Canal. Host Dan Hanson begins by showing the Sinai Peninsula to the east of the Suez Canal. Sinai is part of Egypt but is in Asia while the rest of Egypt is in Africa. It gets its name from the belief by the three Abrahamic religions that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mt Sinai, a mountain near the south of the peninsula.
The Suez Canal goes from Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea to Port Suez which empties into the Gulf of Suez and then the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and then the Indian Ocean. Dan looks at the 10 year construction of the Suez Canal and touches on many of the political, military and financial issues concerning it such as when Egyptian president Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956 and the 8 year blockade that started with the 1967 Six-Day War.
Dan tells the story of the famous Yellow Fleet which resulted from that blockade. The video also covers the recent (2021) blocking of the Suez Canal by a large container ship.
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation presented a World on Stage event to showcase Middle Eastern Heritage on July 22, 2023 at the Centennial Peace Plaza in the Cultural Gardens. The plaza was full and the crowd enjoyed musical performances from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon and Syria.
Dancing in the Plaza at the Middle East Heritage event
Over 45,000 people attended the Cleveland Asian Festival (CAF) on Saturday May 20 and Sunday May 21, 2023. The AsiaTown neighborhood was packed with families and people of all ages to enjoy the annual festival that kicks off summer in Cleveland.
Save the date for the next Cleveland Asian Festival on May 18 and 19, 2024.
Cleveland International Hall of Fame Inductions
Cleveland International Hall of Fame Inductions
What a night! Over 450 people attended the 2023 induction ceremony for the Cleveland International Hall of Fame. Lots of photos and videos posted soon.
2023 Class Picture Standing: Sudarshan Sathe and Pierre Bejjani Seated: Georgine Welo, Mike Polensek and Pat Dowd Not pictured: Joyce Mariani
Ukrainian bandura group at Lake Erie Folk Fest this weekend
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.
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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!
