It is no secret that Cleveland has had an explosion of positive growth over the past several years. Young professionals are living and working downtown in record numbers. Downtown apartments are filled to capacity with vacancies far and few between. The city has established itself as a global leader in healthcare innovation and has become a haven for young professionals, technological startups, the legal profession, and entrepreneurs from all walks of life.
But one thing has remained missing from downtown Cleveland: a fantastic New Year’s Eve celebration. In the past, Clevelanders might head downtown for New Years, but they would peel off and end up separated in various restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and hotels to ring in the New Year. That is all going to change on December 31, 2013. This New Year’s Eve, Cleveland will host a fantastic New Year’s Eve bash unlike anything that it has ever attempted in the past – right in the heart of the city on Public Square.
The MC will be none other than Cleveland’s own Drew Carry, there will be live entertainment including a headline performance by the Billboard chart-topping electronic dance music group Krewella, the trademark Cleveland food trucks from the city’s fantastic culinary scene will be on hand, there will be a beer garden complete with the finest local brews, ice sculptures will be made as people watch, there will be an NYE-worthy fireworks show, but, notably, there will not be a ball drop or anything of that nature. Rather than something being dropped or lowered during the countdown to midnight as is the custom in some cities, a “CLE Item” (yet to be disclosed) will be raised in the seconds leading up to midnight as symbolic of Cleveland’s up and coming status. This will be consistent with the event theme, which is “onward and upward.”
It is anticipated that over 20,000 people may attend. The event is FREE and will be broadcast live on Channel 19 (WOIO). Event sponsors are: Ford Motor Company, 19 Action News, 96.5 Kiss FM Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, 43 The Block, Beverage Distributors Inc., Cleveland International Airport, Consolidated Graphics, Insivia, Fresh Brewed Tees, Pyrotecnico, Hotcards, Heineken, Leinenkugel’s, Miller Lite, Strongbow, TRU Events, Liquid Night Club, Cleveland Cavaliers, Lake Erie Monsters, Quicken Loans Arena, Elegant Ice, Westlake Reed Leskosky, Cleveland Public Library, Ariel International Center, The Presidents’ Council, Tenable Protective Services, Joe Cimperman, Kent State University, Clear Channel Outdoor, CUDC, Purple Films, James Douglas Studio, RCS Corporation, Bella Maretty, DCRA, and North Water Partners.