Community Celebrations
Downtown Akron has evolved into a vibrant and welcoming confluence of people and ideas. Nowhere is this rich diversity celebrated more than in the distinctive docket of citywide special events. Each year there are more reasons for everyone to call this town their town!
We caught up with Dominic Caruso, communications director for the Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP), to get a temperature on the 2022 plans. His organization orchestrates the Cherry Blossom Festival in the springtime and provides supplementary programming for many other events, including the Pride Festival and Juneteenth Celebration.
“This is an incredibly exciting time to be in downtown Akron,” says Dominic. “Each year the efforts evolve and expand. All these events share a common ground: They are designed to lift everyone up.”
Cherry Blossom Festival
Between 2012 and 2015, the City of Akron and the Japanese Association of Northeast Ohio (JANO) formed a fruitful partnership with the ambitious goal of creating a majestic corridor of ornamental Japanese cherry blossom trees.
Chiaki Nakayama, president of JANO, reports that the cultural group donated more than 400 of the breathtaking trees, lining Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and winding through downtown Akron.
As the official national flower of Japan, every spring, for a few fleeting weeks in mid-April, the tender blooms create a truly magical scene.
Last year the Downtown Akron Partnership decided the spectacle should be celebrated and kicked off the inaugural Cherry Blossom Festival. This year, you’ll see thousands of luminaries from Lock 3 to Channelwood Village at Thornton Street.
“There’s nothing more spring-like and renewing than this celebration,” says Dominic. “Last year we hung wind chimes in some of the trees to heighten the peaceful mood. This is the perfect example of how the impact bringing in elements from other cultures—such as our Asian community—can make our cityscape so inviting. Our hope is to encourage people to spend some time amongst the blooming trees and enjoy our invaluable public space together.”
As winter gives way to spring (finally!), we aren’t sure of the exact dates the trees will be in bloom, so look for festival details to be announced at DowntownAkron.com or its Facebook page.
Juneteenth Celebration
Although Juneteenth National Independence Day wasn’t officially made a federal holiday until 2021, in Akron it’s been celebrated with an annual festival since 1998.
“We feel it’s important to honor Akron Juneteenth Festival founder Gerald R. Carter, who passed away in 2020,” says Dominic. “His inspiration for the festival was a trip he took to Dallas. Juneteenth commemorates the date in 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced 250,000 people enslaved in Texas were freed, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.”
Dominic says that last year DAP sought to support, enhance and connect the celebrations that were happening, from the west side at Stoner/Hawkins Park to North Hill.
“The day included amazing musical performances downtown, a gospel concert on Cascade Plaza, and a hip-hop dance crew giving lessons at the Akron Art Museum,” he says. “This year we are trying to expand the celebration and spread awareness of this holiday that marks the end of slavery. It’s a significant part of history for all Americans.”
Highlights from last year’s festival include a Talkback panel and community picnic held at Perkins Stone Mansion, as well as a performance of the original play, “The Life of John Brown,” written by Reva Golden and presented by the Summit County Historical Society.
This year the festival falls on Sunday, June 19. Organizer Fela Sutton tells us the focus will be on health.
“Our committee is still in the planning stages, but we are already working with local gyms and nutritionists to provide programming that supports staying healthy,” she says. “With the pandemic, I feel we are all more interested in finding ways to stay healthy.”
Fela says she feels that Juneteenth commemorates the freedom to congregate and freedom of ideas.
“As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’ and I think we need to remember and celebrate that,” she says. “This day is about unity and freedom.”
Akron Pride Festival
Set for Saturday, August 27, at Lock 3, the Akron Pride Festival has a lofty mission of unifying and affirming the LGBTQ+ community.
Filled with live music, national and local entertainment, food trucks, vendors, drag acts and above all, love, the Festival kicks off with an Equity March. People will represent awash with a rainbow of color from downtown to Lock 3 Park.
“The festival gives the LGBTQ+ community and our allies a day where we can celebrate the progress we have made, be the people who we were born to be, and support each other in the work that still needs to be done,” says event co-chair Brian Lamoda-Genet.
Dominic says they were pleased last year to expand the footprint of this festival, as it moved from Hardesty Park (where it was held prior to 2021) to the downtown area.
“Downtown played host to thousands of people,” he says. “Working with a local hip-hop dance troupe, we orchestrated several pop-up dance parties during the day and fireworks at night that were spectacular.”
This family-friendly event also included a Kids’ Zone with a host of inflatables and kids’ activities.
Seeing our City as a Thriving Destination
“There’s a lot of beneficial overlap and collaboration between our work and that of other close-knit civic organizations, including the Akron Civic Commons,” adds Dominic. “Our events and festivals feel authentic to people in the community, and they want to be a part of that. When all the different sections of downtown are reenergizing, so too are the surrounding neighborhoods. We’re providing more incentive for people to see this space as a thriving destination for affordable entertainment and family fun.”
Beyond these annual events, DAP offers a full slate of free summertime fitness programs, such as Zumba, yoga, Tai Chi, line dancing, kickboxing, and roller skating at Cascade Plaza. The organization also protects downtown interests through its Downtown Ambassadors Program to keep the streets safe and clean.
“Our intention is for people to have an immediate sense of downtown as a place for joy and celebration,” says Dominic. “With Main Street open now, our beautiful public spaces are even more accessible. We’re hoping more people want to be a part of the vibrancy of downtown. Come for an event, then realize this is the place to hang out with family, make new friends, and enjoy different experiences.”
The mission of the Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP) is to promote and build a vibrant and valuable downtown. Since its inception in 1996, DAP has been intentional across everything it does, from programming and space activation to business development, to clean, safe and welcoming initiatives, in building a downtown that is welcoming to all people and reflective of all the people who make up the Akron community. To find out more about the Cherry Blossom Festival and other community-oriented happenings, go to DowntownAkron.com.