Outdoor Festival Features
Outdoor Festival Features
The 46th annual festival will take place June 26 – 28, 2025 and features outdoor entertainment under the GE Chandelier at Playhouse Square during the festival weekend. The streets are closed in the district to allow for concerts, shopping, food and beverage vendors, street performers and much more. Admission to this area is free and open to all ages.
Outdoor Lineup for the SeibertKeck Insurance Partners Stage
Friday, June 27
| Bent String | 3 – 3:45 p.m. |
| Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band | 4:14 – 5 p.m. |
| Abstract Sounds | 5:30 – 6:15 p.m. |
| Flyover Quintet | 6:45 – 7:30 p.m. |
| Bassel & the Supernaturals | 8 – 8:45 p.m. |
| Nathan-Paul & the Admirables | 9:15 – 10 p.m. |
| Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band | 10:30 – 11:50 p.m. |
Saturday, June 28
| Cleveland Jazz Orchestra | 3 – 3:45 p.m. |
| Becky Boyd & the Groove Train | 4:14 – 5 p.m. |
| Hello! 3D | 5:30 – 6:15 p.m. |
| David M. Thomas Gospel Project | 6:45 – 7:30 p.m. |
| Birth | 8 – 8:45 p.m. |
| Black Voltron | 9:15 – 10 p.m. |
| Sammy DeLeon & Friends | 10:30 – 11:50 p.m. |
Bassel & The Supernaturals tells the story of Bassel Almadani’s experience as a first-generation Syrian-American using soulful melodies, funk-inspired rhythms and captivating lyrics regarding love, loss, otherness and the war in Syria. The band made its national television debut in May 2024 as part of a new PBS docuseries, The Express Way, regarding the transformative power of the arts.
Abstract Sounds is a six-piece band from Cleveland known for driving dance grooves and hard-hitting horns. The band was started in 2021 by saxophonist Jevaughn Bogard to bring the elements of jazz and dance back together. Its music ranges from high-energy originals to covers by artists like Herbie Hancock, Daniel Caesar, Wayne Shorter, Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, Jill Scott and the Bee Gees.
Becky Boyd has been playing the Cleveland club scene for over 40 years. She has opened for such noted artists as the Outlaws, Brownsville Station, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Robert Lockwood Jr., Billy Branch, Chad & Jeremy and the Marshall Tucker Band. The Groove Train plays a mixture of styles from jazz and Latin to funk, blues and soul. It features some of the best players in the region, with Jim Wall on drums, Ben Nieves on guitar and Alfredo Guerrieri on bass.
Hello3D! plays hot-weather music for cold-weather people. This band is influenced by Peruvian and Columbian cumbia, psychedelic rock from Turkey, Afrobeat from Africa and big, loud rock music.
Formerly known as Hyperius Blake & the Sound Experiment, Black Voltron delivers electrifying live performances, blending classical training, church roots and diverse lived experiences. The group’s versatile musicianship captivates audiences in venues of all sizes, conveying raw energy and emotion. Transcending genre boundaries, its sound fuses jazz, disco/house, hip-hop, neo-soul and world music.
The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, led by award-winning composer and trombonist Paul Ferguson, promotes jazz in its historical and contemporary forms through concerts that feature a stellar lineup of jazz luminaries, arrangers and composers. At a CJO concert, you will enjoy “the best jazz you’ve ever heard and the best jazz you’ve never heard.”
Bent String performs a mix of American roots music, including early jazz and acoustic blues, along with original songs written by the band members. The quintet centers on the vocals of Kari Ann Rutushin, underpinned by the jazz-age swing of Reed Simon’s hot violin, Caroline King’s sublime accordion, Kevin T. Richard’s arch-top guitars and Cleveland Blues Hall of Fame bassist Raymond DeForest.
Birth is a trio with saxophone, electric bass and drums. Founded in Cleveland in 1998 by saxophonist Joshua Smith, drummer Joe Tomino and bassist Jeremy Bleich, Birth is nearing its fourth decade as a band. The trio’s music is deeply compositional, always intertwining groove and melodicism with complex forms for improvisation. The music pulls from a palette of jazz, avant-garde jazz, groove music, rock balladeering and frenetic improvisation layered over through-composed forms.
The DMT Gospel Music Project is based on a good news message with uplifting gospel music lyrics. This music combines different styles, including jazz, gospel, R&B and hip-hop as well as songs from well-known gospel artists, such as Kirk Franklin, and popular rhythm and blues artists, including Prince. The performers are all outstanding, well-known Cleveland-based musicians.
Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band has entertained audiences for nearly 35 years. Jones was a member of the reggae group I-Tal and then the legendary First Light before pursuing a solo career with the Peace, Love, Unity Syndicate.
Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band is led by Ernie Krivda, one of the most accomplished, awarded and well-known jazz artists in Northeast Ohio. This 19-piece band and its legendary frontmen have earned a reputation as one of the region’s hardest-swinging big bands.