Our Flagship Event
IngenuityFest
Ingenuity Cleveland was conceived as IngenuityFest - a multi-day, multi-venue event that would move among downtown locations, inviting Northeast Ohio residents and tourists to re-discover the city as alive and vibrant. IngenuityFest animated storefronts, abandoned alleys and interiors of buildings that had long been ignored with a cross-pollination of arts, technology, and entrepreneurship. Launched along Clevelandā€™s iconic Public Square, the Festival moved to Gateway/East 4th Street, Playhouse Square, the Cleveland State University campus, the Streetcar level of the Detroit Superior Bridge, and finally to Clevelandā€™s Northcoast Harbor, before settling in St. Clair-Superior in 2016. In 2020, the first-ever virtual iteration of our festival was born. We produced Virtually INGenious in partnership with 48 Hour Virtual Music Fest CLE.
We have been surprising and delighting regional and national audiences for over 16 years! IngenuityFest includes immersive artwork (built collaboratively by the Ingeneers!); half a dozen stages featuring hundreds of musicians, dancers, poets, and performances of all types; maker and innovator exhibits; fine art; and so much more. All of this is displayed throughout the 300,000 square foot Hamilton Collaborative, which is broken up into Festival Villages.
Era of Ascent
Ingenuityfest 2024
Join us September 27-29 at IngenuityLabs for IngenuityFest 2024: Era of Ascent as we spread our wings and Take Flight in celebration of our 20th anniversary season of programming and 100,000 sq. ft. expansion of IngenuityLabs, a permanent home for creativity and innovation in Cleveland!
2023
Biologies & Geologies
IngenuityFest 2023: Biologies & Geologies took place September 22-24, 2023! Dedicated to a rebirth, and celebration of our singular planet's resources and wonders, this year's Fest will explore how human innovation interacts with communities across earth, air and water.
IngenuityFest 2023 was a journey through crystal caverns, aquatic landscapes and more, at once whimsical and wholly serious in its dedication to environmental stewardship, sustainability and innovation and human invention.
In addition to unique performance spaces, original works, and hundreds of exhibitors, performers and artisans, in 2023, we welcomed returning festival villages Makers Mecca, Wellness Way, Inventors Emporium, Ideation Station and IndusTree Alley, dedicated to changing perceptions about manufacturing, celebrating our area's industrial heritage and highlighting our shared dedication to sustainability.
2022
Expo: Ingenuity
Drawing on the best traditions of World's Fairs and (Inter)National Exhibitions, including the ability to highlight those scientific, technological and social innovations that have driven progress, Expo: Ingenuity ignited the creative spark by tracing a history of imagination through time and place, highlighting the ability of expositions to bring people together to uplift achievement and human ingenuity.
In 2022, we welcomed more than 15,000 visitors to our home at IngenuityLabs. The festival featured nearly 100 performances across six stages; showcased hundreds of individual artists, makers, creatives & companies; and received STELLAR audience feedback!
2021
ingenuity at the lake
Ingenuity at the Lake was a culmination of our year-long neighborhood programming, activating our community through monthly Ignite! Neighbor Nights in St Clair Superior, and our series of Hip! Hooray! popups with partners from the Cleveland Metroparks, Famicos Foundation, and the CHEERS initiative.
On our traditional IngenuityFest weekend, offered a family-focused, open-air event in Metroparks' North Gordon and City of Cleveland South Gordon Parks. The event was set up to emphasize the pathways and connections that bring residents to the Lakefront. Attendees experienced muralists and live painting, pop-up performances, Community Conversation boards and much more!
2020
Viurtually ingenious
For the first time in Ingenuity history, welcomed you to a virtual festival! We partnered with our friends at 48 Hour Virtual Music Fest CLE to bring performers together via the magic of the internet since we can't be together in person.
We compiled over 53 hours of compelling virtual content and experiences, and streamed them to 30,000+ living rooms. Virtually INGenious featured bands, artists, performers, creatives, and local difference-makers in our community on Facebook Live!
2019
IngenuityFest: Dreamscapes
Celebrating its 15th year making creative intersections of art, science, and technology accessible to all, Dreamscapes brought to life an entire fantasy, vividly imagined by our creative community for a city reawakened and renewed.
New in 2019 were sustainability-focused village IngenuityTree Isle, and Wellness Way on the never-before-seen third floor (!), where attendees can focus on the health of body (strap on some skates with RollinBuckeyez Foundation) plus mind, spirit and community. The Dreamerā€™s Tavern featured local speakers from Clevelandā€™s Creative Arts Network and beyond, in partnership with IngenuityLabs Ignite!