Parade the Circle, one of Cleveland’s signature summer cultural events, makes its long-awaited return to Wade Oval for the first time since 2019 due to the pandemic. Parade the Circle will wind its way through University Circle with brightly colored floats, festive music and joyful dancing on Saturday, June 10.
The festive event historically draws tens of thousands of people. It will step off at noon from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s north entrance.
Longtime Cleveland visual artist Héctor Castellanos Lara will lead this year's Parade, featuring a theme of "transformation," symbolized by the dragonfly.
“As we strive to regain normalcy from the pandemic, we are all looking for a positive moment of transformation,” Castellanos Lara said in a press release. “Like the transformation of a dragonfly, we all need change in our lives to grow, self-reflect and adapt to any environment or circumstance we may face.”
Also a symbol of resilience, hope and happiness, the dragonfly may be used by parade participants in any of their designs for floats, costumes, performances or art.
Community workshops are planned throughout April and May at the museum’s Community Arts Center on W. 25th Street in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood to assist participants in planning their initial ideas. The Cleveland Museum of Art will also hold nine tent workshops in University Circle in May and June. Participants can work with artists to construct their materials on site.
Any individual, family, school, group or organization is invited to participate. Those interested can register on CMA’s website.
