Have you seen it yet? The spiraling lights on Key Tower as you cross the Guardian Bridge? The way Public Square glows like a block party after the sun sets?
Public Square glowed with color when this year’s Illuminate CLE show was revealed. Lights danced across Terminal Tower, Key Tower and the Old Stone Church. Messages like “Defend the Land” bloomed across buildings. Crowds gathered, some unsure of where to look, others lifting phones to catch the full effect of Illuminate CLE, the city’s newest downtown attraction. French fries, popcorn, two ice cream trucks, hot chocolate and waffles were crowd-pleasers while performers on stilts, jugglers with light-up hula hoops and glowing costumes turned the square into a carnival.
Cleveland resident Amanda Thompson, who attended with her two young children, summed it up best, “It’s pretty. Something to bring the family downtown for. We don’t always come down here at night, but this made it feel exciting and safe.”
It was more than a light show. It was meant as a statement: Cleveland isn’t clinging to its industrial past anymore. It’s stepping into the spotlight lit by the people who never stopped believing in it.
Building More Than a Brand
Destination Cleveland, a nonprofit destination marketing and management group, isn’t just promoting tourism with Illuminate CLE. It’s trying to strategically shift how Clevelanders and the country see the city.
At the group’s 2025 annual meeting, CEO David Gilbert emphasized that it wasn’t slick marketing alone that powered the brand. It was Clevelanders themselves: the diehard pride, the loyalty, the resilience and unshakable belief that this city is more than its old headlines. That passion, Gilbert noted, is what made the Cleveland brand take root and endure.
And lately, Destination CLE’s data backs that up:
- 92% of Cleveland residents would now recommend the city to friends and family, a staggering jump from just 24% in 2012.
- Countywide hotel occupancy reached 62.1% in 2024, comparable to the 63% national trends.
- The average daily hotel rate in Cuyahoga County jumped 8.5%.
Behind those stats is a deeper shift: Clevelanders believing in Cleveland and sharing that pride in their city without hesitation.
Which, if you think about it, is no small feat. For decades, Cleveland served as a punching bag in pop culture, the go-to example of a “has-been” city. If you watched enough sitcoms or late-night shows in the ‘90s and 2000s, you’d think Cleveland was nothing but bad weather, burning rivers and broken dreams.
Clearly, the icons of Hollywood must’ve gotten their hearts broken on the shores of Lake Erie. How else do you explain the obsession?
But lately, the jokes have lessened because Cleveland isn’t just existing, it’s emerging as the gem it always was. And it’s emerging into the spotlight not by pretending to be somewhere else. It’s doing it by reminding everyone why Cleveland is great.
Illuminate CLE: A Glowing Reintroduction
Illuminate CLE is the latest visible symbol of this shift. Inspired by a trip to Brussels years ago, Destination CLE leaders and select city officials realized Cleveland’s Public Square could be more than a daytime corridor. It could be an attraction in itself. With more than $5 million raised through public and private support, the lighting project now gives downtown a nightly pulse of energy, beauty and safety.
The Illuminate CLE show runs once every hour, every night, from dusk to 11 p.m., with a choreographed light display playing once every 15 minutes. Each show lasts approximately six minutes, synchronized to an original music score that blends local sounds with cinematic energy. The goal is to create a sense of movement and invitation, encouraging people to stay downtown longer, take photos and feel part of something bigger.
And the lights aren’t stopping there. Plans are already underway to expand installations along Euclid Avenue, Shaker Square, the city’s bridges and other public spaces throughout downtown.
But let’s face it, Cleveland has always had a way with lights, it’s woven into our deeper history. It was here, 129 years ago, that the country’s first electric outdoor city lighting illuminated Public Square, as noted by Cleveland Magazine.
Cleveland then made history by becoming the first city in the United States to install electric streetlights, setting a national precedent for urban lighting. The innovation didn’t stop there. Cleveland also introduced the world’s first electric traffic signal, installed in 1914 at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street, according to History.com. That intersection became the testing ground for a global idea, reminding the world that Cleveland doesn’t just follow trends, it starts them.
From “City on the Water” to True Waterfront City
One of the biggest conceptual shifts Destination Cleveland is championing isn’t just about events or hotels, it’s about identity.
Cleveland has long been a city known for its bodies of water, Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. Then, for much of the past century, the waterfront was dominated by industry and largely inaccessible to residents and visitors alike.
Now, Destination Cleveland wants to change that. The organization is promoting the idea that we aren’t just adjacent to water, we are a waterfront city.
More than $4.5 billion in waterfront redevelopment is underway or planned, including:
* An expanded Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with a new harborfront park.
* The Irish Town Bend Park reclaiming overlooked riverfront land.
* New bikeways connecting the East 55th Marina to downtown.
* Public access expansions along the Cuyahoga River.
In short: over the next decade, Cleveland’s relationship with its water is poised to transform. And if Clevelanders embrace that vision, it won’t just change the landscape, it’ll change how we see ourselves.
As Gilbert said during Illuminate CLE’s debut, “You’ll see it when you believe it. But in Cleveland, sometimes you’ve got to believe it first.”
Moving Forward: Lighting the Way
The lights of Illuminate CLE are just the start. Destination Cleveland plans multiple seasonal shows to keep Public Square alive with activity year-round. Meanwhile, campaigns like Postcards from Cleveland will take the city’s story directly to visitors in places like Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis.
Locals are also being asked to update their digital love letters: after a decade of #ThisIsCLE, a new hashtag #TheLandForLife is rising.
It’s a fitting transition. After all, Cleveland isn’t just a place you pass through anymore. It’s a place you come to stay, to belong, to brag about. The glow is real. The pride is earned. And for the first time in a long time, the world is finally starting to see what we’ve always known.
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