Photo by Erik Drost/FlickrCC
The
Best Free & Very Cheap Things
to Do in Cleveland This Summer By Scene Staff
10
| clevescene.com | May 18-31, 2022
W
hile the official start of summer won’t clock in until June, everyone knows true Cleveland summer starts when the shorts come out and the kids are home from school. The arrival of long evenings of sun and patio temps is upon us, and with that the feeling of eternal hours left to be filled with friends, family and all that Cleveland has to offer. The problem right now is that your wallet is as empty as those awaiting hours. Inflation is inflating. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Flights are more expensive than you remember the last time you took a vacation. Rent is climbing. Your grocery tab has you considering a diet for reasons other than your winter-induced girth. And if you’re ever going to buy a house, you’re going to need every penny so you too can offer $50,000 over asking in cash just for the pleasure of once again losing out. It can feel like the world has conspired to financially fuck you just as the weather is nice enough to venture off the couch for the first time since 2021. Thankfully, there’s plenty to do in Cleveland that won’t have you taking a second job or skimping on other expenses. For the budget-minded and the poor bastards of Cleveland, there’s an almost endless availability of free and super-cheap things to do this season, from arts and culture to dance parties and nature. Drink it in, get out there, and save those precious expendable dollars for a rainy day, because it sure sounds like there are more than a few around the bend.
ARTS & CULTURE Admission to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is free every single Sunday to residents of Cleveland and East Cleveland thanks to a gift from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation (bring proof of residence in the form of a state ID, utility bill, paystub or W2) and tickets are discounted to $1 every day with a SNAP EBT card. (Tickets in all cases need to be reserved in advance via the museum’s website.) Explore current exhibits on biodiversity and extinction, gaze in wonder at the universe at the planetarium, roam the outdoor wildlife center filled with foxes, coyotes, bald eagles, otters and cranes, and generally bask
in the glorious beauty that is the natural world. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is free every single day for residents of Cleveland (again, proof of residency required when securing tickets in advance via the Rock Hall’s website), thanks to a $10 million gift from KeyBank. There are few better ways to spend a summer day than wandering around the temple of rock and taking in the history of music from the museum’s permanent collection and special exhibits, including ‘The Beatles: Get Back to Let it Be,’ an immersive companion to Peter Jackson’s docuseries on the legendary band. Afterward, stroll around the North Coast Harbor and
