Illuminate CLE: Welcome Home
Illuminate CLE brings bold, dynamic lighting displays to the heart of Public Square, transforming the cityscape into a vibrant, immersive and illuminating experience from dusk until 11:00pm.
Welcome Home is the 2026 Illuminate CLE show, creatively directed by Jasmine A Golphin
The 2026 Illuminate CLE show Welcome Home is a kaleidoscopic celebration of all the vibrant parts of this city that make Cleveland whole.
The show is made of three 2-minute acts that run from sunset to 11 p.m featuring three distinct genres of Cleveland-made music.
Cyan, magenta, and yellow lights dance around Public Square as dazzling projections glide across the surrounding buildings. Just as cyan, magenta, and yellow light come together to create white light, it's the diverse elements of Cleveland that make a city a home.
Creative director Jasmine A Golphin hopes everyone who enjoys this show feels welcomed back home in the heart of Cleveland.
Learn more at thisiscleveland.com/illuminatecle
The music throughout Welcome Home continues the theme of different styles coming together in the heart of our city. It was important to us to feature local artists to make sure we captured an authentically Cleveland sound. Each act is announced with an original lo-fi score by Other Animal, the music supervising team for Welcome Home.
Act One features an original orchestral score composed by Other Animal that serves as an overture for the rest of the show. As the score builds in complexity and tempo, so too do the lights across the Square and the gobo projections across the buildings. This is the cocktail hour before the party begins and the score lets us know we're in for a lively night.
Act Two is when the party comes alive! Brood X's "Hot Stuff" is a high energy psychedelic punk song that reminds us of Cleveland's Rock & Roll roots. The lights and gobos are as lively as the music, like a rock concert unfolding around you. It's a controlled chaos that will takes us to the height of the night.
By Act Three the party at its peak with Sound On Tape's "Cleveland Bop", a song the explicitly welcomes you to dance! Closing out a show called Welcome Home with house music was a happy accident that was bound to happen. House music is all about bringing people together to dance the night away and Welcome Home is a celebration of the difference parts that make up our city whole.