Ingenuity Cleveland is thrilled to gather and celebrate the past, present and future (from steam-powered to space-age!) with the return of their flagship event, alongside a wide community of artists, performers, entrepreneurs and YOU!

This year’s theme, Expo: Ingenuity, draws 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, igniting 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.

Attendees will wind their way through a newly expanded festival footprint at IngenuityLabs in the multi-level Hamilton Collaborative warehouse with 12 uniquely-themed villages and featured installations, each highlighting dozens of individual exhibits. This year’s Fest will see the return of villages like Makers Mecca, showcasing everything from robotics, virtual reality, and 3-D printing technologies to tinkering and crafting, allowing the young and young-at-heart to get in touch with their inner DIY enthusiast and make hands-on creations. 

New in 2022 is Inventor’s Emporium, tapping deep into history and nostalgia of the Expo, mixed with art and whimsy, where attendees can find early arcade machines and zoetropes and step inside a giant Camera Obscura.  Also, Mechanique Biotique, merging industry with sustainability, Ideation Station, where entrepreneurs and creatives can mingle with business leaders, and attend panel discussions and workshops, and Locomotion Central at the main crossroads of the festival, with family-friendly activities, a Toddler Town, a sensory-friendly room, and a nursing room.  Exhibitions range from large-scale flame effects to hands-on learning with NASA, Cleveland Public Library, Western Reserve Historical Society, Young Entrepreneurs Institute and more than a hundred individual artisans and exhibitors.  Friday night, Sept. 23, the Speakers Stage in Ideation Station will host Pecha Kucha Cleveland’s Volume 38 20x20 discussions.

At Expo: Ingenuity, six stages will bring you music in all styles from hip-hop, to folk, to honky-tonk delights. With the intimate feel and Victorian circus vibes of The Cabaret; the local and touring acts at Music Meadow; to bass beats and fast rhymes of The Dock Stage, plus, the ever popular upstairs bar and hang-out at the Crystal Palace Stage, audiences can appreciate performance at its best, including showcases from a variety of performance collectives like Beat Freak, Roots of American Music, Cleveland Comedy Festival and Temple of Passions. IngenuityFest tickets are on sale now at IngenuityFest2022.eventbrite.com. 

Tickets range from $10 for a weekend pass to $125 for an annual Agents of Ingenuity membership, which includes a festival VIP goodie bag and complimentary access to the VIP cocktail hour.  Children under 12 are free!  Ingenuity Cleveland strives for a limited waste event, and will provide composting, recycling and free water throughout the festival grounds.

Public health precautions for both events are developed in accordance with CDC recommendations and best practices and include sanitation stations and distancing of exhibits where possible. Masks encouraged.