Tower City holiday traditions continue to mesmerize generations of Clevelanders

Two indoor "snow shows" delight kids and adults alike on the weekends at Tower City Center.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Holiday traditions in downtown Cleveland are being rebuilt, expanded and handed off to the next generation. This includes what’s going on inside Tower City Center’s gleaming halls.

On a recent weekend, as families streamed in for the tree lighting, indoor “snow” show and other festivities, staff estimated nearly 28,000 people passed through.

“Tower City’s always been the place for the holidays,” Jason Russell, head of operations for Tower City, told Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer in an interview this week. “We want to keep that tradition going.”

There are many cool, no-cost holiday activations this year including something called “sock skating” — done on a “no-blades, no-broken-hips” rink that has quickly become the season’s unexpected hit. Kids shuffle, spin and occasionally wipe out across a polymer “ice”-coated interlocking floor with a slicking agent, which is refreshed each week.

Up to 25 skaters at a time slide under twinkling lights, some gripping small plastic penguins for balance. “It’s just a good atmosphere,” she said, noting that on busy days, staff run a one-in, one-out system to keep wait-times reasonable.

Around the corner stands “Bruce’s Spruce Forest” — the mall’s fuzzy green mascot placed in an immersive, enchanted-forest-themed room complete with crafts, ornaments and an interactive digital drawing wall.

The virtual reality sleigh ride is one of the new family-friendly attractions at Tower City Center.

Kids color animals on paper, scan them and watch their animated creations appear moments later on a giant screen, powered by idrawalive.com.

“This is our third year doing his own forest,” Russell said. “We wanted people to be able to engage for a longer period of time, not just walk by.”

Nearly 2,000 people visited the space the previous day, even without major events running elsewhere in the complex. Even on slower days, Tower City still sees “a few thousand” visitors across its holiday activations.

Tower City Sock Skating Rink, a new family-friendly attraction for the holidays at the downtown landmark.

There’s also a VR Sleigh Ride storefront, where kids and their parents can engage with a 360-degree headset experience that simulates soaring with Santa.

Sitting in a motion base that barely moves yet convinces your inner ear otherwise, it’s disorienting in the most charming way. “Some people white-knuckle the whole thing,” Russell said. The three-and-a-half-minute ride is family-friendly.

At noon and 4 p.m. each weekend, Tower City runs its “Snow Show” — real machines that blast soapy snowflakes as lights and music sync around the main atrium.

In case you missed it: the evergreen legend, Bruce the Talking Spruce, has his very own enchanted forest. What's more, local companies Party 411 and Room 2 Room have energized Tower City's holiday offerings.

“Kids just come out of nowhere when the snow starts,” Russell said. It all leads into a big New Year’s Eve celebration, a morning-to-midday party capped with a 6,000-balloon drop.

It’s quite the operation — carpenters fabricate pieces, crews reconfigure displays and everything must withstand thousands of small hands and curious minds each weekend.

Everything from snowflakes to sleigh rides is free—though long-running Mr. Kringle’s Inventionasium attraction and interactive lunch visits with Rob Hruby, Cleveland’s Toy Soldier from past Tower City Christmas shows for decades, require admission purchases.

Bruce the Spruce's Forest includes crafts and an AI-integrated video wall where kids' drawings become animated figures.

“Tower City has such a storied past,” Russell said. “We see people from all over the region, and our children are starting to create their own memories here. Being able to take those Tower City traditions to the next generation is extremely powerful.”

Bruce the Spruce's Forest entrance at Tower City.

Added to Downtown Cleveland’s robust holiday scene, ice skating and firepits at Public Square’s WinterLand, festive shows at Playhouse Square holiday markets the Zoo’s “Wild Winter Lights” and “A Christmas Story” House, we have the kind of traditions going that generations looked to with Higbee’s, May Company, Sterling-Lindner-Davis Co., Rosenblum’s and more.

The foyer to the Bruce the Spruce Forest at Tower City Center.

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