2027
The induction ceremony returns to Cleveland. The city now hosts only once every three cycles.
The Idea
Cleveland already owns the biggest night in music. Rock Week owns the biggest week.
Every year the Hall crowns music’s greatest in a single televised evening. Rock Week wraps that night in seven days of concerts, conversations, and discovery across every neighborhood. The world does not just watch the ceremony. It comes to live the week.
Why 2027
The window will not open again for three years.
The year
The moment
Milestone
A landmark year for the Hall, and a natural reason for the city to go big.
Opening 2027
Cosm
A 12K immersive dome opens on East 4th, steps from the arena, right on schedule.
Opening 2026
The W
A new W hotel and residences open at the Galleria, adding a marquee host downtown.
The venues are being built for exactly this moment. We only have to connect them.
A Day In Rock Week
No two visitors have the same week.
Daytime
Learn it
Hall exhibits, songwriter sessions, producer roundtables, a live podcast stage, guitar masterclasses, and a vinyl marketplace.
Evening
Live it
Every venue comes alive. Each night celebrates one inductee, one era, one unforgettable performance across the city.
After Hours
Keep it going
The Flats take over. DJ sets, rooftop shows, tribute jams, and the discovery acts that become tomorrow’s Hall of Famers.
The Stage Is Already Built
Fifteen venues. One walkable core. Every neighborhood in the story.
Solid marks: the downtown core, walkable end to end. Outlined marks: neighborhood venues on the Waterfront Line and a Rock Week shuttle. Schematic, not to scale.
How You Get In
Five ways in. From free to once in a lifetime.
Fan Access
Free
Locals and casual visitors. Outdoor concerts, public activations, plaza programming, the merch village.
Rock Week Pass
$149–299
Music fans. Venue showcases, Hall exhibits, panels, podcast stage, screenings, shuttle, festival app.
Backstage Pass
$499–799
Enthusiasts. Reserved seating, producer sessions, exclusive exhibits, VIP lounges, priority entry.
All Access
$1,495–2,495
Serious fans. Rehearsals and soundchecks where permitted, backstage tours, private receptions, concierge.
Legend
$5,000+
Donors and corporate guests. Premium ceremony seating, Hall leadership events, archive tours, luxury service.
Plus sponsorship, add-on experiences, and media rights. Structure proposed, pricing illustrative.
Why Cleveland, Why It Works
Not an event. An economic engine.
The draw
Hotel nights
Multi-day stays instead of a single overnight for the ceremony.
The spend
All week
Restaurant, bar, retail, and rideshare traffic across every neighborhood.
The reach
National
One broadcast stretched into seven days of media and content.
We have done this before
2009
The first Induction Week. About $5.8M invested. Tens of thousands came. It made events, not yet a festival.
2012
Bigger, and it worked. Roughly $7.9M invested. Hotels filled, the museum buzzed. Still one campus.
2024
The Hall expanded the week. Exhibits, podcasts, a global livestream. Fans came, but were not invited into the city.
Built on SXSW’s energy. Run like CMA Fest.
SXSW makes the whole city the venue. That is the feeling. But SXSW is owned by many parties who fight, and it is fading for it. CMA Fest works because a single entity owns the experience. Rock Week will be one accountable organization, in formal partnership with the Hall and the city, not a committee.
The city already invested at this scale for a few days of programming. Rock Week turns that into a week-long return, funded by sponsors and ticketing, not the public alone.