By Alexandra Golden
For the first time since going solo and creating her own band, Cleveland-based singer Chayla Hope will be the direct support of the headliner, Cleveland-based band Wanyama, at Brite Winter Feb. 24 on the West Bank of the Flats in downtown in Cleveland.
“I played Brite Winter in my old band a lot, around about that billing, so it feels really, really amazing, all love to them, that I get to play in the same spot,” Hope told Canvas.
“It feels like I’ve gotten really far and that makes me really happy.”
Hope’s former band Seafair, which disbanded in 2019, was the direct support for south Australia-based Atlas Genius at Brite Winter in 2018 and Calabasas-based band The Mowgli’s in 2016.
In 2015, the Baltimore-based band, Sun Club, was unable to headline due to weather conditions and not being able to travel to Cleveland, but Seafair headlined one of the stages within a few hours notice, Emily Hornack, co-founder and managing director of Brite Winter, told Canvas.
Brite Winter was started in 2010 by Hornack and Jimmy Harris when they were in graduate school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Hornack said.
“It started out just kind of an experiment and to see if Cleveland would embrace the winter festival,” she said.
What started out with 600 to 800 attendees and three musical acts has grown into a festival with over 30 musical acts, art instillation and food trucks with anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 attendees, Hornack said.
“I think mostly its grown because Cleveland’s just really hungry for things to do this time of the year,” Hornack said.
When Hope sent in her submission for this year’s festival, she did not expect to be the direct support nor get accepted because it “hasn’t been very pop forward,” said Hope, who described her music as “indie alt pop.”
“Chayla Hope was chosen because she’s a great musician and she’s also been doing some new stuff in recent years, and so we were really excited to have her back,” Hornack said. “… She is a known entity and a known very strong performer and strong musician. She’s got a very strong voice and rich sound to her band.”
Attendees can expect to hear a mix of old and new music at Hope’s set, with a focus on more new, she said. In March, Hope will be releasing a single, “All Over Now,” from her new album and a new single every six weeks until the album is released, which is expected by the end of the year, she said.
“I think debuting this music in front of a large audience with a group of people that I truly love and admire on stage with me,” Hope said in regard to what she is most excited about. “It’s such a cool thing to be able to express yourself in a really cool, creative space like that being outside, even if it’s freezing, there’s just something about it that really speaks to me and I’ve always loved Brite.”
Canvas is a media partner of Brite Winter.
If you go
WHAT: Brite Winter 2024
WHEN: 3 p.m. Feb. 24
WHERE: West Bank of the Flats, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland
TICKETS AND INFORMATION: $12 general admission; $30 general admission plus a 2024 Brite hat and koozie; $75 admission, heated tent access, private restroom trailer, 2024 Brite hat, koozie and exclusive Fluri’s Clubhouse cash bar; $250, admission, access to the exclusive, heated Brite Backers lounge, private restroom trailer, Brite hat, koozie, exclusive Brite Backers scarf and enhanced stage viewing. To purchase tickets, visit shorturl.at/crBI4. For more information, visit britewinter.com.
