Page 3 - Mid America Boating - January 2023 issue

welcome to the show!

The 2023 Progressive Cleveland

Boat Show welcomes you with

a sweeping redesign… 3 [ MID-AMERICA BOATING ] JANUARY 2023

When thousands of visitors enter the 2023 Progressive Cleveland Boat Show they won’t
recognize it. That’s because the 66-year-old event has been totally redesigned and will
premiere the new showplace area just completed in the I-X Center, January 12-15.
The boat show annually features hundreds of power and sailboats ranging from simple
paddle-powered to sophisticated super-charged. Plus, over 250 accessory and service
displays will be spread throughout the half-million-square-foot event.
The new showplace will occupy the far eastern area of the I-X complex. Visitors will enter a
newly designed east lobby and find themselves in the center of the show floor. Parking, food
services and similar amenities have also been improved.
“Because the showplace configuration is new,” explains Michele Burke, president of the
Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, “we started from scratch and designed all-new boat and
accessory layouts while also enhancing some of our most popular entertainment and hands-
on activity centers, including our big Fish Expo section,” she added.
The popular Fish Expo section will boast a fleet of fishing boats and tackle and equipment
exhibits, plus a trout fishing pond, daily pro anglers on the Toyota Tundra Fishing Stage, and
more seminars from atop the giant 5000-gallon Berkley Bass Aquarium sponsored by Vic’s
Sports Center.
Show dates and hours: This year’s reimagined event will also feature more hands-on experiences and live enter-
Thur. & Fri., 1/12 & 1/13 .. Noon – 9 pm tainment. “Boating is a fun experience and that’s what our new show will be, experiential,”
Sat., 1/14 ............. 10 am – 9 pm Burke promises. “From the premiere of an all-new Kids Zone from the designers at Lewis
Sun., 1/15 ............ 10 am – 5 pm Eldred Studios to manning a paddleboard or kayak on the Paddle Sports Center pool, we will
create summer in January.”
Admission: Other hands-on features will range from the challenge of racing sailboats aboard two simu-
Adults .......... $16 advance online lators in the Sailing Section to an expanded “Great Lawn” with family games fronting the
$20 dollars at door Progressive Main Stage with daily musical entertainment featuring: Tricky Dick & the Cover-
Military & ups; Nashville Crush; the Island Doctor; Jimmy Jack Band; Steve Brownell and more. And for
Seniors 60+ ........ $15 at door only all ages, the always popular “Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel” retuwrns but with two furry
Kids 7 & under ................ Free skiers this year.
Even with all that and more, the most sought-after experience for show goers will remain
climbing aboard the fleet of 400 power and sailboats. This year these will range from inflat-
able boats and paddleboards carried in a bag to triple-powered fishing machines, the latest
pontoons, sport boat models, cruisers to 40-feet-plus, and more.
Equally popular is touring displays with the latest boating accessories, yacht clubs and
marinas, nautical clothing and gifts, service exhibits and more. Plus, many top boating orga-
nizations also have displays, such as America’s Boating Club’s exhibit with its hands-on
triple-screen Docking Simulator, while the Cleveland Amateur Boatbuilders Society (CABBS)
exhibit will help kids build a take-home power or sailboat.
The Cleveland Boat Show has reigned as Ohio’s biggest winter-time boating event since
its inception in 1957. Now in the new showplace in the I-X complex, the show is expected to
continue to attract more than 40,000 Ohio boating and fishing fanatics! MAB
PHOTOGRAPHY: WEXLER STUDIOS

For details & schedules, go to: www.clevelandboatshow.com