A Groovy History
2004
A simple start
The first Christmas Groove concert took place in 2004 and was organized by a group a friends looking for a way to share their musical talents with the community.
2010
A refined mission
In 2010, the organizers broadened the scope of the show and the Christmas Groove became a benefit concert with an aim to help local charities. That year over $2,300 was raised for Love INC. of Northern Medina County.
2011-2013
A growing audience
In 2011, after outgrowing its original home, the concert was moved to the Brunswick Performing Arts Center at Brunswick High School. That year, more than $4,300 was raised for the Brunswick Food Pantry which was enough money to stock their shelves for three months!
After experiencing a 50 percent growth in attendance, in 2012 the Christmas Groove was expanded to two shows and over $8,000 was raised for Oasis of Hope, a pregnancy and parenting support center located in Medina.
In 2013, the Christmas Groove was moved to the Performing Arts Center at Highland High School where more than $10,000 was raised for Medina Creative Housing. The Groove broke new ground that year not only in the amount of money that was raised but also in the number of people who showed up. For the first time ever in Groove history we had to turn people away as more than 1,400 people came out to see the show. In light of the record attendance that year, the Christmas Groove, once again, was on the move in 2014 to find a venue that could accommodate the growing crowds.
2014-2019
A new venue
Once again broadening the reach of the Groove, in 2015 the organizers selected a beneficiary in Cuyahoga County. We also found a new home for the concert at Grace C&MA church in Middleburg Heights. A third show was added that year as well, and 3,000 people came out and generously donated over $26,000 to Laura's Home Women's Crisis Center in Cleveland.
In 2016, the Christmas Groove expanded its influence to include Summit County with the beneficiary selection of Rahab Ministries. Three shows brought in 3,836 people who blessed Rahab with a donation of $31,882.
The Christmas Groove added a fourth show in 2017 and still had standing room only for the Friday night show. There were 5,000 total people in attendance who raised over $38,600 for our beneficiary, Building Hope in the City.
2018 brought a fifth show with approximately 5,700 people in attendance! Our beneficiary was Safe Families for Children, and we donated $50,223 to them.
In 2019, approximately 5,800 people came out to see the show. We had the privilege of presenting Crossroads Men's Crisis Center at the City Mission with a check for $50,248.12.
The era of COVID-19 brought in new challenges and having a live show was not going to be possible in 2020. The mission of the Christmas Groove has been to raise awareness and benefit those in need in Northeast Ohio and we decided our mission was not going to change, not even during a pandemic. We changed up the format for 2020 and created an all virtual show called Christmas Groove at Home. We individually tracked and recorded all the songs in the studios of several of the band members. We also enlisted a team of video folks to help create music videos for each song. Due to the online nature of the event, the Groove was able to be seen by a broader audience. The 2020 Groove was viewed in 29 states around the country and 12 countries around the world. Also, in spite of all the economic uncertainty that year, our audience continued to be extremely generous and donated $22,301 to Habitat for Humanity.
2020
A new format
The last time the Groove held an in-person concert it took 5 shows over 3 days, including 3 shows in 1 day, in order to be able to fit everyone who wanted to see the concert. It became a large effort for all the volunteers so this, along with COVID-19 factors, set the organizers on a path to find a larger venue.
In 2021 the concert was held at Parma Senior High School in 3 shows and was also live-streamed. There were about 3,000 people who attended the live show and about 2,000 who watched it online. Together they donated $25,344 to Family Promise of Greater Cleveland.
In 2022 Parma High School was set to be torn down and thus the concert moved again, this time to the beautiful Akron Civic Theatre where 3,200 people attended the show donating $29,284 to the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank.
In 2023 the Christmas Groove is on the move again. We have found a new home in a wonderful venue at First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio.
Since 2004 the Christmas Groove audience has generously donated nearly $320,000 to local charities!
2021-2023
New venues