Northern Spark
Photo by Max Haynes
This month: After nearly two years of renovations, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden reopens this month-let the Spoonbridge and Cherry selfies resume!
June 4: Grand Old Day lives up to its namesake: It’s the largest single-day festival in the Midwest. Think of it as your warm up for the State Fair. Thirty blocks along Grand Avenue in St. Paul are split into four districts: entertainment, sports & wellness, arts & culture, and family fun. Pro tip: Park at the University of St. Thomas ramp and catch the shuttle bus along Summit Avenue.
June 10: Stay up past bedtime for Northern Spark, the only all-night arts festival in the Midwest. Wander through blocked-off streets and under bridges to interact with temporary installations and performers portraying the event’s theme, “Climate Chaos | Climate Rising.” Plan an itinerary of events you want to see, or walk aimlessly—art is at every corner in the Mill District. New in 2017: projects scattered along the Green Line Light Rail between Minneapolis and St. Paul (ridership is free for the night).
June 17: Duluth’s biggest tourist event each year is Grandma’s Marathon, named after the lakeside restaurant near the eminent Lift Bridge where runners cross the finish line.
June 21-July 30: All of Winona’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players during the annual Great River Shakespeare Festival, drawing theatergoers from all over the Midwest. In addition to performances of Shakespeare’s classics, the city hosts free outdoor concerts on the weekends.
June 22-24: For three days, Mears Park is the heart of downtown St. Paul’s Twin Cities Jazz Festival, bringing in both local and national jazz musicians showing off their soulful tunes.
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Photo By Meet Minneapolis
June 23-25: As an ode to the giant lumberjack whose footprints stamped out MN’s 10,000+ lakes, Akeley hosts the annual Paul Bunyan Days with a bevy of traditional small town events (fishing contests, tractor pull, turtle races, ice cream social) and photo ops with the famous kneeling Paul Bunyan statue.
June 24-25: During the largest free LGBT celebration in the country, Twin Cities Pride goers paint the town red (and orange, yellow, green…) with a rainbow of colors that represents achievements made in equality. The festival exudes an open and vibrant atmosphere with highlights including the parade, the rainbow run in Boom Island Park, the concert in Loring Park, and a family picnic.
June 25: The easiest way to sample the Twin Cities’ best moveable feasts at once is at the Uptown Food Truck Festival, the largest in MN with about 65 vehicles.
Seasonal: Fresh-picked strawberries from a small, local farm tend to be tastier than the supermarket sort. Favorite pick-your-own spots include Berry Hill Farm in Anoka, Emma Krumbee’s in Belle Plaine, and Pine Tree in White Bear Lake.
View events throughout the entire year on the full 2017 Ultimate To Do List
