Latest news with #LuminaryLoppet
Axios
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Twin Cities weekend events: Luminary Loppet, hot air balloon festival, ping pong tournament
After years off the ice, the Luminary Loppet returns at full scale Saturday night on the frozen Lake of the Isles. What to expect: Visitors can walk (or cross-country ski, if there's enough snow) a path around the lake lit by over 1,200 luminaries and other ice features, with stops for hot cocoa and s'mores. Then, head to shore for the Luminary Party, an outdoor concert on the south side of the lake with a beer tent, photo booths, fire pit, food trucks and more. Details: Saturday, Feb. 8, at Lake of the Isles. Times are staggered to avoid overcrowding — and as of Thursday afternoon, only 8pm and 8:30pm start times are available. Adult tickets are $35 in advance, $40 day-of; kids under 17 are $15. More things to do ... 🎈 Watch dozens of hot air balloons take flight at the Hudson Hot Air Affair winter festival this weekend. Launches are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday mornings, with other activities like a craft market, fat tire bike race and cold plunge throughout the weekend. Free ❄️ If you (plan to) go: Keep an eye on the event's website and social media. The National Weather Service is forecasting snow this weekend, which may force a cancellation. 🏌️Putt across frozen Lake Minnetonka on Saturday at the Wayzata Chilly Open, a golf tournament with four nine-hole courses built into the ice. This year's theme is "Born in '84," and '80s outfits are encouraged. Amateur tickets are $64.29, or upgrade to VIP for $122.32 🏓 Prepare your paddles — the inaugural Ping Pong Showdown is taking over Excelsior Brewing Company Saturday afternoon, and plenty of spots in the double-elimination-style tournament are available as of Thursday afternoon. Free registration 👹 The Monster Drawing Rally returns! Over 50 Twin Cities artists will sketch family-friendly monsters live at Midway Contemporary Art on Saturday afternoon. If you love their work, each piece immediately goes up for sale for $35, first-come, first-served. All proceeds benefit Midway's public programs. Free 🌶️ Forget football — the Souper Bowl Chili Cook-Off comes to Insight Brewing in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon. Visitors can taste up to 20 chilis and vote for their favorites; the big game will also be streaming. Free entry
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
City of Lakes Loppet to have a shortened course due to lack of snow
The City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival at Theodore Wirth Park will have a shorter course again this year due to a lack of snow. The cross-country ski race, held Feb. 1 and 2, will be using a shortened course for the second straight year. The races will change "from a point-to-point course to a lap course on the Theodore Wirth Park snow making trails," Devin Sundquist, Loppet Foundation Marketing and Communications Director, tells Bring Me The News. Minneapolis has averaged 12.1 inches of snow in January from 1981 through 2010. In 2025, the city has recorded just 1.7 inches, per the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The race will have two loops this year, with marathons and two skijor races taking place on a 5.3-kilometer loop. Puolis and three other races will take a 4.5-kilometer loop. Both of which will be coated in artificial snow, which the organization began producing in November, per the Star Tribune. The organization's Luminary Loppet, a candlelit skiing and snowshoeing event held in the evening, will still be held on Feb. 8 at Lake of the Isles. BMTN Note: Weather events in isolation can't always be pinned on climate change, but the broader trend of increasingly severe weather and record-breaking extremes seen in Minnesota and across the globe can be attributed directly to the rapidly warming climate caused by human activity. The IPCC has warned that Earth is "firmly on track toward an unlivable world," and says greenhouse gas emissions must be halved by 2030 in order to limit warming to 1.5C, which would prevent the most catastrophic effects on humankind. You can read more here.
