31-07-2025
Twin Cities weekend guide: Cat video fest, SoMi Art Fair, Fringe Festival
If you want to see a mind reader, dance to moth-inspired music or watch a show all about flatulence, you're in luck — the Minnesota Fringe Festival has begun.
Driving the news: Minnesota's largest performing arts festival returns Thursday for 11 days of unique local live theater productions across the Twin Cities.
Organizers choose what submissions get in via a random pingpong ball cage lottery, ensuring the hundreds of performances span a wide variety of genres.
What we're watching: One-act "Ted Lasso" parody " The Lasso Way: A Musical," an emotional showcase by American School of Storytelling and a "show" where eight patrons go through a theater-themed escape room set backstage.
Regular tickets are $25, or get a $5 discount on every ticket via a one-time, in-person purchase of a $5 Fringe button.
More things to do ...
🎬 Watch a flick on wheels at a "roll-in" or "bike-in" movie this weekend. Roseville's skate center is showing "Moana 2" at 7:30pm Friday, or bike to Loring Park at 8:45pm for "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" — which will be displayed on a large screen on the back of a bike. Both free
🚶Open Streets returns for its first car-free street festival of the season on Saturday, closing Northeast's Central Avenue from Lowry to 14th from 11am-5pm.
Expect two stages with performances like lucha libre wrestlers, a beer garden, vendors, art installations and more. Free
🥳 Also blocking off streets this Saturday: the Rondo Block Party, which celebrates the predominantly Black St. Paul neighborhood's rich history and diversity.
In addition to the live entertainment, family activities and food, the event will have a Health & Wellness Zone that aims to address health disparities in the community by providing free screenings and one-on-one consultations. Free
🎨 The Uptown Art Fair may have left Uptown, but the "reimagined" event, now called SoMi (South Minneapolis) Art Fair, is this Saturday and Sunday at 60th and Lyndale. Expect over 300 artists, live music and art demonstrations.
