Minneapolis’ Open Streets returns Saturday, the first festival without longtime organizer

Open Streets events will kick off Saturday on Lyndale Avenue S. in the city’s first installation of the summer series without longtime organizer Our Streets.

Saturday’s event, hosted by the Uptown Association, will include “Back to School Jam” at Painter Park with a backpack giveaway, more than 200 vendors and 40 food trucks. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Lyndale will be closed to traffic between W. 22nd and W. 36th streets.

“We are thrilled to kick off another year of Open Streets,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in a news release highlighting the events. “I am so grateful to our city staff and neighborhood partners who have worked tirelessly to set these events up for another successful year.”

Minneapolis ended its contract with Our Streets, the advocacy group that had long run the festivals, last summer after the nonprofit requested money to plan and run the festivals beyond what the city was willing to pay. Instead, local vendors were invited to propose running one or two Open Streets events this summer, each with a $50,000 reimbursement from the city.

This year’s events, the dates of which were announced in April, mark one of the latest starts for the summer series in recent years. In 2023, Open Streets events were announced in February for a June kickoff.

The second event is scheduled for Sept. 21 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on W. Broadway, hosted by the West Broadway Business Coalition. With live music, 250 vendors and a “cultural food court,” the coalition plans to showcase North Minneapolis’ diversity through art.

The final event, on Sept. 28, will bring Open Streets back to Nicollet Avenue for the first time in five years. Stretching 2 miles and running from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the event is in partnership with the Lyndale Neighborhood Association and will include live music stages, Nicollet restaurant specials and a 5K “Run for Beer.” The self-paced race will include trivia and a craft beer for registered runners.

Two of the locations initially proposed by the city, on Franklin Avenue and Northeast’s Central Avenue, did not make it into this year’s lineup, which means five fewer Open Streets events than previous years.