1. Witness the stage adaptation of Purple Rain™ before Broadway

Minneapolis has always been purple at heart. It’s where Prince grew up, created, performed, and stayed — even after the world caught on. This fall, the stage adaptation of Purple Rain™ premieres at the State Theatre before Broadway gets its turn. See it here first, and be sure to linger longer: walk in Prince’s footsteps, tour his favorite haunts and see the city through his eyes.

Show dates: October 16 - November 16, 2025
See it here first! Get your tickets to Purple Rain™

More Broadway shows coming to Minneapolis

2. Taste new eats

While there's no shortage of places to eat in Minneapolis, check out a few new restaurants and spots we can't wait to try:

• Animales BBQ: For years, Animales BBQ has served its top-tier barbecue from a food truck. Now, they're opening a brick and mortar restaurant with a bar, live music and, of course, fall-off-the-bone barbecue. (Opening sometime this fall)
• Albi Kitchen: If you love bold coffee, artisanal teas, fresh pastries and savory sambusas, Albi Kitchen is for you. It's more than just a cafe — since its opening, Albi Kitchen has become a go-to community hang-out spot for many. (Now open)
• Thesis Coffee Collective: This coffee shop in Uptown wants customers to have more offline conversations — you won't find any WiFi or outlets to plug in your laptop here. Instead, lounge in their comfortable couches and chat with friends and strangers, or read a book and pick out the next album for the cafe record player. (Now open)
  

3. Shop from local artists and crafters at a new fall art fair

The inaugural City of Lakes Art Fair is coming to Bde Maka Ska October 11-12. The art fair will feature over 150 artists from across the state, live music, food and drinks and more. With crisp fall air, vibrant leaves and stunning lake views of Bde Maka Ska, it's the perfect setting to celebrate art, community and the season of change.

4. Cheer on the new Minnesota Vikings quarterback

There's nothing Minnesota sports fans do better than sticking with the hometown team through all the highs and lows. Well, we've got someone keeping our hopes up in a major way — J.J. McCarthy. Selected by the Vikings in the 2024 NFL draft after leading the Michigan Wolverines to a national championship, McCarthy just made his dramatic NFL debut as Vikings quarterback. He's got fans excited, so come see the team in action at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Get Vikings tickets

5. Watch a new film to get inspired

Get cozy this fall at the movie theater. Throughout the season, attend different film festivals and watch some of the most inspirational, creative and artistic movies of the year. These are the upcoming festivals where you can discover your next favorite movie:

• Arab Film Festival (September 24-28)
• Cine Latino Festival (October 8-12)
• Twin Cities Film Festival (October 16-25)

6. View a new art exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia)

The Mia is the place to be this fall. With several new captivating art exhibits, you'll have no problem spending hours walking the hall of Minneapolis' most popular museum. The best part? Entrance to the Mia is free. Check out these upcoming exhibits:

• Cream of the Crop: A Minnesota Folk Art Showcase (September 6-28)
  The Minnesota State Fair comes to Mia! In August, a special panel of judges, made up of Mia’s curators and leadership, head to the fair with a mission—to carefully select and judge crop art shown at the Great Minnesota Get-Together. The winners are awarded “Best in Show,” and their pieces are exhibited at Mia for a limited time in September among our other cultural masterpieces.
• Gatsby at 100 (Starting September 13)
  “Gatsby at 100” explores how F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby shaped—and was shaped by—the visual art of his time. This exhibition brings together works from Mia’s collection that embody the decadence, excess, and social upheaval of Fitzgerald’s most famous novel, highlighting paintings, books, and works on paper that are rarely on view. Like Fitzgerald, artists such as Oskar Kokoschka, Fernand Léger, and Henri Matisse, as well as regional artists like Wanda Gág and Clement Haupers, endeavored to capture the contradictions of the Jazz Age, a term coined by Fitzgerald himself.
• The Abstract Worlds of Yoshida Hodaka and Chizuko (Starting September 20)
  Yoshida Hodaka (1926–1995) was born into a family of artists. He was the second son of Yoshida Hiroshi (1876–1950), a leading Western-style artist in Japan during the early 20th century. Hodaka leaned toward abstraction and began exploring that path after his father’s death in 1950. In 1953, Hodaka married Chizuko (1924–2017), a trained painter. In addition to oil painting, both Hodaka and Chizuko worked in the woodblock print medium. In 1992, Hodaka created a set of six extraordinarily large prints that depict walls with great attention to structural features and surface details. This exhibition showcases the entire wall set together for the first time, along with Chizuko’s abstract works and playful groups of butterflies.
• José María Velasco: A View of Mexico (Starting September 27)
  The exhibition “José María Velasco: A View of Mexico” celebrates one of the greatest 19th-century landscape painters in the Americas. Trained atthe prestigious Academia de San Carlos, Mexico’s fine arts academy, Velasco became an influential figure in his home country of Mexico, much like his contemporaries Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church in the United States. His impressive panoramic views of the Valley of Mexico—home of modern-day Mexico City—are painted with exquisite detail,honoring both the country’s rich historical heritage and the rapid modernization it underwent in the late 1800s.

7. Be wowed at a magical, immersive experience

Watch the Basilica of St. Mary come alive during the captivating LUMINISCENCE Minneapolis show. With 360-degree projections and a 3D musical experience, this immersive celebration of light, sound and story will be a night to remember. LUMINISCENCE takes place in sacred venues all over the world, like Bordeaux, France, Barcelona, Munster, Germany and more.

8. Hang out at a new tech-infused mini golf spot

Puttshack, the world's first and only upscale, tech-infused mini golf experience, is coming to Minneapolis' North Loop. The venue features three nine-hole mini golf courses powered with Puttshack's Trackaball™ technology. Scores are kept automatically, so there's no need for paper or pencils! While you're there, indulge in elevated, local food and beverage options.