The Great Northern Festival
Get ready for The Great Northern this winter. Five days of frosty outdoor events, music and performances, public art, and dining experiences.
Chilly days find Minnesotans rosy-cheeked, bundled up, and eager to enjoy the outdoors. Couch dwellers, we are not. With a full line-up of winter events and some serious FOMO, we make sure to get out there and experience the winter wonderland that encapsulates us for a few months out of the year. We can’t wait for another year of The Great Northern festival, which celebrates the beauty of the North and the excitement of winter.
When: January 28 - February 1, 2026
Where: Various locations
The Great Northern's annual winter festival invites people to change their perspective on the coldest months of the year. Through its thought-provoking Climate Solutions Series, wildly popular Sauna Village, and dozens of events that celebrate the arts, the outdoors, and Minneapolis vibrant food scene, the festival serves as a call to action to protect the season that makes this place unique.
The Great Northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through five days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body. In an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, festival programming seeks to create community, inspire action, and share the resilient spirit of the North with the world. The 2026 festival features live performances, art installations, outdoor activations, and solutions-focused climate talks. For a full list of events, take a look at the Great Northern's event calendar. Here are just a few we think you should check out:
January 28-Feburary 1
Midtown Global Market
Join us for a free community celebration kicking off Light on Lake, a four-night public art experience transforming the Midtown Global Exchange building into an outdoor gallery of light and color. Meet the artists behind the work, get a first look at their large-scale projection installations, and enjoy an evening of art, music, and
community.
January 30-February 1
The B Suite
Presented by Delina White, founder of I Am Anishinaabe, this market showcases fashion and jewelry rooted in Native stories, traditions, and contemporary practice.
January 31
6:00pm-8:00pm
Aster House
The Great Northern invites you to join beloved cookbook author and food writer Beth Dooley for a specially curated night of food and music at Aster House. A special prix-fixe dinner menu — curated in collaboration with Beth Dooley and Aster House Executive Chef Josh Jones—will showcase the best of our region’s winter harvest, thoughtfully sourced through The Good Acre.
January 31
6:30pm-8:00pm
The Main Cinema
Join us for a special screening of A Life Illuminated at The Main Cinema.
Marine biologist Dr. Edie Widder has spent a lifetime exploring the ocean depths, which contain endless secrets. She made headlines for devising he camera system that captured the first footage of a giant squid in its natural habitat. But her greatest passion is studying the occurrence of bioluminescence — the awe-inspiring phenomenon of underwater organisms that produce their own light.
February 1
11:00am–1:00pm
Father Hennepin Bluff Park
Discover how both people and wildlife have adapted to thrive in Minnesota’s snowy winters! Join Voyageurs Conservancy to learn how animals like the snowshoe hare and Canada lynx use their oversized feet to move swiftly across deep snow and how humans have taken inspiration from these natural adaptations to create snowshoes over time.
February 1
4:00pm-5:00pm
Father Hennepin Bluff Park
Bring the whole family and bundle up for a rockin’ good time for an outdoor concert at The Warming Grounds, featuring The Rock and Roll Playhouse — the nationally beloved family concert experience where kids get to move, play, and sing along to the greatest hits in rock and roll history!
Photo Credit: Jordan August
