For years, the Great Northern Festival has celebrated winter creativity and innovation in the Twin Cities. The late January-early February festival focuses on the strength and resilience of the North, and seeks to inspire action around the changing climate. The event returns from Jan. 25 to Feb. 4 in 2024, with over 50 events taking place around the Twin Cities. On the lineup: a variety of outdoor activities, culinary and beverage experiences, climate solution discussions, and live performances.
An exciting change to the festival’s schedule is an extended week of the Great Northern’s Sauna Village. The “social and therapeutic” experience will kick things off early and be open for three weeks from January 19 to February 4, with over 20 sauna structures. Additional outdoor activities include a Chill Out outdoor party at Surly and O’Shaughnessy with live DJ sets, and warm food and beverages. A Midwinter Melt at Silverwood Park will take place marking the actual halfway point of winter, February 2, where the community can celebrate the winter season with dazzling lights, luminary walking and snowshoe trails, a “cosmic footgolf course,” and more outdoor fun.
Leaders in sustainability will be present at the Climate Solutions Series, a variety of climate-related talks about sustainable agriculture practices, emerging climate-related careers, arts and activism, and fashion industry regulation. Last year’s series prompted real solutions in Minnesota, such as legislation for human end-of-life composting and private seed funding for Lake Superior state parks to be first in the nation to get to carbon-free. This year’s Climate Solutions Series will have notable speakers such as the Solutions Project co-founder and 2023 Time CO2 Earth Awards recipient Gloria Walton.
The festival includes a variety of live performances, including the world premiere of “light/see + dark/hear,” a performance from composer Steve Heitzeg and violinist Ariana Kim. Michigan-based singer, dancer, and filmmaker Tunde Olaniran is headed to Amsterdam Bar and Hall for a concert inspired by their experiences grappling with the Flint water crisis. Another noteworthy performance announced is “Broken Ice: Indigenous Sonic Salve from the North,” which will bring Indigenous musicians and artists to the First Avenue stage for performances and multimedia demonstrations.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Great Northern gathering without a killer lineup of Twin Cities food and drinks. Minneapolis-based chef Andrew Zimmern will partner with Marque Collins (Tullibee), and the Obama administration White House chef Sam Kass for a culinary experience at the Hewing Hotel called The Last Supper. The menu is a “last-in-a-lifetime” assortment of foods that will be eradicated over the next few decades due to climate change. The festival’s first-ever outdoor bar, and projected largest ice bar in the state, the Great Northern Ice Bar, will take place in the form of a more than 100-foot ice sculpture on Nicollet Mall.
Other food and beverage experiences on tap are a Scandinavian Winter Table at the Four Seasons, a five-part outdoor communal dinner menu with courses from Minnesota chefs (including Steven Brown, Sean Sherman, Karyn Tomlinson, Erik Anderson, Sameh Wadi, Zoë François, and Andrew Zimmern) called Seven Stories, and a collective pop-up at Glass House, K’óoben, where guest chefs such as Yia Vang, Peter Bian and Linda Ca will share tasty bites and stories.
Tickets are now live for most events and can be purchased online. For more information visit thegreatnorthernfestival.com.
