Minneapolis, MN

The Minnesota History Center in St. Paul is opening a new exhibit on September 18th.  Called Right on Lake Street the exhibit is a collaboration of Macalester College and In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.

The exhibit celebrates the history of Lake Street, a 6 mile stretch between St. Paul and Minneapolis that is a part of 14 neighborhoods and is itself an important commercial district.

Designed and presented as miniatures, the gallery’s model of Lake Street includes many landmark locations and unforgettable intersections such as Hennepin, Chicago and Cedar.  Also included in the gallery are interactive mapping programs highlighting gardens and bicycling and art.

Minnesota History Center | Right On Lake Street

Minnesota History Center, Minneapolis Lake Street, Macalester College, In the Heart of the Beast

If you’ve been following the Minnesota Renaissance Festival you probably already know that this weekend is the Irish Heritage Celebration weekend.

Well for the rest of us that hadn’t know this, there are great times to be found at the rennfest’s theme weekends.  There are many Irish themed events this weekend, in addition to the usual fun.  Personally I think the free Guinness tasting is where I’d spend the majority of my time.

Don’t forget that the Renaissance Festival will be running every weekend through September 28th, so make sure to get out at least once.

Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Rennfest

Welcome to Labor Day Weekend folks, the traditional “last weekend of summer”.  I hope you’ve all had fun for the summer and gotten out to at least one of the many summer events in Minneapolis.

Of course, this weekend is great because there are two very fun and distinctly different events going on.  One is the Minnesota State Fair and the other is the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

 While the Renaissance Festival continues every weekend through September 30th, the fair ends on Labor Day - so get out there and have fun.  You can find information and purchase tickets at the fair’s website.

The Renaissance Festival has a great site too where you can get discount tickets and learn more about what’s available for food & fun.  This weekend for example is the “Royal Ale Festival”, so named because of the focus on Ale and it’s part in society.  It looks to be quite fun so check out the site and head on over to the “rennfest” as it’s sometimes called around town.

Have a happy, fun, and safe Labor Day weekend everyone!

Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Minnesota State Fair

Are you ready!  The great Minnesota get-together starts tomorrow, with all the fun and food that everyone loves.

There are a great lineup of shows at the Grandstand (click here to for more detail):

• Brad Paisly - Thursday, August 23rd
• The Goo Goo Dolls - Friday, August 24th
• Fergie - Saturday, August 25th
• “Weird Al” Yankovic - Monday, August 27th
• The Allman Brothers Band - Tuesday, August 28th
• Vince Gill - Wednesday, August 29th
• B.B. King Blues Festival - Thursday, August 30th
• A Prarie Home Companion - Friday, August 31st
• MercyMe - Saturday, September 1st
• Minnesota State Fair Amateur Talent Contest Finals - Sunday, September 2nd
• Def Leppard - Monday, September 3rd

Click here to find the daily schedules for the fair.

Click here for a complete list of all the fair foods (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader found here).

Minnesota State Fair - Twelve Days of Fun Ending Labor Day! Running from Aug. 23 through Labor Day, Sept. 3, 2007

If you know a truck driver, they probably are aware that the 2007 National Truck Driving Championships are being held in Minneapolis this summer.  From August 21st through the 25th, truck drivers from across the nation will be descending on the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Dubbed the “Super Bowl of Safety” within the American Trucking Association, the championship allows competitors to demonstrate their skills, knowledge of the industry, safety and vehicles.  The nationals begin with the top state champion drivers, who’ve already competed with peers in their states.

This year is the 70th anniversary of the national event, so if you’re into trucks, in the industry, check out the championships.

Truck Driving Championships, American Trucking Association

August 10th through the 12th are the dates for 2007’s Irish Fair of Minnesota.  Held on Harriet Island in St. Paul, the festival is a highlight of the St. Paul experience and one of the “most authentic” in the country.

The free admission for this highly family friendly event features numerous pavilions of food, clothing, food, jewelry, food, authentic Irish goods, food…

Guess I always remember the food.

Musical headliners for 2007 include: Gaelic Storm, The Mahones, Young Dubliners, The Fuchsia Band, and The Celtic Tenors.

Irish Fair of Minnesota

This year’s conference is being held in Minneapolis this week.  The four day event will end on Wednesday, and costs $600 for non-members.  The 40 year old organization works to spread the ideas of what positive benefits we could see in the future and works towards solutions instead of fantasies.

Topics for the conference surround medicine, technology, transportation, family, business, immigration and such.  Overall, the group tries to push the boundaries of solutions for problems.  Come up with new ideas, even if they don’t seem feasible today, the technology and knowledge will get there in time… in the future.

The conference is being held at the Minneapolis Hilton, called “The World Future Society’s Annual Conference WorldFuture 2007: Fostering Hope and Vision for the 21st Century”.

As a note, when I wrote this post the above link did not work.  However, there is quite a bit of detail at the Minnesota Futurists chapter of the organization - which claims to be the first chapter of The World Future Society.

Via: Star Tribune - Crystal ball has a rosy tint, experts on the future say

Picture credit to Minnesota Futurists

World Future Society, Minnesota Futurists

The Minneapolis Uptown Art Fair runs from August 3rd through the 5th.  Special demonstrations in photography, weaving, clay tile making, and bookmaking will be offered at various venues during the fair.

For more information about the Art Fair, download the Art Fair Program, or click on the link below to go to the official site.

Minneapolis Uptown Art Fair

Minneapolis Uptown Art Fair