Never sell the City of Saint Paul short – not when it comes to diversions both entertaining and delicious. This summer makes the case:
- June 23 – 24 head to the mighty Mississippi, Harriett Island specifically. That’s the site for the Live Nation River’s Edge Music Festival. Headline acts include Dave Matthews Band and Tool. Get set to lose yourself in the rock ‘n roll with others too, such as The Flaming Lips and Coheed and Cambria. Gates open at noon and the cost of a two-day pass isn’t bad at all: $99.
- Stick around and take in the 14th Annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival the following weekend, June 28 – 30. Mears Park in the Lowertown areas of downtown Saint Paul is the site for all that jazz. Among the musicians to help cool the hot summer: Delfeayo Marsalis, Joshua Redmond, and The Bad Plus. Local restaurants are serving up the food. Come famished. Leave full.
- Come July 14 – 15 take in The Dragon Festival at Saint Paul’s Lake Phalen Park. Dragons are legendary bringers of good luck, despite the bad rap American movies keep giving them. The Dragon Festival showcases two days of Asian dance, music and culture. The costumes and the pageantry are extraordinary.
- Speaking of festivals, what’s billed as this country’s largest free Irish fair is another Harriett Island inhabitant – this from Aug. 10 through 12. Headlining the 34th Annual Irish Fair of Minnesota will be Gaelic Storm and Young Dubliners. Food and fun reign out here, and the contests aren’t bad either. Among them: Best Legs in a Kilt.
You’ve got scant excuse not to visit Saint Paul this summer. Its airport is Minneapolis/Saint Paul International, one of Delta Air Lines’ prime hubs. The flight connections to this part of the country are prime.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Andrea Canter)
