And just like that — May comes and spring feels more like spring. Whether you ring in the most beautiful month by marching for workers’ rights, chilling outside listening to music and socializing, breathing in the scent of flowers, or just catching some cool art, fashion and music, you can know that it’s just going to get more pleasant from here on out and into summer. These are a few events that will help you celebrate.
MayDay Festival
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre hasn’t hosted its annual MayDay parade and festival in Powderhorn Park since 2019, but the theater is partnering with several organizations to put together a festival this year — one that will look pretty different from the huge shindig in south Minneapolis you may remember. Some of the other groups involved in putting it together include the Aztec dance group Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue, along with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAC). Roosevelt High School, Migizi, El Colegio, and Four Family Partnership have also been involved in putting it all together. There will be art and kid activities throughout the day, music, dance and spoken word performances, DJs, and speakers from labor organizing and social justice groups. It follows a workers’ march (think protest rather than parade, though there may be puppets) starting at noon from the MPS Adult Education Center at 2015 E. Lake St., which ends up at the festival. 1-4 p.m. at Four Directions Family Center Parking Lot, 1527 E. Lake St (free). More information here.
[image_credit]Facebook[/image_credit][image_caption]Twin Cities hip-hop artist Truth Maze[/image_caption]In the Spirit of MayDay
The vegan restaurant Reverie and the Modus Locus Gallery tap into the MayDay feeling with a day full of music, puppets, stilting and art. The restaurant has a large patio area where performers like Dakota/Boricua hip-hop artist Tufawon and Twin Cities hip-hop artist Truth Maze with his project Oya’s Ra-Dio, among others. 1-7 p.m. Sunday, May 1, outside of Reverie (free). More information here.
Summer Cypher
Catch the MayDay feeling with a chill afternoon of positivity, break dancing, DJs, street art, fashion and community at the Roberts Shoes lot on Lake & Chicago. Started five years ago, Summer Cypher is an inclusive event for people of all ages, races and backgrounds, with a healing vibe and a hip-hop beat. 2-10 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at Roberts Shoes (free). More information here.
[image_credit]Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art[/image_credit]Art in Bloom
After a two-year hiatus, Art in Bloom returns to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, with more than 140 floral arrangements inspired by works from Mia’s permanent collection. The four-day festival is a fragrant delight of natural beauty and artistry intertwined, with demonstrations, tours, performance events, art activities and a lecture by former Mia curator Lisa Michaux, Ph.D., about floral themes in the works of painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe and Claude Monet. This year, Art in Bloom runs concurrent to the opening of “Floral Affair: A Bouquet for the Friends’ Centennial,” an exhibition that revisits works of art featured in Art in Bloom over the years. April 28 through May 1 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (free, live floral demonstrations and lecture $25). More information here.
[image_credit]agentry pr[/image_credit][image_caption]Part of the MELKE Spring/Summer 2022 Collection.[/image_caption]Fashion Week Minnesota
Fashion Week Minnesota has already hit the ground running, but there’s still time to catch the fashion buzz at events around Minneapolis. On Thursday, April 28, visit Patrick 3 for cocktails and conversation with designers, where you can find more about brands like MELKE, a sustainable, gender-fluid clothing brand led by Emma Gage, who is originally from Minnesota. On Saturday, April 30, the W Hotel will be the place to be for Black and White Night, raising awareness for Sierra Leone. Featured designers include Nancy May Kuledge, Coty Schooley, Deborah Block/ Hill, Mariah Talbot, Nikita Curtis and Arianne Zager. (More information here.)
John Raymond + the Kind Folk Quartet
Jazz trumpeter/flugelhornist John Raymond, originally from Minneapolis, who moved to New York in 2009 and is now based in Bloomington, Indiana, heads back to Minneapolis for a gig at the Dakota this Monday with the NYC jazz quartet Kind Folk. (Read Pamela Espeland’s interview with Raymond from 2015 here.) The show supports the release of their new album, “Head Towards The Center,” born out of the pandemic. It addresses the emotions and also resilience of the last two years. Songs like “Around, Forever” carry a sense of anxiety, but also a levity of discovery. It also has some interesting covers, like an instrumental version of Elliot Smith’s “Between the Bars.” Started up in 2014, the group is made up of Raymond, alto saxophonist Alex LoRe, bassist Noam Wiesenberg and drummer Colin Stranahan. 7 p.m. Monday at the Dakota ($15-25). More information here.
