Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Aquatennial week is here — free festivals, Lucero at First Ave, Sean Sherman's new Indígena at the Guthrie, Minnesota United, and the Torchlight Parade down Nicollet Mall. Minneapolis is stacked July 22–26.
It's Aquatennial week in Minneapolis — the Best Days of Summer run July 18–26, 2026, with free events across downtown, the riverfront, and Bde Maka Ska. Here's everything happening around the Twin Cities.
In this episode:
Sources:
Subscribe: mplsvegan.com
George: —and I'm telling you, Laura, the skyway was PACKED yesterday, and it's July. People coming down for Aquatennial already.
Laura: George, it's literally called the Best Days of Summer. Of course downtown's popping.
George: Fair.
Laura: You act surprised every single year.
George: I know, I know. But there's something about walking down Nicollet when the Torchlight Parade's about to roll... it just hits different.
Laura: Okay, that part I'll give you. The parade Wednesday night down Nicollet Mall? That's the one where you can feel the whole city show up.
George: You going?
Laura: I'm gonna try. Depends on how the week shakes out.
George: Uff da, same. But listen — before we get into everything, shout to our friends. mplsvegan.com and mncannabishub.com keep the lights on around here.
Laura: The real MVPs.
George: The real MVPs. Okay so — Aquatennial. July 18 through the 26th. Free events all over downtown, the riverfront, Bde Maka Ska.
Laura: And that's the thing people miss. FREE. You don't have to spend a dime.
George: Which in this economy...
Laura: In this economy, George.
George: Everything's spendy right now.
Laura: Ope, there it is.
George: What?
Laura: "Spendy." You couldn't get through five minutes.
George: It's a useful word! There's no better word for it.
Laura: I'm not disagreeing. I'm just noting.
George: Noted. Okay — Friday night. Aquatennial Night at Target Field. Twins home game, fireworks after.
Laura: Wait, who are they playing?
George: Honestly? I don't know. I saw the listing, it just said home game plus fireworks. I couldn't confirm the opponent.
Laura: See, that's the George I trust. The one who says "I don't know."
George: I'm trying.
Laura: Because last month you told me a whole story about a band playing First Ave that turned out to be —
George: Okay okay okay, we don't need to relitigate.
Laura: Just saying.
George: Speaking OF First Ave though —
Laura: Smooth pivot.
George: Thank you. Lucero, tonight. Wednesday. Playing Nobody's Darlings front to back for the twentieth anniversary.
Laura: Twenty years. That's wild.
George: I know.
Laura: That record came out and I was... I don't even want to say what grade I was in.
George: Don't. Don't age us on air.
Laura: And then Saturday they've got Off Campus Night, and Monday's Audrey Hobert.
George: So basically First Ave is just... on this week.
Laura: When is First Ave NOT on, though?
George: True. True.
Laura: That's the whole point of that room.
George: Okay — food. Can we talk food?
Laura: PLEASE.
George: So there's actually real news. Sean Sherman — the Owamni guy —
Laura: Yeah.
George: — is opening Indígena at the Guthrie this summer. Rebranded, relocated concept.
Laura: At the Guthrie?
George: At the Guthrie.
Laura: Okay, that's a move. That's a real move.
George: Right?
Laura: The Guthrie's got that riverfront view, the Endless Bridge... putting Indigenous foodways in that building is saying something.
George: It's saying a lot, honestly.
Laura: I'm here for it.
George: And then in the Mill City area — Banh Mi House opened. Vietnamese sandwiches, rice bowls.
Laura: Oh, I need that in my life.
George: Right down there by the market, which — Saturday, by the way.
Laura: Mill City Farmers Market, 8 to 1, right outside the museum.
George: You did that from memory.
Laura: I go every week, George.
George: Of course you do.
Laura: And the Lyndale one — the Minneapolis Farmers Market — that one's daily this time of year.
George: Which is a gift. That's a real Cities-in-July gift.
Laura: The tomatoes are about to be UNREAL.
George: Two more weeks.
Laura: Two more weeks and it's over for all of us.
George: Now — plant-based side. Because we gotta.
Laura: We gotta.
George: J. Selby's over in St. Paul is still doing the thing. Herbivorous Butcher up in Northeast.
Laura: Reverie. Hard Times.
George: Trio Plant-Based. Hello Pizza.
Laura: The Herbalist.
George: Like — if you're plant-based in the Cities right now, you are not hurting for options.
Laura: You are eating GOOD.
George: You are eating good. And a lot of them have patio situations.
Laura: Which is the whole point of July.
George: The whole point.
Laura: You sit outside, you order too much, you don't feel bad about it.
George: You don't feel bad about it because you walked there.
Laura: Sure, George.
George: What?
Laura: Nobody's walking to dinner from your neighborhood.
George: Fair.
Laura: I'm just saying.
George: Take the Greenway. That's my move.
Laura: The Greenway IS a good move.
George: Bike the Greenway, hit a patio, feel like you've earned it.
Laura: That's the summer ritual.
George: That's the ritual.
Laura: Speaking of rituals — festivals this weekend.
George: Oh, it's stacked.
Laura: Stacked. Loring Park Art Festival, Saturday AND Sunday. Ten to six, ten to five.
George: That's an Aquatennial anchor. That's been happening forever.
Laura: My mom used to take me.
George: See, that's the stuff.
Laura: And then Sunday — Northside Jazz Festival. West Broadway. Free. Eleven to seven.
George: Free.
Laura: Free.
George: You keep hitting that word and I keep loving it.
Laura: Because it matters.
George: It matters.
Laura: And CariFest is Saturday. Caribbean food, music, culture.
George: Which — if you have not been to CariFest, you are missing.
Laura: The food alone.
George: The food alone.
Laura: So basically Saturday you can do the farmers market in the morning, CariFest in the afternoon, Loring Park whenever, and then —
George: — Minnesota United vs. Vancouver, 7:30, Allianz Field.
Laura: You're insane.
George: I'm just LAYING IT OUT.
Laura: You physically cannot do all of that.
George: I'm giving people a menu, Laura.
Laura: Okay, menu. Skol Loons, by the way.
George: Skol Loons. And Saints are home too — vs. Columbus Clippers through Sunday. Saturday's 6:37.
Laura: CHS Field on a July Saturday night... come on.
George: Come on.
Laura: That's the best ballpark in the country, I'll die on that hill.
George: I'm not gonna fight you.
Laura: And the Lynx are home Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
George: The Lynx are cooking this summer.
Laura: They're always cooking. Pay attention.
George: Fair. Okay — cannabis corner.
Laura: Let's do it.
George: So OCM dropped numbers July 13th.
Laura: Mmhm.
George: 3,541 total applicants. 281 licenses actually issued. 1,308 preliminarily approved.
Laura: Wait — 3,500 applicants and only 281 issued?
George: Yeah.
Laura: George.
George: I know.
Laura: That's a bottleneck.
George: That's a bottleneck.
Laura: That's the whole story right there.
George: And meanwhile combined medical and adult-use sales hit a record — about $22 million a month.
Laura: In a month.
George: In a month. With a hundred-plus active retail dispensaries statewide.
Laura: So demand is THERE.
George: Demand is there. Supply of licenses is... catching up.
Laura: Slowly.
George: Slowly.
Laura: And the petition window closes July 31st.
George: End of the month. That's the OCM petition window. If you're in it, you know you're in it.
Laura: If you're in it, you already know.
George: And in the meantime, real spots operating right now — Wildflower up in the North Loop.
Laura: Stigma THC Beverages.
George: Simply Crafted in Northeast.
Laura: Green Goods down in Bloomington. Edina Canna.
George: So the map is filling in.
Laura: The map is filling in. It's just — the paperwork behind it is a slog.
George: It is a slog.
Laura: Which — mncannabishub.com, by the way, is where you go to make sense of that stuff.
George: They do the reading so you don't have to.
Laura: They do the reading so you don't have to. Bless them.
George: One more thing on the news side — this one got me.
Laura: Go.
George: Timothy Childs. North Minneapolis entrepreneur. Raising a hundred million dollars to expand four tech companies on the North Side.
Laura: A HUNDRED million.
George: A hundred million. Calling the North Side an "overlooked" national resource.
Laura: Which — it IS.
George: It is.
Laura: And Ion Corp — Black-owned aerospace — is expanding into North Minneapolis too. Something like a hundred jobs planned.
George: Aerospace in North Minneapolis.
Laura: Say it again.
George: Aerospace. In North Minneapolis.
Laura: That's the headline.
George: That's the headline.
Laura: And that's why the Northside Jazz Festival on Sunday isn't just a jazz festival.
George: Say more.
Laura: Like — West Broadway is where things are happening. Culturally, economically, all of it. Going to that festival is showing up for a neighborhood that's building.
George: Yeah.
Laura: That's how I see it.
George: I love that framing.
Laura: It's not framing. It's just true.
George: Fair.
Laura: George, you nostalgic on me again?
George: A little.
Laura: I can tell.
George: I was gonna say something about Stone Arch Bridge at sunset and you would've clowned me.
Laura: I WOULD have clowned you.
George: See, that's why I didn't.
Laura: But go ahead. Say it.
George: No, the moment's passed.
Laura: The moment's passed.
George: It has.
Laura: Okay — takeaway. If you do ONE thing this week.
George: One thing.
Laura: What is it?
George: Torchlight Parade. Wednesday night, Nicollet Mall. It's free, it's downtown, it's the moment the whole city agrees on.
Laura: That's a good one.
George: What's yours?
Laura: Mine's Sunday. Northside Jazz Fest, West Broadway, eleven to seven. Free. Go for the music, stay for the neighborhood.
George: See, that's better than mine.
Laura: It's not better. It's different.
George: It's better.
Laura: Fine.
George: Do both if you can.
Laura: Do both if you can.
George: Alright — before we let you go.
Laura: Thank you again to mplsvegan.com. If you're eating plant-based in the Cities, that's your map.
George: And mncannabishub.com — for keeping us straight on all things OCM, dispensaries, all of it.
Laura: Genuinely, we couldn't do this without them.
George: Couldn't.
Laura: Get outside this week. It doesn't last.
George: It doesn't last. Two months from now we'll be talking about jackets.
Laura: Don't.
George: Sorry.
Laura: Don't do that to me.
George: Catch you next time, Cities.
Laura: Take care of each other. Skol.
Three times a week, the Twin Cities in 12 minutes. Real restaurants you should try, real local business news, real events worth your weekend. Sponsored by mplsveganhub.com and mncannabishub.com — for serious Minneapolis business owners, also brought to you by Quiet Coyote (quietcoyotemn.com).