Glow holiday festival is super cute and lots of activities for kids! You can have private parties…read moreor a vip experience I was actually surprised about GLOW and all of the activities it had for kids. It does cost extra for most activities **Cashless event** Cost: free for kids under 2 yo, $18 child ages 3-12 yo and $28 for adults **Entry fee is pretty expensive for everything you have to pay for inside Hours: 5pm-9pm (you can enter until 8pm) *make sure to arrive within the hour of your reserved purchase* Parking: ramps nearby, metered parking lots, metered street parking *can get expensive* see pics for cheaper parking ramp close by Food/drinks cost extra. Anything from hot cider to hot cocoa, wine, alcoholic drinks (Blitzen's lounge) and NA, and food: chicken fingers, nachos, hot dogs, waffles, popcorn, cheese curds, etc. A few bars/restaurants walking distance if you want to go before or after for drinks/food Fire pits to keep you warm! Sells S'more kits - which was a hit for a little family fun! Slide, zip lines, pictures, carousel, lights, Santa, displays, kids activities, vendors with holiday goodies for sale and a bar for the adults Worth it but an expensive night, especially with kids!

Great idea! Fortunately I was gifted tickets to the 2025 GLOW Festival and it's the group you go…read morewith that will make this fun. Like all events, it's all about perspective. I'm local to Saint Paul and I love a quiet St. Paul activity. We went on a Friday evening which I believe was opening night and it was dead!! Contrary, I liked it. We took an Uber which relieved us of any parking stresses and because this was a quiet event the uber prices were on point. I don't think this experience is worth the normal ticket of $27 but if you're looking for something to do, go for it. This event would start to be spendy with kids as each activity inside costs money. For example, the marshmallow fire roasting station is $6, the slide with the tubes is $3.75, carousel is $5, hot chocolate is $6, the zip line is $15, etc. Contrary, Santa was onsite most of our evening and the visit has no cost. The entire CHS field is lit up with lights ranging from Christmas trees, polar bears, moose, and varying little stables for the kiddos to pop in and out of. There are basic concession stands, a warming house with a bar a couple of local vendors, a giant slide and zip line. There is holiday music playing and attendees roam the arena. Tons of photo opportunities! The night we went it was pretty warm with no snow so I do believe that snow would make this a very different experience. Fun fact: My group was able to witness a couple get engaged. Congratulations to those two!!

The pro's: A portion of the profits from this event goes towards the upkeep of the Basilica of St…read moreMary. 3 stages of live music and a silent disco. The view of downtown Minneapolis from the Great Clips stage was pretty. Portapotties galore. The con's: The event was only from 5-10:30p yet tickets were $70+ticketing fees-expensive! Food & drinks were pricey too, as they tend to be at festival events. The crowd vibe just wasn't there for what you would expect from a music festival. Most folks seemed interested in roaming about and conversating vs jamming out to the music. A free bus pass was offered for everyone attending the event, but I didn't see a single bus on my 15 min walk back to my hotel. That's not necessarily BBP's fault but you'd think there'd be better coordination of public transportation between event planners and the city. Overall, if you go, you'll probably have some high-priced fun on a beautiful summer day in downtown Minneapolis.

Over the weekend, well Friday and Saturday Evening, I had signed up to Volunteer for the Basilica…read moreBlock Party for the first time ever. Even when I lived around there, and was a member of the church, I avoided the area during the Block Party because of how crazy it got. Parking was crazy, the first night I had a friend drop me off and pick me up, because I didn't want to deal with all of the extra cars on top of the construction that was happening on Hennepin Ave. The second night because of other events that I was attending over the weekend, I parked in the Target Center Ramp Parking. Since no other events were happening, it was only $5 for parking on the weekend, and it was far enough away from all of the busy part of downtown that it made the exit super easy. I volunteered at the Coke Tent 1, which was by the Main Stage. It was so much fun! I could hear the music well and see the acts, along with working. It was 4 tickets for a beverage. At our tent we had Sodas, Lemonades, and Water. People loved the water, they did get a little fussy when they realized we couldn't give them the caps, but most got over it quickly. One gentleman who was there the first night, and came back the second night actually brought a cap with him the next evening. It was kind of funny, but very smart and resourceful on his part. The other volunteers were nice and friendly, and even the main staff that instructed the volunteers what the different tasks were. After this experience, I couldn't believe I waited this long to participate in this event. We got free T-shirts, and the colors were a pretty Teal. I believe they change each year, and I can't wait to see what the color is next year.

More Than Just a Haunted Attraction -- A Business With HEART!…read more I honestly cannot say enough wonderful things about Scream Town and The Abandoned Hayride. If you're debating whether to go, LET THIS BE YOUR SIGN! You will get the scares, the screams, the incredible actors, and an unforgettable experience, but what makes this place truly special is the HEART behind it. First before I tell our story, THE ACTORS WERE A SOLID 10/10! The creativity, the scares, the atmosphere, and the dedication everyone put into making the experience incredible were amazing. Everything from start to finish was fantastic. Every attraction had so much detail even though a lot of the time I was screaming you still have the opportunity to stop and look at how amazing these houses forest trails, how much detail and effort was put into them, and my mouth was dropped. Our story started on Friday, October 16th, when my husband, daughter, and I visited for the first time. We had spent around $270 for tickets to go to both scream, town and abandoned hayride (two seperate attractions) and we were so excited to experience everything together. We had got in line right away for the 8:30pm hayride waited for a good 25 min & finally boarded! At 9:06 p.m., I received a phone call that changed my world. I was told that my grandpa was dying in the hospital. Thankful I answered it before we left... as my phone rang 3 times during the safety of the actors speech. I thankfully had time to get off before take off but, sadly, my grandpa passed away that same night. The staff helping me off the hayride were so gracious and understanding during one of the most devastating moments of my life. I will never forget that kindness.... After reaching out to explain what happened, how we got there spent a good amount of money to basically stand in line ...the team responded with such compassion and generously offered our family the opportunity to return free of charge. But they didn't stop there. When we arrived for our return visit, we were welcomed with VIP without even having to ask. It was one of their busiest nights of the season, yet they went above and beyond to make sure we could experience everything. The VIP lines allowed us to enjoy every single house and attraction without missing a thing (this is your other sign just buy the VIP tickets), with it being one of the busiest nights there's no way we would've made everything with how long the general admission lines were that we originally purchased! Even with the incredibly long lines. We got to enjoy the food, drinks, attractions! But here's what I really want people to understand: this is a place that makes a business out of scaring people, yet when life gave our family a real-life nightmare, they showed us compassion, kindness, and humanity. They could have simply rescheduled our tickets and fulfilled the bare minimum. (Still would have been so grateful) Instead, someone made the decision to go above and beyond for someone they barely knew, during one of the hardest weeks of my life. They turned an incredibly painful memory into an opportunity for us to laugh, have fun, and make beautiful memories together when we truly needed it. That is something money cannot buy. To the person who arranged our return visit, to the staff, to the actors, and to everyone who helped make our night so special: THANK YOU. I hope you know the impact you made. If you're looking for an incredible haunted attraction with amazing scares, talented actors, fantastic experiences, and a team that genuinely cares about people, Scream Town and The Abandoned Hayride deserve your support. Go for the scares, stay for the experience, and know that behind all the monsters and mayhem are real people with truly good hearts. Five stars aren't enough. We are customers for life!

Very confusing when purchasing tickets; was unclear that the hay ride was not included. Too many…read morestrobe lights; it was actually sickening. Not worth the price.

Longhouse Feast: I believe I found their event on Facebook…read moreand was able to secure a ticket via Eventbrite. I am happy that I had the opportunity to go to their Longhouse Feast. As I saw some comments complaining that the ticket prices are steep for this feast, but I think it is worth it. It is a 2-hour event. The event took place at Asfolk, a Viking martial art facility. When I entered Asfolk, I felt like I have transported to historic Viking times. The staff members at Viking Festival Minnesota are very friendly, approachable, knowledgeable, and professional. Per their Facebook event page and eventbrite, guests can choose to wear Viking clothes, which I dressed as a shield-maiden, so that was fun and received positive compliments. The food offered at the Longhouse Feast was delicious and a lot of food were given! It was a 4-course dinner and we had drink tokens to redeem mead, beer, or wine. I never like to drink alcohol in my life, but that Acerglyn (maple mead) was delicious!!! I really enjoy the stories about Thor, Loki, Freyja, Heimdall, and Odin. I also enjoyed watching the fighting demonstration with swords, axes, and spears. I also had the opportunity to speak to the members at Viking Festival and learned more about Viking culture.... and held a sword! I look forward to what Viking Fest of Minnesota will continue to offer. I definitely look forward to their festival in October - I already bought my tickets!

Amazing experience and so much to do! I loved the crafting tent and my husband loved the axe…read morethrowing.

It's a great place to go if you want to be scared!! I highly recommend the hayride it was amazing,…read morethe haunted house was a lot of fun also! And I can't believe there new event it was sooo funnn

Alumni here! I have been coming to The Haunting Experience annually for many years to celebrate…read morefall, my birthday, October, etc. and have always loved the setup and familiarity. While I have so many old pictures from 2011-2016, I will refrain from going back into the archives. Rather, I will speak towards my most recent 2025 visit as it's been a blast seeing the transformation. Pros: free easy parking, tickets can be purchased online with options for fast passes (a touch more expensive) which skip the line. Very well oiled staff who understand the importance of parking assistance, ticket services, line movement, hayride safety rules, concession stands, etc. Fun ambiance - giant chair to take photos in, gift shop, spooky fun music, concessions, and weekend beer garden. Variety - main process is to attend both a haunted house and hayride. You do have the option to do less or skip one (some people are fearful of 1 vs. the other) My biggest giggle is now that I'm older, I'm not as afraid. When I was younger, I used to think the Hayride was so scary but as time has passed, it was more laughable this year. I appreciate the efforts but everything was so predictable and the chainsaw skit hasn't changed (I don't want it to either - just repeated acting). Thank you to the staff, actors, actresses, etc. who keeps this running year over year! It's truly historic and nostalgic for me. I look forward to next year in 2026. Happy spooky season!

I was SO looking forward to this festival as I love Asian food. The quality of the food was very…read moregood and the ViP bag & pin were cute but tickets at $85 for two was high. But the food prices were through roof. When your only options for wontons is one for $4.00 and $18.00 for 8 is unreasonable. Can I get 2 for $7.00, so I can have other small tastes of other food? $21.00 for a cup of beef ramen (commemorative noodle cup which is very cute-see photo)? The drinks were also pretty highly priced. Mt other feedback was the security check. We paid for VIP tickets and expecting a VIP entrance. Nope, everyone goes through the same line which OK, I get it, it's police policy. However, the officer went way too far in searching. Not only did he pull my wallet out, he started opening up my wallet and looking though the compartments. What was he thinking he'd find? No wonder the line was long and we were there right at 4:00 pm. And I wasn't the only one, another guest commented on the extra security needed because she had never had her wallet inspected either. Probably won't return, unless, it can become a "tasting menu" vs. $70 for 3 dishes.

Ah, Panda Festival 2026 at the Mall of America. I believe this is the second year they have had…read morethis in Minnesota. We missed out last year because the tickets sold out (my fault), but we made sure to attend it this year. Here is the good, bad, and the ugly from our adventure. We, as in me, my wife, and 11 year old daughter, made it our mission to make it this year. I got the 1000 am check in time, and paid for 4 tickets to PANDA FEST 2026! This was the earliest check in time for day 2, Saturday, August 1st. Luckily we didn't get tickets to day 1 on Friday, because it rained almost all day. Saturday was rain free, but a bit warm. The temp was in the high 80's. The 4th ticket went unused because my daughter's friend didn't make it. We made sure we arrived about 20 minutes early, because I had no idea where to park. The event was in the far north parking lot of the MOA (Mall of America). I was happy to see that there was plenty of parking about 2 blocks from the festivities, and the parking lot was enormous. We walked to the entrance, and there was already a long line that had formed, and it was pretty regulated with the typical cattle guard fences and MOA security overlooking everything. We didn't have to wait long, and the MC of the event got on her "toy" bull horn and welcomed everyone to the second annual Panda Festival. The countdown started, and everyone shuffled through the security checkpoint that was manned by MOA personnel, and Bloomington Police Officers. This was a pretty secure checkpoint that looked like Terminal One of the MSP airport. Yes, they even had metal detectors, and all bags/purses were checked. No vapes, lighters, guns, or weapons, outside beverages or food were allowed in. But no worries, it looked like a few vapes were tossed on the ground before the check in. Confession time. I'm a retired copper of 30 years, and always carry a knife on me. Today was no exception. I figured my chances were about 50/50 on whether my very expensive knife was going to trigger the metal detectors. But I decided to play the odds, and then flash my Police ID if the detector went off. I'd hand over the knife, but return later to get it after we left the venue. However, I passed through the metal detectors no problem, despite having my cell phone, and a janitor sized keychain on my belt loop. Read that as you may, but methinks the sensitivity of the metal detectors were set a bit too low. Anyway, we passed the checkpoint, got our collectable panda pins, and the inflatable panda headbands. It was a nice touch that the headband station had hand pumps to pump up the headbands. My daughter loved the headbands. Now, it was time to eat! If you are a foodie, this was the place to be. Evidently there were over 80 food vendors here, and the variety was enough to satisfy almost everyone. We started off with 2 fruit juices since it was pretty hot out. The two juices were okay, and set us back about $10 a piece. We then decided to get something to eat. My daughter (who took all the pictures, thanks Dixi!) got some fresh fruit that was caramelized in a sugar shell. I got a marinated steak skewer that was about 14 inches long that was pretty fatty (very fatty) but tasted pretty good. The wife abstained from eating but got a potato tornado drenched in blue Taqui dust later (didn't like it). We then proceeded to check the rest of the place out, and I won a trivia contest that yielded a bamboo Vietnamese rice hat for the daughter. Then we ate more food. The highlight was a weird concoction of an ice cream cone that was shaped like a question mark that my daughter had seen on YouTube. It was messy, but tasted pretty good. She also had a conversation with the YouTube influencer that was there, so she was happy about that. We lasted about 2 1/2 hours due to the heat, but managed to visit the entire venue, albeit about $150.00 lighter, much to my chagrin. We had fun, ate a lot, but it was not cheap. Case in point: a panda container of fresh watermelon juice set us back $25. The average cost of a single item was around $15. With that said, the best deal was a Thai style papaya salad made to order for $10. It was very good, and was good for about 3 servings. All in all, we had a good time, but it was expensive. Will we go next year if Panda Festival comes back? Probably. This place made bank, and it was a huge crowd. A word of advice: Don't do the VIP treatment. It's not worth it, and basically gets you a slightly shorter line on entrance, a small swag bag, and more access to the port a potties. Shell out for the general admin tickets. The line goes quick. All in all we had a good time. Thanks to the kiddo for the pictures taken, and she got interviewed by a reporter from the Star Tribune on camera. Expensive, but it was an experience.

Any art fair without a cover automatically gets five stars. Plus this particular one is massive,…read more second biggest to Minnesota state fair. It's also by lake of the Isles / up town area, which one can argue is the nicest part of town. Modern art is often a minimalist canvas that I'm supposed to draw meaning- 99% of the time, I don't get it. The Art here is easier to consume. Nothing to interpret for the most part. It's less snooty. Also food truck are present here and there. The fair also has food and drink give aways - it's a great way to spend your August - folks soon enough Winter is coming!

I love art. Stopped…read moreby to check out some art & get some inspiration!!! In the past I feel like the uptown art fair was much bigger & crowded. I went on the first day (Friday) and there was a lot of empty space on Hennepin. The fair did extend down a street going closer down to the lake. Friday was gloomy & had rain in the forecast, might be the reason people didn't come out. Back to the art. Seen a lot of dope pieces by a lot of dope artist from all over the US. It was amazing to see the things people come up with. Hopefully someday I'll be able to afford a nice 2k-3k piece. This year they had a really cool vendor, Studio Ink (Hallmark) where you could pick out greeting cards, fill them out, address them & they send them out! I love writing to people. Not as popular these days. Glad they are attempting to make a comeback. Indeed brewery was the drink vendor for this years event. They had 3 or 4 options to offer. I'm not wild about wheat juice (beer) but it's uptown, bars & restaurants everywhere which is nice. They also had a few familiar food trucks like Fro Yo Soul- Yum.

This is a really fun event. Cocktails at the castle is one of ASI's big events that both races…read moreFunds for the organization, but also introduces people to the museum. It is a really well done event. The setting itself is gorgeous. If you haven't visited the museum/Turnblad do it now. But there's so much going on at this event that everyone can have fun. The bands were incredible. There were a variety of different art activities that you could participate in both inside and out. I liked that several of them related to the Main exhibit that is taking place there right now. They worked with Du Nord spirits to come up with four signature cocktails. We tried two of the four they were both excellent and the rest looked fantastic. They also had four signature mock tails. The food curated for the event also looked great but we made the mistake of eating before we went. The mood was festive and there were people of all ages from 21 on up there. I went with just one friend. I think it could've been even more fun if we brought a crew but either way I think it is an extraordinary sFriday night out with just a special someone or friends. Big thank you to @mspyelp and the American Swedish Institute for providing me the tickets.

A fun night of wine, cocktails, music and mansion exploration…read more Wine from Chile. Cocktails made with Du Nord spirits and small bites from FIKA were all good. We had shrimp piri piri, preserved mango couscous salad, and the coconut cardamom Basbousa cake. The music was from Obi Original & the Black Atlantics. Nigerian Music. Was great.