heart saint paul

Without a doubt, winter is here. Our prolonged autumn ended quickly and fiercely, and if the holiday mood hasn’t struck you even in the tiniest bit, then you probably haven’t gotten out of bed since Thursday. 

Now that snow coats our surfaces it’s easy, even nice, to start thinking about the upcoming activities that will make what some are predicting to be the worst winter ever a little easier to get through.

On November 27th at 4pm, the WinterSkate ice rink at the Landmark Center opens for the public with a Grand Opening celebration that promises fireworks, entertainment and a tree lighting ceremony, which all sounds just a little bit romantic. You’ll be able to skate every day through February 6th. 

If ice skating isn’t your thing, it’s worth it just to come downtown and look at how beautiful it all is.

(Image via skyscrapercity.com)

Open Skate

• Monday-Thursday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Friday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Saturday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Sunday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Mears Park and Lowertown have great live music all summer long. Starting in June and running through August 26th, Music in Mears runs weekly concerts every Thursday at 6:00pm. July 8th it’s Communist Daughter with Molly Dean. Free.

July 15th is TBD but if they pick someone totally rad, I might have to amend my birthday plans and head over there with my newly acquired disco skills courtesy of Summer Dance at Landmark Center.

On July 31st at 2:00pm you could see Mason Jennings, Tapes n Tapes and Cloud Cult at the outdoor Lowertown Music Fest, 5th and Sibley. This event is $25 in advance or $30 at the door. If you buy in advance, I’m sorry to say you have to use Ticketmaster, but with their fees it’s probably cheaper to just wait and pay at the door. 

If you’ve let the summer slip by and missed all that, which would be pretty lame since that’s a lot of live music for free, you can still catch the Concrete and Grass Lowertown Musical Festival on September 9th, 10th and 11th. So far, only Dessa and Suicide Commandos are confirmed, and the event schedule hasn’t been set, but we do know that it is free. Again! We love free!

So, I’ll see you there?