This Winter Festival in Minnesota Has a Sauna Village, a 100-foot Ice Bar, and Outdoor Dining Curated by Acclaimed Chefs

The Great Northern Festival in Minneapolis and Saint Paul celebrates the cold.

If visiting Minnesota in the dead of winter doesn’t sound appealing, then you probably don’t know about The Great Northern Festival, an event that embraces the north’s bitter cold and celebrates all things winter. Cross-country skiers make their way across frozen lakes, hockey players take to the ice, and people gather in the freezing cold to cool down following a sauna session in the pop-up sauna village.

The event runs for two weeks over some of the coldest days in Minnesota in various locations and venues in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. This winter it spans from Jan. 25 to Feb. 4, 2024.

Beyond cold-weather outdoor activities like snowshoeing, skiing, and ice skating, the event is rich in culture — with live music, comedy, film, a climate solution series, and art exhibits. There’s even an all-abilities dance, called "Dance Church," that encourages participants to let loose and build some midwinter heat in a fun, group atmosphere.

Those looking for good food and drink can enjoy the cold with some of the best cuisine in the state. The “Seven Stories” dinner, served outdoors on a communal table, features a dream team of seven chefs. This includes Time 100’s “Most Influential People” and Julia Child Award winner Sean Sherman, an Oglala Lakota Sioux chef for Owamni, a restaurant that was recently recognized by the James Beard Foundation.

And if you’ve ever wondered what foods may be lost to climate change, join former White House chef Sam Kass for a meal built from near-extinct ingredients. “The Last Supper” is a powerful experience that will showcase the harsh realities of our future as well as solutions to staving off the worst impacts of climate change.

For Latin and Mexican cuisine, swing by the K’óoben pop-up, a collective of chefs and mixologists who explore their immigrant experiences and share the dishes that they love. Live music rounds out the culinary experience.

Meanwhile, those looking for a drink (hot or cold), will find it at the 100-foot ice bar that spans an entire block in downtown Minneapolis and showcases the talents of local mixologists, breweries, and distilleries. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will be served a handful of evenings throughout the festival’s two-week span.

A climate solution series will share the voices of renowned advocates, including the 2023 Time CO2 Earth Awards recipient Gloria Walton and Pattie Gonia, the queer eco-drag queen and unofficial star of NYC Climate Week.

Live music performances will be shared by Broken Ice: Indigenous Sonic Salve from the North and The Minnesota Orchestra's Sphinx Virtuosi, among others.

All told, The Great Northern Festival has more than 50 dining, outdoor, and cultural events that celebrate the cold, bring awareness to climate change, and share the work of local, national, and international artists of all disciplines.

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