The first gathering of the Southwest Minneapolis winter happens under glass. On Saturday, Nov. 14, the Neighborhood Roots Winter Market opens inside the greenhouse at Bachman's on Lyndale, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It brings together vendors from the Kingfield, Southwest and Nokomis farmers markets.
The last big gathering takes place on the ice. Nine weeks after that first market, Art Shanty Projects opens its village of artist-built shanties on Bdé Umáŋ / Lake Harriet, and one week later a kite festival fills the sky above the Bandshell.
Linden Hills, Fulton and Lynnhurst get busier as the temperature drops, and the most crowded stretch of the season comes in late January, out on the lake.
November and December stay small, indoors and close to the shops
The early part of the season is built for an hour or two. The greenhouse market runs three hours on a Saturday morning. It comes back on Jan. 9, Feb. 6 and March 13, all in the same indoor greenhouse, so it works more like a monthly habit than a single event.
December belongs to Linden Hills' commercial village and the neighborhood groups that run it:
- Reindeer Day is Saturday, Dec. 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council.
- A toy drive for Waite House is set for the next day, Sunday, Dec. 6. The Fulton Neighborhood Association is running it together with Linden Hills, and it says more details are coming.
- The Holiday Wine & Stroll is Thursday, Dec. 17, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. New Gild Jewelers presents it, and the evening starts there.
The Wine & Stroll listing promises holiday carolers, libations and light bites, plus special offers, swag bags and discounts from village businesses. Service providers with offices in the village are opening their doors too, so you may get a look inside upstairs suites and back offices you usually walk past. The council notes that individual store hours may vary. If you have a particular shop in mind, go early in the window.
All three December events are close-in and on foot. Reindeer Day and the toy drive fall on the same weekend, which makes Dec. 5 and 6 the first double-booked stretch of the season. Neither one asks you to stand outdoors for long.
On 54th Street, Clémentine is the dessert-focused bakery from pastry chef Jasmine Weiser Kaysen at 614 W. 54th St. in Tangletown, in the former Spice Your Life space. Bring Me The News described it as a 20-seat shop planning French pastries, ice cream, cakes and coffee, and eventually wine and cocktails.
January moves the neighborhood onto the lake
One week after the Jan. 9 market, on Saturday, Jan. 16, Art Shanty Projects opens on Lake Harriet. It runs through Sunday, Feb. 7, with public hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday. That adds up to four weekends. There is a suggested donation of $10 to $20 per person at the gate.
Art Shanty Projects says contributions from individuals make up more than half of its income, and visitors can also give ahead online through GiveMN.
The 2027 lineup is full of names you'll want to look for once you're out on the ice:
- Beav the Future Shanty, from the UMN Beaver Research Lab and UMN design students
- Le Cinema Shanty
- Snowed-Inn
- Sub Bdé Umáŋ
- Halloween Blizzard of '91
- The Storytelling Shanty, with Story Arts of Minnesota, Black Storytellers Alliance and The Story Table Foundation
- Free Store Shanty
- Welcome Shanty, built by students at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture
The performance list leans toward participation. It includes Klezmer on Ice, Taiko on Ice with TaikoArts Midwest's Enso Daiko, the Collective Joy Square Dance called by Ann Carter, B-Icicle Races, Folktales around the Fire, and Science Sunday with the Twin Cities Lake Scientists. The organizers say a few more acts are still to come.
Access details are already posted. Kicksleds are available as mobility aids during all program hours. An audio describer is on site Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and an ASL interpreter is available Sundays from noon to 3 p.m., both as walk-up services.
The shanties aren't the only winter activity nearby. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board lists Linden Hills Park and Lynnhurst Park among its outdoor sites for hockey and skating. Its ice rinks page links to a rink-status map that's updated daily during winter, and that map is the place to check before you lace up.
Saturday, Jan. 23 is when everything lands in one place
The second shanty Saturday is also the day of the Lake Harriet Winter Kite Festival. It runs from noon to 4 p.m. at the Lake Harriet Bandshell, 4135 W. Lake Harriet Parkway. The Linden Hills Neighborhood Council lists kites, free s'mores, kites for sale, food trucks and a kids' DJ, with the Art Shanty village out on the lake at the same time.
That overlap makes Jan. 23 the most crowded day on the whole calendar. The council's listing is blunt about it. Parking at Lake Harriet "will be VERY limited," and organizers ask visitors to use a free shuttle from the Executive Building parking lot at 3033 Excelsior Blvd. The listing says the shuttle runs to the west side of Bde Maka Ska.
If you live within walking distance, here's a simple plan for the day:
- Get to the shanties when the gates open at 10 a.m., two hours before the kite festival starts.
- Walk over to the Bandshell around noon for s'mores and the first kites.
- Leave the car at home. Out-of-neighborhood visitors are being sent to the Excelsior Blvd shuttle, so the curb space near the lake will fill up fast.
- If you have guests coming from farther away, send them the shuttle details ahead of time.
Where the weekends stack up
With every date in one place, you can see the clustering clearly:
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Nov. 14 | Winter Market opens | Bachman's greenhouse, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S. | 10 a.m.–1 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec. 5 | Reindeer Day | Linden Hills | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Sun, Dec. 6 | Toy drive for Waite House | Fulton and Linden Hills | Details to come |
| Thu, Dec. 17 | Holiday Wine & Stroll | Linden Hills, starting at New Gild Jewelers | 5:30–8:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Jan. 9 | Winter Market | Bachman's greenhouse | 10 a.m.–1 p.m. |
| Jan. 16–Feb. 7, weekends | Art Shanty Projects | Bdé Umáŋ / Lake Harriet | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Sat, Jan. 23 | Lake Harriet Winter Kite Festival | Lake Harriet Bandshell | Noon–4 p.m. |
| Sat, Feb. 6 | Winter Market | Bachman's greenhouse | 10 a.m.–1 p.m. |
| Sat, March 13 | Winter Market | Bachman's greenhouse | 10 a.m.–1 p.m. |
December has one doubled weekend. Late January and early February have four Saturdays in a row with something happening on the lake, and on two of those Saturdays a second event is on the calendar too. The last of them is Feb. 6, when the Bachman's market and the final shanty weekend overlap. That makes it the one Saturday this winter when you can buy from the farmers market vendors in the morning and walk out onto Lake Harriet in the afternoon.
If you'd like help working these weekends around an open house, a listing photo shoot or a spring move, Carrie Sink keeps this same calendar and is glad to plan around it with you. And if a winter of shanty weekends has you wondering what your own place near the lake is worth heading into spring, request a free home valuation and Carrie will walk you through the numbers.
