In Minneapolis this weekend, stories from Gaza, Ghana, Ecuador and Ethiopia will be featured at the We Outside Film Fest. On the North Side, a block party reimagines people-first streets along the Olson Memorial Highway, and over at the Mill City Museum, Afro-Cuban artists heat up the Mississippi Riverfront in a festive celebration. 

On Wednesday evenings, The Cedar’s free summer concert series showcases Black, Indigenous and artists of color — among them Minneapolis drummer Abinnet Berhanu, who blends traditional Ethiopian music with jazz, hip-hop and R&B. 

Films highlight stories from Gaza to Ghana

The Bureau, a Minneapolis-based art and design studio, will spotlight stories by Black, Indigenous, Latino and Arab filmmakers at the We Outside Film Fest, with live DJ sets from DJ McShellen and food from Habanero Tacos, Flo’s Food Truck and La La Ice Cream.

The lineup includes “I am the Nature,” a documentary that explores the lives of Achuar people in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest by filmmaker Taliesin Black-Brown and Achuar elder Ramiro Vargas Chumpí Washikiat. 

Other selections include “Katachi,” a stop-motion animation made from 2,000 hand-cut silhouettes; “The River,” which reflects on the experiences of Ethiopian women navigating forced marriage, education and access to water by Ethiopian filmmaker Herrana Addisu; “Dragon Boys,” a portrait of young male performance artists in Accra, Ghana, by director Tom Ringsby; and “Vibrations from Gaza,” a documentary focusing on deaf children living under the confines of war-torn Gaza by Palestinian-Canadian artist Rehab Nazzal. 

North Minneapolis block party shapes vision for future street design

Our Streets Minnesota is gathering community input on proposed street designs for Olson Memorial Highway in north Minneapolis, a historically vibrant area for Black and Jewish communities before the highway’s construction in the 1940s. Attendees can review design options and share feedback at the Imagine 6th Avenue North block party. 

The event features live performances by North Side artists Candi, DJ SoSupreme, Brass Solidarity and Marcus Kar; a pop-up market hosted by The Dream Shop, face painting; and a bounce house. Food vendors will serve tacos, Chicago-style hot dogs, barbecue, Jamaican dishes, African cuisine, and more. Near North residents who participate in the street design engagement will receive a free meal ticket for the food trucks.

Afro-Cuban music and dance the Minnesota Salsa Fiesta

The Minnesota Salsa Fiesta at the Mill City Museum will showcase Latine artists and dance ensembles on two outdoor stages. The event also includes food, drinks and art from local vendors, plus a free salsa lesson from Cuban dance instructor René Thompson. 

The lineup features Cuban percussionist Yolanda “Yuya” Rodriguez performing with a 20-piece salsa orchestra, as well as Charanga Tropical, the Havana Quartet, and dance groups Salsa en la Calle, One Reason Dance Studio and McKnight Dance Fellow Yeniel “Chini” Perez. Performances will highlight traditional and contemporary Afro-Cuban dance styles, including rumba and timba. An afterparty at 10 p.m. will feature merengue, bachata, timba and cumbia music. 

Concert series spotlights Ethiopian, Latin and Tibetan artists

The Summer at The Cedar series is bringing local, national and international musicians to the Cedar Riverside neighborhood for a free concert series every Wednesday through Aug. 20, including cumbia artist Yeison Landero on July 16.  

Another standout performer is Minneapolis-based drummer and composer Abinnet Berhanu, who will take the stage with his band Ahndenet (“Unity” in Amharic) on July 23. Their sound blends traditional Ethiopian songs with jazz, hip-hop and R&B. 

Born to Ethiopian parents and raised in Virginia, Berhanu grew up in what he describes as a small but deeply connected community. 

“The Ethiopian community around Virginia Beach, at least when I was growing up, was an older generation of Ethiopians,” he said. “The community was very tight-knit. When you saw a new Ethiopian come to town, you would invite them to your house immediately. People always came together — not just Ethiopians, but Eritreans as well.” 

He began playing trumpet before switching to drums around age 14. His early musical influences came from his parents’ collection of traditional Ethiopian music and Black American jazz. After studying and performing in Washington, D.C. — where he led the band Herbet Musica — he moved to Minneapolis in 2020, drawn by the collaborative arts scene.

“Minneapolis is such an incredible city for building bands and for getting support and resources,” he said. “That’s something that was really tough back in the East Coast and in D.C. because of how expensive everything is to live and to be a musician.” 

His band Ahndenet began in 2023 as an instrumental five-piece ensemble. From the start, Berhanu envisioned a sound that reflected both his Ethiopian roots and his American upbringing — arranging traditional Ethiopian songs with jazz, funk, blues, and soul. Vocalist Genet Abate joined the band in 2024, expanding its range beyond instrumentals.

Supported by a grant from the Minnesota Humanities Center, the band has also developed educational programming on Ethiopian music and history. 

“We went to South High School and taught kids about Ethiopian rhythms and history — something that hasn’t really been done much, if at all, in a public school program,” Berhanu said. 

Ahndenet is currently recording its debut studio album, set to release this fall. The album features arrangements of traditional Ethiopian songs from across the country — some widely recognized, others lesser known — alongside original compositions. 

The Cedar concert is part of a busy summer for Berhanu. He’ll also perform with his Ethiojazz trio Engocha at Icehouse on July 25-26 and return to the stage with Ahndenet for their album release party at Berlin in Minneapolis on Nov. 8. 

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