In the Twin Cities art scene this weekend, the Great Northern Festival returns, offering 10 days of film screenings, live music, climate change discussions, and sauna sessions. Meanwhile, true crime fans can celebrate the Season 2 launch of the “Truer Crime” podcast with Celisia Stanton, where she’ll discuss systemic injustice and forgotten cases. And for those ringing in the Year of the Snake, three Lunar New Year celebrations will light up the weekend with performances, food, and crafts.

Prince, performance and community

The Great Northern Festival returns Thursday with 10 days of music, art and community events. The festival’s launch party features an outdoor screening of Prince’s concert film “Sign o’ the Times” projected onto the United Crushers building, along with sauna sessions, fire pits, food and cocktails at Malcolm Yards. The Sauna Village will remain open throughout the festival, including a community stream specifically for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) on Saturday, January 25, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

This weekend’s highlights include a performance by Indigenous two-spirit singer Jeremy Dutcher performing on Friday, January 24, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Dutcher blends neoclassical, jazz and pop in both English and Wolastoqey in his debut album “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa.”

“Stories,” a large-scale yarn installation by artist HOTTEA, inspired by conversations with community members along East Lake Street, will debut at the opening reception on Saturday, January 25, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring music by DJ Walter “Q Bear” Banks, and food from Taco Taxi. The festival will also screen “Chasing Time,” a climate change film by Cambodian American filmmaker Sarah Keo.

‘Truer Crime’ Season 2 launch party

Celisia Stanton didn’t set out to be a true crime storyteller. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, she was photographing weddings in Minneapolis, capturing love stories in golden-hour light. But after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and being defrauded out of tens of thousands of dollars from a financial adviser she trusted, her lens shifted from heartfelt vows to the dark realities of systemic injustice. 

“It was during the pandemic, around the holidays and I was just honestly spending every day doing puzzles and listening to true crime podcasts,” she said. “It was just kind of a numbing way to help me get through those weeks but I found myself constantly pausing the shows to complain to my now-husband about how they were never really talking about race, gender, sexuality or how systems play into why crimes happen.”

Frustrated by the lack of nuance in traditional true crime, Stanton launched “Truer Crime” in 2021, a podcast that digs into the why — not just the what — of human tragedy.

“It was really the show that I wanted to hear,” she said. “How can we share these captivating true crime stories through my perspective, and not in a way where it feels like a history lesson, but more like a conversation.”

In a genre dominated by white podcasters and white-centered narratives, Stanton’s warm, incisive narration pulls listeners in like an old friend with a secret. Her episodes shed light on overlooked victims and examine the systemic failures that define their cases. Season 2, which launched on January 14 with new episodes every Monday, has explored the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the case of Lauren McCluskey, a University of Utah student who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend after multiple police reports.

“It may look like a typical true crime story because Lauren is a young, beautiful white woman, whose systems are set up to protect,” Stanton said. “But if she isn’t protected, then who else isn’t?”

Stanton will celebrate the Season 2 launch with the “Podcasting From Below,” event, featuring a conversation between Stanton and Chris Stedman of Good Judy Productions, a new podcast studio centered on amplifying unheard voices. A pop-up shop from Black Garnet Books and the Women’s Prison Book Project will also be featured.

Celebrate the Year of the Snake 

Midtown Global Market will host a Lunar New Year celebration with snake-themed crafts, food from Pham’s Rice Bowl and dance performances by the Tay Phuong Lions, CAAM Chinese Dance Theater, and Cypher Side Dance School. 

Arbeiter Brewing Co. will celebrate on Saturday with a performance by JangMi Arts, the traditional Korean game ddakji and food from Bao Bao Buns, Cáphin Minneapolis, Laune Bread, and K-Town Macaron. On Sunday, there will be children’s book readings about Chinese New Year traditions from author Kat Zhang and food from The Croffle Corner, Kimchicks and Young Man.

Asia Mall will celebrate with more than 10 live performances, including dragon and lion dances, traditional Chinese and Cambodian dances, Turkish folk, K-pop, Beijing opera, and Vietnamese and Chinese music. The event will also feature Asian cuisine, Chinese riddles and snake-themed crafts. 

READ MORE

‘Home away from home’: Korean artist Bo Young An finds community in the Twin Cities

‘On the edge’: How Minneapolis punk duo The Muatas turned music into family and a second act

New Vietnamese Minnesotan Museum celebrates art and history of a resilient community