Amid the rides, food stands and crowds at The Great Minnesota Get-Together this weekend, a colorful outdoor gallery south of the Grandstand will offer visitors a space to slow down and watch three local Black artists work their magic in real time, including one muralist bringing an Afro-future to life. 

If you’d rather steer clear of the State Fair entirely, we’ve got you covered with three alternatives around Minneapolis. Read on to learn more about a new Somali arts festival, a vinyl DJ night, and a cross-cultural concert. 

Black joy at the State Fair

Minneapolis muralist Reggie LeFlore is setting up shop at the fair’s Joyful World Mural Park to live-paint an 8-by-8-foot canvas Thursday through Sunday. 

The star of the mural is Ayomide, the main character from his upcoming story project, “Ayo’s Afro Future.” Her name comes from the Yoruba phrase for “my joy has arrived,” and the story follows her journey to reconnect with her African ancestry.

At the fair, LeFlore is introducing Ayomide to visitors with an Afro, gold hoops and a boxy, 1980s-inspired blazer, standing beside a JVC boombox. 

“I really wanted to use the State Fair as a platform to celebrate Blackness,” LeFlore said. “I feel like with a lot of the atrocities that have been going on here in the Twin Cities alone, it’s easy to expect a Black artist to paint something that memorializes Blackness, but the thing that I want to do is celebrate Blackness in all of its forms as it exists now.” 

LeFlore, who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, moved to Minneapolis in 2015 in search of more creative opportunities. Since then, his murals have become part of the city’s visual landscape, appearing along Lake Street, in Rondo and on Hennepin Avenue, as well as at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and across First Avenue. He recommends readers check out his mural “X Games” at 730 1st Ave. N. in Minneapolis, which celebrates youth of color. 

When he isn’t holding a spray can over the next four days, LeFlore will be out on the Fairgrounds with his partner and son, hunting for ice cream and pie. But for visitors wandering past Gate 7, the mural park will also feature live painting by artists Philli Irvin and Destiny Noel Bilges, alongside the creative studio Discover Dope Creative. 

The park will also showcase works created between 2021 and 2024, including pieces by artists Leslie Barlow, Jordan Hamilton, Hibaaq Ibrahim and Thomasina Topbear, among others. 

If you’re at the fair on Friday, Sahan Journal will host a jam session featuring the reggae and funk music collective Brandyn Lee Tulloch and Poetic Roots. 

A musical exchange at Mixed Blood Theatre

Somali blues and European folk will share the stage at Mixed Blood Theatre for “Across The Water.” 

The showcase pairs Yiddish folk band Red Thread with Somali ensemble Ardaa for separate sets before coming together for an improvised performance that explores the commonalities and differences of the two genres. 

Somali arts and wellness at Currie Park 

The Qalanjo Project will celebrate Somali womanhood on Saturday with the inaugural DumarFest. 

Morning activities will prioritize wellness through pilates, tea and time outdoors. The afternoon shifts into hands-on art installations, workshops, henna, scrapbooking, floral design and games. 

To wrap up the day, evening programming offers an open mic, live performances, film screenings and buraanbur — a traditional form of Somali poetry performed exclusively by women. 

Deep cuts at Zoma House

Five DJs will dig into old-school records for the second installment of Beat Excavation at Zoma House. 

For Minneapolis musicheads, filmmaker D.A. Bullock will pull from the city’s funk and soul scene before and during Prince’s music rise, alongside sets from DJ Todda, Talia Knight, I Self Devine and Mr. Neighborhood. 

Expect to hear dub, funk, soul, hip-hop, electronic and vinyl tracks unavailable on streaming platforms. 

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