Across the Twin Cities this weekend, local creatives of color are taking some of life’s heaviest, most vulnerable realities and making space for community joy to live alongside it. 

You can hear it in the debut songs of Minneapolis pop trio The Umamies and in performances by queer musicians of color at the annual St. Paul Pride Festival. You can see it on stage at Pillsbury House and Theatre, where artists use puppetry to trace migration, and at Midtown Global Market, where dance ensembles reimagine cultural traditions.

And looking ahead to next Thursday, artist Drew Arrieta is heading to the Walker with a machine that archives the community’s collective hopes for what comes next. 

The Umamies at Aster Cafe

The Umamies make heartbreak sound surprisingly fun. 

On first listen, their debut single “Over It” feels like it belongs in an episode of the 2010s sitcom “New Girl.” It’s theatrical and charming on the surface, even as it unpacks the messiness of trying to move on from a relationship you can’t quite let go of. 

When lead vocalist Teiana Nakano first brought the song to the band, “it was a lot more sullen and sad,” said Robert Lehmann, who plays the keys for The Umamies and other Twin Cities artists, including Obi Original, Fanaka Nation and Miloe. 

Inspired by the pop sensibilities of Passion Pit and Sara Bareilles, Robert suggested reimagining the breakup anthem with a sunnier, upbeat sound. 

This contrast has become something of a signature for the band, whose forthcoming debut album explores romantic heartbreak and familial grief through pop arrangements. 

The band brings together siblings Robert and Maya Lehmann who grew up playing music together in South Dakota and are of Filipino heritage, and Nakano, who grew up in Portland, Oregon, harboring a quiet passion for singing. 

“As a kid, I loved singing but hid it from my family. I was very private about it,” said Nakano, whose Japanese father was involved in the punk-rock scene. “As cliche as representation sounds, I do feel like seeing someone that looks like me do something like this would have been helpful.”

The trio crossed paths at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, where Maya encouraged Nakano to join an a capella group on campus. 

As Maya and Nakano grew closer, Maya began envisioning what a musical collaboration with her best friend and her brother could look like. 

“I kind of was like, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we were all together?’” said Maya, who plays violin for the band. “That’s when we started writing our own music and kind of deviating from our classical roots.”

“It’s kind of a vulnerable process when you’re writing music or bringing music to the group,” Maya added. “Because of our solid relationships, it really makes it a more fun process.” 

This Saturday, experience their debut album live at the Aster Cafe in Minneapolis. The band will perform a blend of covers and new, unreleased songs. They plan to drop two singles this year before their debut album arrives in 2027. 

“I hope that listeners feel a sense of belonging and joy,” Robert said. “I hope they feel like it’s a place where we can all be together for a brief period of time.”

Drag, music and wrestling for Pride Month

St. Paul is celebrating Pride Month at the Dual Citizen Brewing Co. this weekend, bringing together local queer artists of color, professional wrestlers, food trucks and arts vendors all under one roof. 

The annual St. Paul Pride Festival will feature drag king Mikko Blaze, singer Kiki Joy Latham, pop artist Jeff Gavin, alternative hip-hop artist Teawhyb, and Cypher Side Dance School. Food trucks, including Iemochi Japanese Confections, will also be on site. 

20 years of Midtown Global Market

Stop by Midtown Global Market this weekend for a music and arts festival celebrating its 20th anniversary. 

The two-day event features local ensembles showcasing Mexican, Egyptian, Asian, North African and Brazilian dance traditions. Visitors can also help Peruvian artist Gustavo Boada build a large-scale papier-mâché puppet, while kids can take part in henna, face painting and other creative activities. The market’s food vendors will also be open throughout the weekend. 

In tandem with the festival, the market will host the third annual Lake Street Mural Day on Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.. The event will feature guided mural tours for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., games, and pop-ups from more than 35 local businesses.

Puppeteers explore the impact of ICE

Local puppeteers will turn the Pillsbury House and Theatre stage into a fantastical miniature world for the production of “Boundless / Sin Límites” this weekend. 

The production follows Sol, a south Minneapolis resident sheltering in place from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents until a trickster deity sweeps them into a time-traveling journey through the history of migration on the South Side. 

Bringing this story to light is the All at Once Puppet Company, a new Twin Cities-based collective of local multimedia artists, including Mexican theater artist Sofia Padilla, Vietnamese American filmmaker Oanh Vu, Taiwanese-Indonesian-American artist Andrew Young, and Black illustrator Erica Warren. 

COMING THURSDAY: Dream Machines

If you have a vision for the future you’ve been keeping to yourself, local artist Drew Arrieta wants to put it on the record. 

On Thursday, Arrieta is launching “Dream Machines,” a community archive that invites the public to share their dreams for what comes next. 

Visitors can step inside the booth, pick up the phone and leave a message about the future or listen to a growing audio collection of futures imagined by strangers.  

“I’ve been interested in how rarely we get invited to talk about the future outside of politics, predictions or anxiety,” Arrieta said. “Dream Machines is a simple attempt to create space for something different. A place where people can speak aloud a hope, wish, concern, or possibility and add it to a growing public archive.”