Mark your calendars for a free, all-ages celebration filled with live music, community, and summer fun.

Event Details
What: Dakota Block Party 2026
When: Saturday, SEP 26, 2026 | 2–10pm
Where: Nicollet Mall
Cost: Free and open to the public

OUTSIDE ON NICOLLET MALL

Nicollet Stage Live Music Lineup:

• • L.A. Buckner & BiG HOMiE
• • Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas
• • Liv Warfield
• • Dylan Salfer
• • Sounds of Blackness feat. Jamecia Bennett

Treble Makers Kids’ Corner (Outside Tent):

The Treble Makers kids’ area returns with even more activities this year including:

• • Kid-friendly songs from The Bazillions,
• • Instrument “petting zoo,”
• • Face painting,
• • Doughnut decorating,
• • Tie-dye activities,
• • Sparkle hair extensions,
• • Sidewalk chalk art,
• • & More!

MPLS Craft & Vintage Market:

Explore the craft market on Nicollet and vintage market on 10th St.

Food:

• • Dakota Grill tent by Chef Asher Zulkosky
• • Food trucks from around the Twin Cities!

Drinks:

• • Bar tent by Pryes & The Wine Company

Dakota Merch Tent:

• • Located on Nicollet

INSIDE AT THE DAKOTA

Dakota Stage Live Music Lineup (Reserve a table for a timeslot below for FREE):

TIMESLOT 1

Moore by Four
Lucia Sarmiento

TIMESLOT 2

Joe Pulice Big Band
Karrin Allyson

TIMESLOT 3

The New Standards

Indoor Dakota seating reservations and VIP options open on 9/3! Check your Insider Presale email next Thursday.

To give as many guests as possible an opportunity to experience the indoor performances, Dakota will offer FREE reserved seating during three designated time blocks, along with standing-room access. Guests may reserve seats for one time block in advance. Additional seats will be held for the day of the Block Party and offered on a first-come, first-seated basis.

INSIDE AT THE QUINLAN ROOM BY DAKOTA

Inside the historic Young-Quinlan Building, the new Quinlan Room by Dakota adds more music and activities to this year’s Block Party. These activities will include:

• • MacPhail Faculty and Student Ensemble
  
  • MacPhail Center for Music is one of the preeminent music schools in the country. As the nation’s largest community music school, MacPhail serves more than 15,000 students each year, spanning all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Its Varsity Ensembles feature top student talent from around the area.

• • Swing Dancing with the Southside Aces
  
  • Including complimentary dance instruction! 
  • Founded in Minneapolis in 2003 by clarinetist Tony Balluff and sousaphone player Erik Jacobson, Southside Aces celebrates early jazz, ragtime and New Orleans traditions, drawing inspiration from the music of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet and other pioneers of the genre

PRESS RELEASE

MINNEAPOLIS — May 27, 2026 — Dakota will once again host a free block party in downtown Minneapolis on Sat., Sept. 26, 2026, from 2 to 10 p.m. on Nicollet Mall.

Following a highly successful 40th anniversary event in 2025 that drew more than 10,000 attendees, the Dakota Block Party returns for 2026 with an expanded format. The 2026 event will include an outdoor stage on Nicollet Mall, Dakota’s indoor stage and the club’s new event space, The Quinlan Room by Dakota, just one block from Dakota inside the historic Young Quinlan Building.

“The response last year was incredible,” said Lowell Pickett, Dakota founder and partner. “So many people – fans, musicians and community leaders alike – asked us to do it again. The energy, the excitement and the sense of community were all fantastic, and we’re excited to bring all that back this year and in an even bigger way.”

The 2026 Dakota Block Party will feature a lineup of more than a dozen musical acts throughout the afternoon and evening, along with food and beverage offerings from Dakota and local partners. Plus, there will once again be a local Makers’ Market, and kids “Treble Makers” play area with family-friendly activities.

Media Contact
Jacqueline Hanson
Hanson Communications
[email protected]
945.451.5000

Thank you to our 2026 Sponsors!