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■ Lowertown Sounds
Lowertown Sounds is a free, weekly summer concert series held in Mears Park in downtown St. Paul, MN. Deemed the “best free summer concert series in the Twin Cities,” it runs most Thursday evenings from June through August, featuring live local music, food trucks, and Minnesota-made craft beer

Continuing our preview of free music around the Twin Cities, we move from the one day or weekend events from part one to series of note here in part two. Many of these are just starting to get under way, so let’s highlight some of the bigger ones.

Lowertown Sounds

Taking place at Mears Park in downtown Saint Paul, this weekly Thursday series that has been at it for over 15 years. The 2026 edition starts on June 4th with Dr. Mambo’s Combo and ends July 30th with Pert Near Sandstone. It’s a great venue for outdoor music, with food trucks and easy to get to with via mass transit or with easy parking nearby. We caught Salsa Del Soul’s show last July and these are always a blast.

JUNE
🗓️6/4 Dr. Mambo’s Combo; Purple Funk Metropolis; Lips Speak Louder
🗓️6/11 Polica; Sophie Hiroko
🗓️6/18 The New Standards; Black Market Brass
🗓️6/25 Flamin Oh’s; Chutes

JULY
🗓️7/09 Ashley Dubose; Mae Simpson
🗓️7/16 The Scarlet Goodbye; High on Stress
🗓️7/23 Salsa del Soul; Tropical Zone Orchestra
🗓️7/30 Pert Near Sandstone; Cole Diamond; Jack Klatt

The Current Happy Hours

Local independent radio station The Current has put on a summer series at various venues around the state for a few years. The format generally starts with one the on-air DJ’s hosting for the first hour or two before having an artist give a live performance. We dig this series, and caught last year’s opening event with Deep Sea Diver. This year’s series actually kicked off last week, but as it was in Rochester, you will forgive us for not attending. We’re eyeing KELS over at Insight Brewing, and hope to report out. There’s still some to be scheduled, but the current (heh) schedule can be found here.

The Current’s Happy Hours Venue Schedule
May 14: Little Thistle Brewing with Thomas Sticha (in Rochester, MN)
May 21: Insight Brewing with KELS
June 4: Surly Brewing Co. with Hiss Golden Messenger
June 18: Sociable Cider Werks with Jobi Riccio
June 25: Viking Ship Park located at the Hjemkomst with Mother Soki (in Moorhead, MN)
July 16: Surly Brewing Co. with TBA Artist
July 30: Utepils Brewing with TBA Artist
August 6: Plains Art Museum with TBA Artist (in Fargo, ND)
August 13: TBA Venue with TBA Artist
September 10: TBA Venue with TBA Artist
September 24: TBA Venue with TBA Artist
September 29: Pizza Lucé with TBA Artist (in Duluth, MN)

Minneapolis Parks & Rec’s Music & Movies Event Series

With eight different Minneapolis parks participating, the city of Minneapolis offers a ton of events amd it’s quote the full schedule. Things kick off this Memorial Day weekend, and you can catch Favourite Girl at the Harriet Bandshell on Memorial Day. We saw Yam Haus at that stage last August and can confirm the fun!

Upcoming Music
May 21 5:00 pm SW High School Choir
May 25 5:30 pm Favourite Girl
May 25 7:30 pm Tyte Phitt
May 26 7:00 pm Rightful Heirs
May 27 12:00 pm Flamenco X

Upcoming Movies
Jun 3 8:55 pm Grease
Jun 9 9:00 pm Luca
Jun 10 9:00 pm The Fifth Element
Jun 12 9:00 pm Soul
Jun 18 9:05 pm GOAT

Groovin’ in the Garden

Taking place at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Saint Paul on Wednesdays from June 10 through July 29 from 6-8pm. It’s a great place to lay down a blanket and enjoy the festivities. Check the schedule here.

June 10 – Innocent Reggae Band – Roots Reggae (POLJAM Food Truck)
June 17 – Miss Georgia Peach – Classic Country – Hee-Haw vibes (Brick Oven Pizza Food Truck)
June 24 – Jellyjacket – Rock ‘n Roll (Heavy Metal Grill Food Truck)
July 1 – Betty Won’t – Twangy, Blues soaked Rock and Roll (KMC Eggrolls Food Truck)
July 8 – Salsa del Soul – High-Energy Latin Dance Music (Rosa Frida Food Truck)
July 15 -J-Mo On The Beat and The J- Lighters – Rockabilly, Blues, and Indie (Sizzling Wagon Food Truck)
July 22 – Red Eye Ruby – Blending elements of Soul, Blues and R&B (Brick Oven Pizza Food Truck)
July 29 – School of Rock –St. Paul & Plymouth House Bands (Sandy’s Grill & Italian Ice Food Truck)

50th and France Summer Concert Series

A little further south in Edina, this concert series will be weekly on Fridays from June 12 through September 4 from 5:30-7:30pm. Dilly Dally Alley, Colin Bracewell, and much more.

June 12 • The Teardowns, Elizabeth Teskey
June 19 • Thomasina Petrus, FINICK
June 26 • Dilly Dally Alley, The Beta Version
July 10 • The Reckoning Crew
July 17 • RION, Liam Halloran
July 24 • Meghan Kreidler, Isla Anderson
July 31 • Rich Larson & Friends, Henrik Mills
August 7 • Favourite Girl, Zahra Wiedmann
August 14 • Dan Israel, Clara Rose
August 21 • MOYANA, IAMJOY
August 28 • Colin Bracewell, Mira Babal
September 4 • The Teardowns, Julia Wissink, Eloise Leckrone

Excelsior’s Concerts in the Commons

Well out in the western suburbs, this annual series has free music on seven different Wednesdays from June to August from 6:30 to 8:30pm, with The Suburbs on August 12 being one we are planning on attending.

Mark your calendars—it’s the summer concert line-up you’ve been waiting for! 🙌

➡️ Get ready to join the Excelsior Morning Rotary Club for FREE LIVE MUSIC all summer long. Here are your Excelsior Concerts in the Commons for 2026 (Wednesday nights):

June 3 – Pandora’s Other Box, with opening band The Basement Kings – Sponsored by Waytek, Inc.
June 17 – Fabulous Armadillos Party Band ft. Chris Hawkey – Sponsored by Garda Capital Partners
July 1 – Rival 5 – Sponsored by Chad Babcock- State Farm Insurance Agent
July 15 – The Good, The Bad and The Funky
July 29 – St. Paul & the Minneapolis Funk All Stars (Prince Tribute Band) – Sponsored by Blaze Credit Union
Aug 12 – The Suburbs – Sponsored by Legion Post 259 MN
Aug 26 – Rumours & Dreams (Fleetwood Mac Tribute) – Sponsored by Oppidan Investment Company

⏰ Food trucks start at 5pm and music goes from 6:30-8:30pm!

🎸 Free. Fun. Community‑powered. Bring a chair and enjoy Wednesday evenings with Rotary! As the dates approach, more details will be available on social media and online at excelsiorconcerts.com

thaddeus ♥ wheartm.com ♥ @weheartmusic ♥ weheartmusicgroup