Overview Taste of Minnesota is a free two-day festival over the Fourth of July on Nicollet Mall and Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, and in 2026 it went all Minnesota: every act on the main stage was local, and the food ran under the banner "100 Ways to Taste Minnesota." The Taste of Minnesota Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, produces it and says more than 70% of its vendors and partners are BIPOC- or women-owned businesses. The festival ran in St. Paul from 1983 to 2010 and in Waconia in 2014 and 2015, then came back to downtown Minneapolis in 2023. On site Two stages run both days: the Main Stage and the North Star Stage, the festival's stage for homegrown and rising acts. The 2026 grounds added a Dining Hall, a 20-by-40-foot tent in the Main Stage parking lot seating more than 100 with yard games and high-tops; The Market, with 40 Minnesota artists and makers and 10 local nonprofits; and a Family Fun zone with the Kai Bi Mobile Family Care Center, Stomping Ground Studios aerialists and jugglers, a small dance stage from Hot House Dance Studio with a baby disco, and a puppy party from The Bond Between. Festival bars pour across the grounds and misting arches cool the crowd. In 2026 Metro Transit ran free rides, and the Red, White and Boom! fireworks closed the night of July 4 at 10. Audience The festival counts about half its crowd from the Twin Cities area, 41% from the metro suburbs and 10% from Greater Minnesota and out of state. Talent and Influencers The 2026 main stage carried Bad Bad Hats, Dillinger Four and Poliça on the Friday and gully boys, NUR-D, Dessa, Ant and Brother Ali on the Saturday, with DJ Sophia Eris on both nights. The North Star Stage ran local bands from Pullstring to Solana and the Sunsets. Earlier downtown editions booked national headliners: Third Eye Blind, Motion City Soundtrack, Uncle Kracker and Big Boi in 2023, with food curated in part by Andrew Zimmern; The Wallflowers, Martina McBride and Morris Day and The Time in 2024; Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Ludacris in 2025. Brand presence Sponsorship keeps the festival free, and it is sold by stage and by zone. Each stage carries one partner's name, with logos at both entrances and on the large printed site maps, and the Main Stage partner's mark also goes on more than 1,000 credentials. The Family Fun, Dining Hall and Market zones each take a single naming partner; in Family Fun that means branding on the Kai Bi care center and Kai Bi staff in the sponsor's shirts. Most packages put two or three of the partner's products on the festival bars. Up to ten Community Ambassadors take 10-by-10 footprints, and Royal Sonesta was the official hotel partner in 2026.