The Great Northern Festival

Mission:

The Great Northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through ten days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body. In an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, we seek to create community, inspire action, and share the resilient spirit of the North with the world.

Vision:

Our winters produce creativity born from restraint, and inspire a distinctive festival platform. Each year, The Great Northern galvanizes the Twin Cities, drawing 200,000 visitors, sparking national attention. Covering past festivals, Food & Wine declared: “It’s snowing and 10 degrees outside and there’s never been a better time to head to Minnesota.” Departures agreed: “Minnesota does cold better than anywhere else.”

Led by Executive and Artistic Director Kate Nordstrum, The Great Northern includes world premiere performances, food events, site specific art, panels and speakers, films, regional craft, commissioned writing, storytelling, partnerships with local and national institutions, and outdoor activations. Founding partners City of Lakes Loppet, Saint Paul Winter Carnival and U.S. Pond Hockey Championships host their legacy events as part of The Great Northern each year.

While The Great Northern involves joy and celebration, it also highlights an existential threat to winter: climate change. There is no place on earth unaffected by warming weather. In our own region, we are already seeing some of our most beloved traditions diminished and our environment compromised. In celebrating winter, The Great Northern is also a call to action. To that end, we’ve expanded the festival’s impact by presenting a broad range of programming focused on climate change. We remain committed to exploring the richness of our winter art scene and highlighting diverse perspectives on how we, as a community, embrace winter.