City of Lakes Art Fair Returns to Bde Maka Ska for an Autumn Weekend

The City of Lakes Art Fair returns to the northwest shore of Bde Maka Ska on the weekend of October 10 and 11, 2026, with organizers promising more than 170 juried artists drawn from around Minnesota. The fair runs Saturday and Sunday from mid-morning into late afternoon, and browsing the booths is free.

It is the fair's second year on the lake after a well-attended debut, and the timing is no accident. Where the region's older summer art fairs spent decades fighting heat, humidity and crowded August calendars, this one was built around peak fall color, with the parkway maples turning gold and red over the artists' tents. For a corner of Minneapolis that lives outdoors all summer, it stretches the season of reasons to be by the water a few more weekends.

What to expect on the shore

Painters, printmakers, jewelers, ceramicists and photographers make up the bulk of the roster, with a band of food vendors and a kids' activity area rounding out the grounds. Live music plays through both afternoons, and the lake path stays open for anyone who wants to walk off a cider doughnut between booths.

Because the fair is juried — artists apply and are selected rather than simply renting a table — the work tends toward the original rather than the mass-produced. That is the draw for repeat visitors: the chance to meet the person who made the piece, ask how it was done, and carry home something with a story attached. Organizers have leaned into that intimacy, pitching the event as much a fall ritual as a shopping trip.

Why a lakeside fair matters here

Outdoor art fairs are one of the ways a neighborhood gets to know itself. They turn a stretch of parkway into a temporary main street, put neighbors shoulder to shoulder for an afternoon, and give a free, low-pressure reason to be out among people. On a shoreline as heavily used as Bde Maka Ska's — runners, paddlers, dog-walkers and stroller traffic all year — an art fair simply joins the parade already underway.

It also lands at a useful moment in the calendar. The big summer fairs have packed up, school is back in session, and the days are getting shorter. A two-day reason to linger by the lake, coffee in hand, is exactly the kind of thing the cooler months tend to lose.

An easy walk for the neighborhood

Neighbors on the Lowry Hill and East Isles side of the water have one of the easiest approaches anywhere. The fair sits squarely on bike and bus routes, and organizers ask visitors to leave the car at home where they can: parking around Bde Maka Ska fills quickly on a clear October Saturday, and the lakeside setting is far nicer arrived at on foot or by bike than circling for a spot.