The Minnesota State Fair may be over, but there’s still festival fun to be had in Cedar-Riverside this weekend. The previous organizer of Open Streets, Our Streets, is hosting the final “Imagine” event of the season. Imagine Cedarfest will be at the intersection of Cedar and Riverside Avenue this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Billed as “more than just a block party,” the event aims to gain community input on neighborhood transportation issues.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is evaluating options for the future of a 7.5-mile stretch of I-94 adjacent to Cedar-Riverside. The project’s outcome will greatly impact those who live and work in this area. Our Streets is advocating for Twin Cities Boulevard, a highway-to-boulevard conversion, an increasingly popular trend in transportation planning that addresses environmental and racial injustice.
“Neighbors along the project corridor continue to indicate that community engagement around the Rethinking I-94 project has been insufficient and confusing,” says José Antonio Zayas Cabán, executive director of Our Streets. “Many don’t know about the project or know what options are available to them. This event allows us to transform the neighborhood for a day to inspire community imagination around how we get places and demonstrate what our neighborhoods can look and feel like in the future.”
The event features four stages, including the Cedar Cultural Center’s Cedar Cypher stage, and will have musical performances from Innocent Reggae Band, Fanaka Nation, and Tribal Fusion. Attendees can grab food from multiple Cedar-Riverside restaurant food stalls and shop at pop-up markets—a flea market by Palmer’s Bar and the Imagine Makers Market featuring more than 40 neighborhood vendors, including Chey Kumara, the Cosmoknot, and The Blue Topaz. Additionally, attendees can skate with Twin Cities Skaters, enter their pup in the Wienery’s Weinie Dog Race, ride a Camel, climb the Southside Battletrain, sword fight with Adventures in Cardboard, and tie-dye a free tote bag.
“The Imagine event is an example of joy activism and a way to collectively co-create a better future with those most impacted by the harms of the highway,” says Ember Rasmussen, events manager for Our Streets. “The highway should never have been built through these communities. What do reparations look like to those who lost that opportunity for generational wealth and continue to endure the health harms of the highway?”
Imagine Cedarfest
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