The Dakota will celebrate its 40th anniversary with free festival on Nicollet Mall originally appeared on Bring Me The News.
The Dakota has been celebrating its 40th anniversary as an internationally renowned pillar of the jazz and live music scene in the Twin Cities in 2025. That will reach its zenith next month, with a free 40th-anniversary block party in Downtown Minneapolis featuring performances from The Suburbs, Jamecia Bennett, and others.
The party will take place on Nicollet Mall from 2 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20. Held out on the street and inside the venue, the event will feature more than 10 performers alternating between the two stages.
The DakotaCourtesy of The Dakota
“This anniversary is a celebration not only for Dakota but also for the incredible Twin Cities music community that has contributed so much to reaching this historic milestone,” Lowell Pickett, founder of The Dakota, says. “We’re celebrating 40 years of unforgettable music, and paying tribute to the New Orleans roots that have long inspired our stage and our kitchen.”
The celebration will center on music from local performers, focusing not just on jazz — what the venue is best-known for presenting — but other genres it frequently presents, including soul, funk, and Americana.
Davina and the Vagabonds at The DakotaCourtesy of The Dakota
Here’s a look at the stacked lineup of local talent. Set times will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Kavyesh Kaviraj and Omar Abdulkarim
MacPhail Faculty Ensemble
Pat Donohue and Prairie All Stars
Patty Peterson presents Jazz Woman All-Stars with Ginger Commodore, Connie Evingson, Mary Louise Knutson, Joan Griffith, Sheila Earley, and Stephanie Wiesler
Beyond music, the festivities will include food specials inspired by New Orleans along Nicollet Mall, as well as a craft market and a kids’ activity area.
Founded by Pickett in 1985 at Bandana Square in St. Paul, the venue has evolved repeatedly since debuting as the Dakota Bar and Grill with a focus on local jazz.
As its reputation grew and it began to attract more national talent, the Dakota Bar and Grill moved to its current Minneapolis hub at 1010 Nicollet Mall in 2003, redubbing itself as The Dakota Jazz Club.
In the years that followed, it expanded its musical offerings — and simplified its name to The Dakota to reflect an increasingly eclectic calendar — bringing in national and local talent in genres like R&B, Americana, blues, folk, rock, world music, classical, and hip-hop, while remaining heavily invested in jazz.
The list of performers that have hit the stage over the last four years is a stunning list of global talent, including Prince, Philip Glass, Bela Fleck, Dr. John, Joshua Redman, Tower of Power, Meshell Ndegeocello, Allen Toussaint, Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, Max Roach, Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Talib Kweli, Al Di Meola, Bill Frisell, Stanley Jordan, Arturo Sandoval, John Scofield, and many others.
Its alluring celebration will, however, have some competition on a packed Saturday that also features the arrival of Farm Aid with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Kenny Chesney, Billy Strings, Margot Price, and Trampled By Turtles.
Elsewhere around the Twin Cities, concertgoers will find shows from Bonnie Raitt at The Ledge Amphitheater, Pulp at The Armory, and Sparks at The Fitzgerald Theater.
Related: Must-see concerts this week: Nine Inch Nails, she’s green, Flaming Lips
This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
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