Friends,

Winter Carnival is upon us and despite some changes to the programming this year compared to years past we are still excited to welcome thousands of visitors to downtown over the next two weekends. This year, in addition to the ice carvings in Rice Park you can also watch a nightly laser light show projected on to Landmark Center featuring art from local artist Marlena Myles and check out the special featured cocktails and mocktails at one (or more!) of the 15 restaurants participating, both a part of the Saint Paul is Lit festivities. You'll know them when you see them thanks to the bright teal lights in their windows but more information about that can be found below.

The first weekend of Carnival also brings back perennial favorite events like the puzzle competition, Saintly City Cat Show and more. Keep reading for a full round up of what's ahead.

Take care and have a great weekend,

-Joe

Here's your day-by-day guide to the 2025 Saint Paul Winter Carnival

This year’s Winter Carnival aims to truly be a Saint Paul celebration.

Downtown’s Rice Park — cheekily renamed “Ice Park” — and the Landmark Center are still the heart of the Carnival, but more events are taking place in new locations across the city.

Saint Paul is Lit: Embrace Winter With Local Restaurant Specials

Ten Capital City restaurants are embracing the winter season with festive light displays and specialty drinks.

The Saint Paul Downtown Alliance, in collaboration with Visit Saint Paul, Ecolab and Saint Paul Winter Carnival, present this 10-day event to make this chilly season a bit brighter and shine light on the liveliness of downtown.

Participating restaurants will showcase festive teal light displays and feature specialty cocktails and NA drinks on their menus. Plus, a nightly laser light show will be displayed on the exterior of the Landmark Center overlooking Rice Park.

When

January 23-February 1, 2025

Where

15+ restaurants across downtown and West 7th Street. You can see the whole list and a map here.

In addition to this festive restaurant promotion, Saint Paul will also be host to a collection of other seasonal celebrations throughout the week like the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, Mayor's Cup hockey game, Minnesota Wild & Frost home games, and Red Bull Heavy Metal.

Weekly construction updates are currently paused during the winter months. As any changes or updates arise we will share them here.

More information on specific ongoing projects can be found below:

Robert Street

Utility work continues to progress on Robert Street. Crews anticipate work to continue through the end of the month between 7th Street and Kellogg Boulevard and through spring 2025 between 11th and 7th streets, in advance of the reconstruction project.

Minnesota Street

Over the next several weeks, Xcel is scheduled to be on site working on their existing utility vault next to the UBS Building on the west side of Minnesota Street. They will set up traffic control so please follow all posted signs. In the coming weeks, intermittent lane closures are anticipated to occur for private utility work.

Kellogg Boulevard: Bridge Closure

Kellogg-3rd Street bridge remains closed. Construction is anticipated to last approximately three years.

Are you following the Alliance on Facebook? What about Instagram?

Make sure you're following the Downtown Alliance on social media to stay up to date on all the latest downtown events and news. Plus, we do love giveaways, so you never know when you could end up with tickets, swag or other great downtown prizes.

@StPLdowntown

stpdowntownalliance.org

Have questions?

Drop us a line!