87th Minneapolis Aquatennial begins Saturday and runs through the 26th behind new leadership.
This past June, the Minneapolis Downtown Council passed the torch to the Aquatennial Ambassador Organization.
"The greatest city in the world needs a great celebration, and we are here to announce that yet again the Aquatennial is coming back to Minneapolis, everybody," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared in June.
And for the most part, the transition has been smooth according to Aquatennial Commodore Marie Carrall.
"I would say in many ways it's been a smooth transition, but like anything, it's exciting," she says as the festival gets set to kick off over the weekend. "But it's getting everything ready for all of the events and reimagining the Aquatennial and its future."
With new leadership comes new events - and a new vision.
"What's really fun about our expansion is the Aquatennial has been focused really on downtown the last couple of years, and this new path forward expands it across Minneapolis," notes Carrell.
It's a new world for the festival, after 23 years under the guidance of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. Prior to those two-plus decades, the Aquatennial was a self-contained festival, which their leaders are again learning to take on.
One thing that's not new is the annual Torchlight parade. This years Grand Marshal is non-other than retired KDWB morning show host Dave Ryan.
"I can remember every car ride on the way to school listening to him, so to have Dave, an icon of Minnesota, being the grand marshal of what I think is the most iconic parade in our state is very fitting," says Carrell, who is also a former Queen of the Lakes.
The parade is Wednesday and begins at 7:30 along Nicollet Mall. There will also be the traditional mainstays such as the Twin Cities Beach Blast on Sunday, with those iconic milk carton boat races. But there are also new activities such as sand castle building, and special performances from the cast of "Wicked."
The events that make up Aquatennial are expanded from previous years. Those original "10 Best Days of Summer" had been whittled down to just a few days in recent years. But kicking off the fun on Saturday and running for a week is an expansion despite the challenges getting it up and running again.
Classic events like the Twin Cities River Rats shows, the Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes Coronation, and others will return. Friday night is also "Aqua Night" at the Minnesota Twins game.
One notable event not on the calendar is the Target Fireworks show, traditionally one of the largest in the nation. Leadership with the Aquatennial is working to bring that event back for 2027.
