Things to Do in St. Paul This Week Before Fair Season

Every year there's a stretch of late August when St. Paul still feels like itself. The coffee shops keep their regular hours, the free movies still show up in the parks, and nobody's circling the block twice looking for parking near Snelling and Como. That stretch ends this week.

Starting Aug. 27, the Minnesota State Fair opens for its 12-day run, and for the better part of two weeks the fairgrounds draw city attention and headlines, while nearby traffic patterns shift. The days around the Fair's opening include several neighborhood moments that either close permanently or don't come back until next summer, and at least two of them are happening on the East Side, which by itself makes up close to a third of the entire city of Saint Paul.

What's Ending and Opening This Week

Swede Hollow Cafe, the East Side coffee shop that's been serving the neighborhood for 29 years, closes its doors for good on Aug. 31. The team says they plan to keep showing up around town at pop-ups and events, so the coffee and sandwiches aren't disappearing entirely, but the storefront itself is done after nearly three decades in the same spot.

Meanwhile, over in Cathedral Hill, Tasca Madrid just opened in the former Handsome Hog space, the full-service sister restaurant to San Roman Bakery and Deli. It's proof that St. Paul's food scene isn't contracting this month so much as reshuffling, with one long-running spot ending and one brand new door opening within a matter of days.

The Week, By The Date

Here's what's on the calendar around the Fair's opening:

• Aug. 27 – The Minnesota State Fair opens for its 12-day run, with Bonnie Raitt headlining the Grandstand that same night.
• Aug. 28 – The city's free outdoor movie series wraps for the summer with a showing of Wicked at Phalen Beach House, the same night Como Lakeside Pavilion has live music booked at Dock & Paddle and "Weird Al" Yankovic plays the Grandstand.
• Aug. 29-30 – A K-pop convention takes over the RiverCentre downtown, and Sierra Ferrell headlines the Grandstand on the 30th.
• Aug. 31 – Swede Hollow Cafe serves its last day after 29 years, the same night Tommy James & The Shondells play the Grandstand.
• Sept. 1-5 – The Grandstand lineup continues during the Fair, with Rod Stewart, AJR, Brad Paisley, HARDY, and a TLC and Salt-N-Pepa bill with En Vogue.

The calendar also lists neighborhood programming on the same nights as Fair events, including the summer's final movie and a live show at a lakeside pavilion.

Why This Particular Week Matters If You Live Here

During the Fair's 12-day run, parking near Como and the neighborhoods closest to the fairgrounds gets tighter, and local headlines and social feeds feature Fair food and Grandstand setlists. Residents can plan for those shifts while keeping neighborhood events on their calendars.

That's exactly why Swede Hollow's closing matters. Its final day falls during the same stretch as the Fair, so anyone hoping to mark the cafe's sendoff should note Aug. 31 on the calendar. The Fair and neighborhood life share these days, each on its own schedule.

St. Paul's neighborhoods keep running on their own separate clocks. The East Side says goodbye to a 29-year-old cafe on its own timeline. Cathedral Hill welcomes a new restaurant into a space that used to be something else. The parks department finishes its movie series at Phalen Beach House according to the summer schedule.

As the Fair begins, it's worth paying attention to the parts of the city that are quietly wrapping up their own summer stories.

We spend as much time tracking weeks like this as we do closing dates, because knowing exactly when a 29-year-old East Side cafe serves its last cup of coffee is the same kind of local fluency we bring to helping neighbors buy and sell around Saint Paul. If you're ever curious what your home is worth in this market, Cooking Real Estate Team can put together a free valuation, no Fair parking required.