The third weekend of July has meant the same thing in Hopkins since 1935. What has changed, and changed quickly, is what happens on the blocks around the parade route the other six days. If you have lived here five years or more, the Raspberry Festival is a fixed point on the calendar. The restaurants you can walk to between events are not.
That gap is the point of this guide. The 2026 Raspberry Festival will be the 92nd annual event, and it lands on a Mainstreet that looks materially different than it did during the 90th. Below is how to move through the week if you already know where the parking is.
The Week At A Glance
| Day | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, July 15 | Wine Walk, 4 PM | Mainstreet |
| Thu, July 16 | Steel Bridges Band kickoff, 7 PM | Downtown |
| Sat, July 18 | Celebration of Community, 10 AM | Hopkins Center for the Arts |
| Sat, July 18 | Marketplace Craft Fair | Mainstreet |
| Sat, July 18 | Raspberry Festival of Bands, 10 AM–4 PM | Downtown Park |
| Sat, July 18 | Berry Block Party, 12 PM | LTD Brewing Co. |
| Sun, July 19 | Raspberry Run 5-Mile, 11 AM | Shady Oak Lake to Main Street |
| Sun, July 19 | Main Street Mile, 12 PM | Mainstreet |
| Sun, July 19 | Grande Day Parade, 1 PM | Mainstreet |
Sources: Wine Walk, Grande Day Parade, Berry Block Party at LTD Brewing, and Celebration of Community listings; Steel Bridges Band kickoff on July 16; Raspberry Run schedule and history; Raspberry Festival of Bands on July 18 at Downtown Park.
Why This Year's Festival Feels Different From The One Two Years Ago
The parade route has not moved. The restaurants behind the curb have. Over the past eighteen months, downtown Hopkins picked up a cluster of ambitious kitchens that would have been implausible on this stretch in 2022. Pink Ivy Kitchen and Bar now anchors the east end of Mainstreet, K'kinaco Nikkei & Pisco Bar is a new Japanese/Peruvian spot in the center, Brasa and Bar Siena anchor the west end of the street.
The reason is not accidental. New housing has popped up in anticipation of the SWLRT line, proximity to the downtowns and the airport makes Hopkins a draw, and the old, established Mainstreet is another big attraction. Add two 2026 openings still settling in, and Raspberry weekend becomes something new: a civic celebration that can now sustain a proper before-and-after meal on the same block.
Here is the practical takeaway. If your habit has been to walk the parade, grab a brat, and drive home, the block is asking you to reconsider. The density is there this year in a way it was not the last.
Anchoring The Parade Day
The Grande Day Parade steps off at 1 PM on Sunday. That leaves lunch on Mainstreet and, for those staying through the afternoon, an early dinner.
For lunch before the parade, the newest option is the one to notice. A to Z Creamery, the small-batch artisan ice cream company from Zach Vraa, is expanding from online-only pints to a soft-serve ice cream shop in spring 2026 at 705 Mainstreet. If you have followed the weekly-drop pint model, the storefront is next door. The weekly drop model will continue, but the new storefront will also offer soft-serve and baked goods for passersby who want to pop in for a twist. Look for a spring 2026 opening, with hours on weekends. Sunday of Raspberry Festival is exactly the weekend it was built for.
The other newcomer worth planning around is Lago Tacos, preparing to open at 1106 Mainstreet and bringing its Twin Cities total back to four locations. Both are walkable from the parade route.
For a sit-down dinner after the crowds thin, the west end of Mainstreet is the strategic call. Bar Siena, the new pizza and pasta bar from Rhett Roberts and his wife Emily, opened last winter. A legal challenge from a Chicago-based restaurant owner means the name will soon be changing to some form of "Hendrix and Siena," reflecting the Roberts' twin six-year-olds. If the name on the awning has changed by the time you walk past, that is why. Roberts' résumé matters here: he has cooked in and run some of the best restaurant kitchens in the Twin Cities, from Vincent, 112 Eatery, Surly's Brewers Table, Fig + Farro, and most recently at Petite Leon. The address is 1601 Mainstreet.
At the east end, Pink Ivy has become the reservation people plan around. 712 Mainstreet, on the corner of 7th Avenue, chef-driven modern American, and a Star Tribune Minnesota's Best Gold Winner for Best New Restaurant, named one of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine's Top 50 Restaurants, honored as Hopkins Business of the Year. If you have out-of-town family in for the parade, this is the address to hand them.
Saturday: The Real Density
Saturday is the day the schedule doubles up. Between 10 AM and mid-afternoon, four things are running at once, each within a short walk of the others.
Start at Hopkins Center for the Arts at 10 AM for Celebration of Community. Walk from there to the Raspberry Festival of Bands in Downtown Park, 40 9th Avenue South, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Weave through the Marketplace Craft Fair on Mainstreet. Land at LTD Brewing Co. at noon for the Berry Block Party.
That is four venues without moving a car. The Marketplace is worth the pass-through because the entire community of Hopkins and surrounding cities turn out for Family Day to enjoy food, music and dozens of vendors displaying their crafts. Vendors set up early. If you are looking for a particular maker, do the loop before the parade-day crowd arrives Sunday.
For anyone who has never actually stopped inside LTD Brewing during the Block Party, the taproom is the closest thing the festival has to a living room. It fills fast Saturday afternoon.
The Run: Longer Than People Remember
The Raspberry Run is not a fun run. It is old, and it is fast. Founded in 1964 by Twin Cities Track Club founder Patrick Lanin, the 5-mile follows the traditional route around Shady Oak Lake before finishing on Main Street prior to the parade. The Main Street Mile was introduced in 2010 and features a flat, fast course straight down Main Street with a shared finish for the 5-mile.
Two things residents forget year over year. First, the 5-mile has a hard cutoff. The course cutoff for the 5-mile race is 12:30. You will be asked to step off the course if you are not done by 12:30. Please pace yourself accordingly. Second, the Main Street Mile is a genuine race. The first wave starts at 12:00 noon and is only for those participating in the USATF MN Race Circuit. The second wave starts at 12:10 PM and is for everyone racing that is not a part of a USATF team.
If you are watching rather than running, the finish line at Main Street between roughly 12:15 and 1 PM is the best free seat of the weekend. Runners come in hot, the parade staging is already forming, and you can drift straight into the parade crowd without moving.
The Wednesday Walk And The Thursday Kickoff
Two events sit outside the Saturday–Sunday core and reward the resident who plans ahead.
The Wine Walk on Wednesday, July 15, from 4 PM on Mainstreet is the quiet start to the week. Merchants pour, the sidewalks are not yet lined with parade folding chairs, and it functions as a practical scouting run for Sunday's stops.
Thursday brings live music from the Steel Bridges Band at 7 PM to kick off the 2026 Raspberry Festival. If your week is going to be crowded by Saturday, this is the low-friction way to start.
What The Week Says About Hopkins Right Now
A festival that has held its date for 92 years on the third weekend of July is a rare thing. What is rarer is a Mainstreet that has quietly assembled the restaurant density to match the crowd the festival brings in. The two facts sit next to each other for the first time in a long time this July.
For residents, the practical implication is simple: the festival is no longer the one day you walk downtown. It is the reason to remember what walking downtown has become.
At Peter Ice, we spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a block worth living on. Raspberry weekend is one of the clearest answers Hopkins gives all year. If the neighborhood has been on your mind lately, whether you are thinking about the next chapter here or just curious what your home has become worth in the current Mainstreet market, get your home valuation and let us walk you through it.
