This post was updated on June 5, 2025
Thursdays Downtown!
Thursdays from June 12 – August 14, 2025 | 11 am to 8:30 pm
📍Updated Location in 2025 📍
South of 2nd Street SW on 1st Ave SW, Historic 3rd Street SW and
NEW for this year — 2nd Ave SW
Now that we have officially entered the summer season in Rochester MN, it means the return of one of our most beloved local outdoor festivals – Thursdays Downtown! This outdoor street festival occurs in downtown Rochester MN every Thursday throughout the summer (except July 3) from 11:00 AM – 8:30 PM. There is so much to see and do: this expansive food, drink, craft, and artisan market stretches several city blocks. This summer, enjoy over 100 artisan vendors and food options, and 54 bands.
It seems the entirety of Rochester loves to come together on Thursdays Downtown…it’s a place to celebrate all things summer! It’s hard to not feel a sense of camaraderie when you are there. Rochester MN residents are proud of our city and this festival really celebrates our community.
Thursdays Downtown began over a decade ago as a way for Downtown Rochester, MN to bring energy and excitement to the heart of the city. Today, it features hundreds of food vendors, restaurants, crafters, artisans, and local businesses—offering something for everyone to enjoy. And let’s not forget the live music! With two stages and performances scheduled throughout the day, you’ll have plenty of chances to sit back and enjoy the sounds or dance along to great tunes from talented local musicians and bands.
Here are some helpful tips if you’re looking to head to Thursdays Downtown this summer!
Parking
The map above is an aerial perspective of the downtown, Rochester MN area. The dark blue lines represent the streets and plaza where Thursdays Downtown is held. The pink icons with the letter “P” represent parking ramp options that are close to Thursdays Downtown. A few notes about parking:
- Parking in ramps downtown is an easy, convenient, and affordable way to visit downtown.
- If you use one of the ramps after 5:00 PM, parking is FREE (until 2:30 AM) in all ramps downtown. (This pertains to street parking as well: free after 5:00 PM!)
- All parking sessions under one hour in public ramps are FREE. {INSIDER TIP} This means that you could arrive at 4:00 PM and use one hour of free parking and then not pay at all after 5:00 PM!
- While ramp parking is abundant, it can fill up quickly during Thursdays Downtown. Don’t forget about neighborhood and street parking (particularly to the south/southwest of the festival area). If you are up for a short walk, there is often easy and plentiful parking further away from the event. Please be sure to observe any posted parking signs!
Dedicated Family Space “Family Nook” – presented by Mayo Clinic
Back again in 2025, is a dedicated family space near One Discovery Square near 4th Street and 2nd Ave SW on Discovery Walk. This space will feature kids’ activities, chairs to rest, stroller parking, and more!
Activities include:
- Giant Jenga
- Basketball Toss
- Mini Golf
- Bean Bags
- Giant chess
- Connect Four
- Adirondack Chairs
Eating
One of the best parts of Thursdays Downtown is the variety of food choices!! From gelato to tacos, burgers to gyros, pizza, beer, popcorn, and cookies the size of your face…you’re going to find something that you want to eat. Here’s the list of vendors and food options to see what there is to choose from! Keep these things in mind when you are planning to eat at Thursdays Downtown:
- Food vendors are located on 1st Avenue SW between 2nd Street SW and 4th Street SW.
- After 5:00 PM this area of the festival becomes quite busy and packed with people as everyone is hoping to enjoy happy hour or dinner with family and friends.
- If you are planning to eat downtown with small children or a large group consider visiting at a non-peak time (2 PM – 4 PM, after the lunch hour and mid-afternoon tends to see less traffic).
- While there are plenty of places to sit at Thursdays Downtown, spots are at a premium at peak times! Consider a non-traditional place to eat your food. {INSIDER TIP} Some of our favorite places to sit and eat are the steps of the Old Courthouse between BeBap Korean Eats and Third Street. Bring your picnic blanket and you’re good to go!
- Don’t forget to head west on Third Street SW under the skyway near Lumi Restaurant for the artisan vendors, and another entertainment stage!
Entertainment
In addition to so much to eat, there is so much to see and do at Thursdays Downtown! There are two main stages to listen to music at different times of day (6 performances each day!): the Altra Federal Credit Union stage on 1st Avenue at 2nd Street SW and the Kahler Grand Hotel stage on Discovery Walk at 3rd Street SW. (The stages are represented on the map above by bluestars.)
Thursdays Downtown Entertainment Line-up!
- Talent is featured from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM, and 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM on both stages. Enjoy music from regional and local musicians in a variety of styles and music genres!
- Both stages have seating right up front. If you want to ensure a seat, be there early {INSIDER TIP} Keep in mind that the music is pretty loud, so if you have young children along, you might want to sit further back. OR, you could head to the skyway connecting the 1st Avenue ramp and Lumi restaurant and have an eagle-eye view of the festival while staying cool!
Tips
Rochester Local LOVES Thursdays Downtown and has been attending this fun festival every year since the beginning. Many of us have become parents in that time and we’ve learned a few tips and tricks along the way! Here are some ideas to keep in the back of your mind to make your time the most fun:
- If you have young kids with you, be sure to use the restroom before you get to street level. There are portable restrooms with hand-washing stations in a few spots (one is located along 1st Avenue between the Minnesota Bio Business Center and the 201 Building and the other is near the Peace Plaza stage), but they can be tricky to navigate with kids.
- If you are pushing a stroller, it won’t be easy to do so at peak times. The busier areas near the 1st Avenue stage are standing room only with very little walking space from 5 PM until the festival ends each Thursday. Consider visiting at a non-peak (2 PM – 4 PM is pretty quiet) time if you have young children or are pushing a stroller!
- Bring along a lot of wet wipes for easy clean-up. No one wants sticky hands.
- If you need a bit of shade or to cool off, access the Skyway from the parking ramp on 1st Avenue by Lumi Restaurantl
ENJOY! Thursdays Downtown is one of our favorite things to do in Rochester MN in the summer. We hope you love it as much as we do!
Looking for more summer fun? Check out the Rochester Local events calendar or the Rochester Guide to Summer + Bucketlist!
