We are excited to announce the theme, locations and Open Calls for Northern Spark 2022, the 11th festival since our beginning in 2011.

Northern Spark 2022 will take place in-person along University Avenue in St. Paul, MN on Saturday, June 11, 2022 from 9 pm – 2 am. A Closing Event will follow from 2 am – 5:30 am on Raspberry Island in downtown St. Paul at the Mississippi River.

We are delighted to return to the Rondo, Frogtown and Little Mekong neighborhoods, as well as the River, and to continue partnering with Victoria Theater Arts Center, Springboard for the Arts,  Rondo Community Library and others for this year’s activities.

The festival theme What the World Needs Now was created by the 2022 Artist Council with Northern Lights.mn.

Artists are truth tellers, dreamers, seekers of imagination. Between the ever-present uncertainty of our times and the impossible tangibility of the future, we wonder: what does the world need now? 

Some may already be singing “what the world needs now is love, sweet love.” These lyrics ring true as an anthem for our times. We all need love, but perhaps your answer to this statement is, poetry projected on every building, clean water for all who inhabit this earth, a sing-a-long in a local park, or endless bubbles shining iridescent in the sun. One thing is for certain: we know we will always need art to fuel our souls.

We have launched two Open Calls for Artists to propose projects that take up this query:

Open Call for Participatory Installations
Participatory Installations will take place in-person from 9 pm – 2 am on Saturday, June 11, 2022 in one of 2 locations along St. Paul’s University Avenue. Projects can span any artistic genre, i.e. visual, literary, performance, behavioral, and so forth. Ideal projects will offer engagement opportunities for festival goers. Read the full call here.

Open Call for Closing Event Projects
The Closing Event will take place from 2-5:30 am on festival night, technically on Sunday, June 12th. Happening on Raspberry Island in the Mississippi River, this project will be focused on water. Projects can span any artistic genre, i.e. visual, literary, performance, behavioral, etc. Ideal projects will offer engagement opportunities for festival goers. Read the full call here.

If you have specific questions about the submission process or need help, e-mail submissions@northern.lights.mn.

More to be announced soon!