Dusk-to-dawn arts festival Northern Spark has ended after 15 years – Twin Cities

The sun has set on the annual Northern Spark festival.

The St. Paul-based nonprofit Northern Lights.mn announced Monday the sunset-to-sunrise festival will no longer take place after 15 years and 851 projects supporting thousands of artists. The group will hold a final closing program in June and release an artist-centered publication celebrating the festival in 2024.

In a news release, the group said it is not in a fiscal nor leadership crisis, but that an analysis of current finances and future projections “show a picture of reduced income to such a degree that we would be unable to fulfill our mission and vision with integrity.”

Northern Spark began in 2011 with more than 100 public art projects, many of which took place on or near the banks of the Mississippi River. In 2018, it expanded to two nights with reduced hours. Organizers had planned to take 2020 off, even before the pandemic. The following year, Northern Spark grew once again, with events spread across two weeks. In 2022, it returned to its original overnight format.

“We supported artists through 15 years of ambitious public projects that shifted how people experience this place where we live,” said executive director Sarah Peters. “We are proud of this work, and are choosing to close with grace rather than continue to do less with less.”