Uptown Art Fair: MetroTransit Art Hop Bus Review

Every summer, painters, jewelry makers and other artisans infiltrate Minneapolis-area parks and streets. Three art fairs take place over one weekend in August, giving area residents and visitors more than enough art to oogle, admire and purchase. The Uptown Art Fair is by far the largest of the three art fairs, but the smaller Loring Park Art Festival and the Powderhorn Art festivals are also worth checking out.

We attended the art fairs last weekend and had a wonderful time, much of it due to the ease of riding the Metro Transit art hop bus-no stress of finding a parking spot. Let's face it, parking for the Uptown Art Fair is a PAIN! I mean, unless you live in the area, you're going to have difficult time finding a spot to park your car. So how does this all work?

How do I catch the MetroTransit Art Hop Bus?
The MetroTransit Art Hop bus makes stops at all three art fairs, plus the East Lake Street stop. The bus makes a circuit around all four stops, all day long from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m. on Saturdays). We got on at the East Lake Street Stop, as it was the only option of the four that has free parking. The East Lake Street stop is right next to the Light Rail station on Hiawatha Avenue. You can park for free in the MetroTransit Park & Ride lot - it's the same lot as the Farmer's Market. After parking, walk across East Lake Street to catch the bus. Make sure to board the bus that says "Art Hop," as there are other buses stopping here as well. There also will be a MetroTransit Art Hop bus volunteer at each of the four bus stops to help you.

The buses arrive at every 20 minutes, no matter what stop you use, though it seemed like they were running much more frequently than this. If you miss one or can't board a bus because it's full (we did not have this problem), another one will be along shortly. The MetroTransit Art Hop buses are entirely FREE. While dogs are welcome at the actual art fairs, pets are prohibited from riding the Art Hop bus. (Plus, once we got to the Uptown Art Fair, it was so crowded that bringing along Fido would've been a mistake).

Loring Park Art Festival
The first stop on the route drops you off at the Loring Park Art Festival. Booths go around the entire walking path. Food vendors, ice cream and soda vendors are also on hand in case you get hungry. We got a free can of LaCroix Sparkling Water from their booth. We made the rounds & looked at the booths. Once we were finished, the MetroTransit bus came by within about 5 minutes.

Uptown Art Fair
Next stop, the Uptown Art Fair. We were floored by the throngs of people-there were probably five times as many people at the Uptown Art Fair than at the Loring Park Art Festival. Upon arrival, we were definitely happy we decided to take the Metro Transit bus, rather than trying to find parking around Uptown. We spend most of our day here, because there was so much to look at. I bought a pair of earrings. We also each had a corn dog and shared a bag of mini donuts. Those wanting to indulge in an alcoholic beverage can enjoy Blue Moon beer-but beware! IDs will be checked; the Blue Moon booths all had a police officer sitting inside the booth, verifying each ID.

Powderhorn Art Festival
We boarded the bus and make our way to the last stop-Powderhorn Art Festival. This art show was in beautiful Powderhorn Park and had booths all around the lake. The crowds were much thinner. We didn't spend a whole lot of time here because we needed to get back home for a birthday party. We boarded the bus for the final time and got dropped off at the East Lake Street Station. We had a wonderful time at the three Art Fairs. I highly recommend taking the bus, even if you just plan on doing the Uptown Art Fair-you don't have to get off on each of the stops.