Detail from the post for Lowertown’s “The End of the Line is Just the Beginning” block party, Saturday, June 14.

Beginning Saturday morning, 10 a.m. on June 14, Minneapolis/St. Paul residents will be able to travel by light rail between the Twin Cities’ downtown areas. Conscientious drivers and cyclists are boning up on new share-the-road signage and safety rules. The months of construction and navigating around “the Trench” are just a memory. The trains are winding up their test runs, and neighborhoods along the Central Corridor are gearing up for the weekend’s big Green Line launch.

Stations all along the new light rail line are hosting parties through the day, highlighting the neighborhood flavor of each stop. Live performance stages and local food and drink purveyors will be on hand just about everywhere you might set foot off the train on Saturday.

Iny Asian Dance Theater will perform at the Western Street Station. Photo from a performance in Fresno this year, courtesy of IADT

There’s so much going on, a cheat sheet for the most interesting among all these Green Line launch events might be helpful. The biggest parties are happening, as you’d expect, at both ends of the Green Line. In St. Paul, Union Depot’s line-up celebrates the cultural wealth of Lowertown: The Current will host live music all day in the Plaza (including local favorites Koo Koo Kanga Roo and Doomtree, among others); on the indoor stage, visitors can see a variety of dance performances – Bharatanatyam, Flamenco and ballet. Find the full list of family-friendly activities in and around the station here.

Just down the street, Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar, along with the musicians and artists of the Northern Warehouse building, and the Lowertown Entertainment District are hosting “The End of the Line is Just the Beginning,” a day-long block party with still more to do, eat, hear and see. Bedlam Lowertown is now open for business; the Minnesota Museum of American Art is opening the 2014 MN Biennial this weekend – all within easy walking distance.

Jessie McNally will have a solo show at AZ Gallery in Lowertown, near the Union Depot station. (Read a review of an exhibition she had there last year, if you’re curious to see more.)

At the other end of the route, Target Field Station in Minneapolis will likewise host a day’s worth of live music, food and drink. (The young children in your life might be interested to know they’ll have large LEGO models of the Metro Transit trains on-site.) See the line-up for Target Field Station’s launch day activities on the Metro Transit website.

In addition, there are scads of community parties on offer in between. Here’s what I’ve got specially earmarked:

• Stadium Village Station’s activities center on the neighborhoods’ sports offerings. Look for: Minnesota Vikings’ inflatable field goal kick, touchdown toss and bounce house, and let the kids jump and slide.
• Raymond Avenue Station is home to the Creative Enterprise Zone, and the neighborhood will be showing off its diverse stable of arts and culture offerings. Look for: public art on a grand scale, including human sculptures  and a mobile mural, the Roller Revolution and the sPARKit trailer. (While you’re in the area, catch the Textile Center’s “knitting in public” activities at the nearby Prospect Park station.)
• Hamline Avenue Station will leverage its proximity to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds with an array of fair-themed activities they’re calling “The Great ‘Midway’ Get-Together.” Look for: the “Kidway” hosted by the Minnesota Children’s Museum, Como Park Zoo and Conservatory and Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum and a live version of Choo Choo Bob’s popular television show, as well as Grandstand performances hosted by the Turf Club.
• Western Street Station is celebrating its Asian American community with a day of “Little Mekong”-themed food, dance, theater and music. Look for: the pop-up outdoor Asian market, Iny Asian Dance Theater and drumming by Mu Daiko.
• Victoria Street Station is a hub for the historic Frogtown, Rondo, Summit-University and Dale neighborhoods in St. Paul, and they’ll be spotlighting that multicultural heritage with a variety of documentary screenings and historical exhibits. Look for: a full day of live performances and art-making on-site at the historic Victoria Theater, the public debut of Saint Paul Almanac’s Storymobile and a community meal demonstration by Seitu Jones.

The Storymobile makes its public debut at the Victoria Street Station. Photo courtesy of Saint Paul Almanac

Just as the day’s block parties and community festivals are winding down along the Central Corridor, Northern Spark (the cities’ annual all-night public arts festival) will begin lighting up the dark, with scores of artists’ projects underway all night in the streets of Minneapolis. You’ll be pleased to know Metro Transit is giving away free rides – by bus, light rail and on the Northstar commuter routes – June 14 and 15 in honor of the weekend’s festivities.

Find detailed information about the Green Line light rail launch-day activities online at www.metrotransit.org/opening-day. On a related note, there’s another community challenge grant afoot later this month: the Knight Green Line Challenge will begin taking applications for your best ideas for great projects to enhance the neighborhoods along St. Paul’s Central Corridor on June 24. Find more here: www.knightgreenlinechallenge.org.