New Stage With Amphitheater Seating Coming To Graze Food Hall
North Loop is getting a new outdoor performance venue starting this weekend, with crews hoping to finish their work on a new stage outside Graze Food Hall by Travail.
“This is one of the first things I said when Travail brought me on board was, ‘we need a stage out there,'” said Molly Herrmann, director of operations. “And that was November of 2024. So we turned it around pretty quickly, I think.”
She’s envisioning not only musical performances on the stage but also group fitness classes and special events like the upcoming Grazetoberfest in September.
“Our yard has been underutilized as a venue space,” Herrmann said. “If you remember, it was just this dip. It was sloped and people still tried to sit on there with chairs, it was awkward.”
The project came together in partnership with a construction company that has offices in North Loop, Acero Builders.
“We’re just really excited to highlight Minneapolis as a city of live music,” said owner Marcus Genzlinger. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have great venues and stages for those artists to perform. Our hope is that we contribute to that through what we can do in landscaping, and it creates a place of interest for musicians to come and play at Graze and make it vibrant.”
Molly Herrmann and Marcus Genzlinger
Acero crews have been creating terraced levels out of stone this week where people can sit with their food and drink while watching the performances.
For neighbors wondering, any amplified music will have to be turned off by 10pm because of city ordinances. “We’ll still be very respectful of our neighbors,” Herrmann said.
The first artist scheduled to perform on the stage this Saturday from 3-5pm is Al Church And Friends, doing a Summer Bangers concert of summer hits from the 80s, 90s and 2000s.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop volunteer