Free First Saturday: Fantastical Creatures

Fantastical Creature Puppets, 10 am–3 pm
Cowles North Pavilion
Join In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre to make a rod puppet. With your imagination, fabric, wooden rods, and colorful paper will come to life in the form of a fantastical creature!

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Library, 10 am–3 pm
Spoonbridge and Cherry Lawn
Check out the community puppet library from In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. Learn from the artists, take photos with the puppets, and find out more about how you can check one out for yourself.

Wiggly Wagglers Art-Making Activity, 10 am–3 pm
Cowles South Pavilion
Make your own flying Wiggly Waggler and let it wiggle waggle in the sky using two sticks.

Colorful Creatures Alebrijes Masks, 10 am–3 pm
Cowles South Pavilion
Make your own alebrijes mask while learning about these special creatures from Mexico’s folk art traditions.

Dance and Vibe with DJ M’Baku, 10 am–12 noon and 1–3 pm
Cowles Center Pavilion
Let’s get moving and grooving in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden! DJ M’Baku will bring his intergalactic vibrations for an out of this world dance party.

Roaming Puppets, 10–11 am, 12 noon–1 pm, and 2–3 pm
Around the Garden
Something big is on the move in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden! Puppeteers will be on the loose with larger-than-life puppets. Keep on the lookout and say hello when you spot them.

Puppet Parade, 11 am and 1 pm
Parade begins at Spoonbridge and Cherry Lawn
It’s a fantastical creatures Puppet Parade through the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Borrow a puppet or a ribbon wand, or bring your own hand-made creatures to join in on the fun.

Guided Tours of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, 11:30 am (families), 1 pm (general audiences), and 3 pm (in Spanish)
Meet outside Walker Vineland Place entrance
Join a Walker educator for a family friendly guided tour of artworks on view in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at 11:30 am (40 min.), take a guided tour for general audiences at 1 pm (60 min.), or join a guided tour in Spanish at 3 pm (60 min.). Tours explore a selection of artworks and include interactive discussion. Meet outside the Walker’s main entrance on Vineland Place five minutes before the tour starts.

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is wheelchair accessible. Some activities may take place on grass and gravel surfaces.

Content notes: The exhibition Ways of Knowing engages mature themes, including violence.

Sensory notes: The exhibition This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection includes two video rooms with reduced light levels. Some videos include flashing, flickering, or disorienting visual effects and sound that changes in volume, pitch, and tone.

The exhibition Ways of Knowing contains three video rooms with reduced light levels. Some videos include flickering effects and sounds that change in volume or pitch.

For more information about accessibility at the Walker, visit our Access page.

For questions about accessibility, or to request additional accommodations, call 612-375-7564, or email access@walkerart.org.

With over 15 years of experience as a DJ, host, and community curator, DJ M’Baku (also known as Drunken Monkeee) has become a vibrant force in the Twin Cities music and cultural scene. Known for his electrifying energy, genre-blending sets, and ability to connect with any crowd, M’Baku brings an unmatched vibe to every stage he touches. Beyond the turntables, DJ M’Baku is deeply rooted in community broadcasting. He is a driving voice on WTCLR – Worldwide Tweak Central Lounge Radio, and a regular on KRSM 98.9 FM, using his platforms to uplift independent artists, share global sounds, and highlight Black culture. His performances have graced some of the region’s most dynamic events, including Open Streets, Soul of the Southside, and the Dream Lounge Open Mic, where he’s hosted and DJ’d for diverse audiences of all ages. Whether rocking a family friendly street festival or hosting a late-night open mic, his sets are always about connection, movement, and joy. Bringing intergalactic vibrations and soulful beats, DJ M’Baku is more than a DJ — he’s a cultural ambassador, a crowd motivator, and a trusted name for unforgettable live experiences.

Start with water, flour, newspaper, paint. Add a large measure of imagination and a dollop of artistry to make stories about our world come alive through puppets. This is in the Heart of the Beast’s (HOBT) nearly 50-year-old puppet recipe. Since 1973, HOBT has helped to create and cultivate the puppetry community in the Twin Cities, and has been widely celebrated for their large-scale puppets and activism. They have brought some of the most talented puppeteers to Minneapolis, while maintaining a strong connection to the local puppet community. HOBT is a community of artists working within our larger community to create magic together. The group makes puppets large and small—monstrous, beautiful, silly, human, plant, and animal, you name it. HOBT artists use gesture, voice, form, and color, giving life to puppets that help tell stories to represent the world as it is and as we dream it could be.