There’s always something interesting happening in Downtown Northfield! Join us August 17th at 7pm on Bridge Square for the 2017 Sidewalk  Poetry Capstone Celebration. The event is open to the public and will bring poetry lovers and sidewalk poets together to hear the poems read aloud, to meet the winning poets, and to hear music by Bonnie and the Clydes.  Thanks to the Northfield Senior Center volunteers, the popcorn wagon will be open for business, serving delicious popcorn and cold drinks.

Bring your lawn chairs, relax and enjoy the music and poetry of the night.  A large map of the locations of the 2017 winning poems will be shared and the winning poems from all seven years of the contest will be on display.

In 2011, Northfield launched its annual Sidewalk Poetry Project. In the seven years of the project, 66 poems – the creations of 46 local poets — have been selected for imprinting in over 200 locations across the community.  Each one of the winning poems, imprinted into the concrete of our city sidewalks, is remarkable on its own; collectively, they offer a sense of the spirit of our community.  Chosen from among 156 poems submitted for judging, ten winning poems will be celebrated in 2017.

Sidewalk Poetry is a partnership with the Friends and Foundation of the Northfield Public Library, the Northfield Public Library and the City of Northfield, and has been supported by the efforts of hundreds of volunteers. This activity receives major funding from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) through the arts and culture heritage fund, as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. Additional funding is provided by the Friends and Foundation of the Northfield Public Library.

For more information, contact Bonnie Jean Flom, chair of Northfield’s Arts and Culture Commission at bjflom@gmail.com.