Also: Crashed Ice guide: what you need to know
A couple of hundred thousand people will visit downtown St. Paul on Saturday for a day that opens with saintly cats and wraps up with singer-songwriter Sam Smith.
There are so many events planned, Visit St. Paul has a web page — visitsaintpaul.com/jan24 — to help folks navigate their way in and out of downtown.
“January 24 will be an awesome day in St. Paul,” said Terry Mattson, president and CEO of Visit St. Paul. “We know we can accommodate all the visitors, we just want to provide and promote some safe, time-saving alternatives to getting into town.”
What’s happening:
— The Saintly City Cat Show opens at the Roy Wilkins Exhibition Hall at 9 a.m., the same time the Securian Winter Run starts at the corner of Sixth and Jackson streets.
— The St. Paul Winter Carnival’s King Boreas Grande Day Parade runs along West Seventh Street from Smith Avenue to Rice Park from 2 to 4 p.m.
— Xcel Energy Center hosts North Star College Cup games at 4 and 7 p.m.
— “The Voice” veteran Kat Perkins performs a free concert at 7 p.m. in Rice Park.
— Smith will sing for a full house at 8 p.m. at Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
On top of all that, Garrison Keillor’s live “A Prairie Home Companion” starts at 4:45 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Theater, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts hosts the Minnesota Opera at 7:30 p.m., and Park Square Theatre presents “The Color Purple” at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
The major attraction, however, is the Red Bull Crashed Ice competition. The breakneck action starts at 4:30 p.m. and is expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators.
Pop music critic Ross Raihala can be reached at 651-228-5553. Follow him at Twitter.com/RossRaihala.
IF YOU GO
Metro Transit is offering free rides Saturday into downtown St. Paul. A printable pass is available online at visitsaintpaul.com/jan24.
The website also offers parking tips, alternate routes to downtown and a list of more than 40 restaurants offering free shuttles to the Crashed Ice competition.
Copyright 2015 Pioneer Press.
