If your calendar isn’t already full of fun family activities and festivals over the next few months — well, that’s about to change.

Across St. Paul and the greater metro area this season, there are dozens of art fairs, cultural festivals and seasonal celebrations to help you get out of the house and into the community before the weather turns too chilly.

Here’s what’s on our calendar:

September

Now through Sept. 28 — Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Shakopee: Although it’s too late to see magician duo Penn and Teller’s one-time-only return to the festival where they got their start 50 years ago, it’s not too late to experience one of the oldest and largest such Renaissance-era fairs in the country. Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 28, plus a bonus Friday, Sept. 26. Gate admission for adults is $28.95, seniors $26.95, and kids $19.95; renaissancefest.com.

Now through Oct. 5 — Take Me To The River, St. Croix Valley: During this annual monthlong art crawl, visit open studios throughout the valley; specific dates/locations at takemetotheriver.info.

Tony Stelter, a volunteer from West St. Paul takes a break from cooking brats as the Germanic American Institute celebrated Deutsche Tage duinrg their 60th anniversary on Sunday 10th 2018. The weekend event included arts, traditions, and cuisine of the German speaking world at the Germanic American Institute on Summit Ave in St. Paul. (Ginger Pinson / Pioneer Press)

Sept. 12–13 — St. Paul Oktoberfest, Germanic-American Institute: The ultimate German fall celebration, with beer; food vendors serving pretzels, brats, potato pancakes, strudel and more; and plenty of music and dance. Prost! Free, but a $10 wristband is required to buy beer or wine. Runs 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13; 301 Summit Ave.

Sept. 12–14 — Arboretum Glass Pumpkin Patch, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: The only downside of these gorgeous glass pumpkins for sale is that you can’t make pie with them! More than 6,000 hand-blown pumpkins will be for sale, plus glass-blowing demos. You’ll need to enter the arboretum to access the sale: free for members and $20 advance tickets for nonmembers. (Tickets may be available at the gate for $25, but the event is very popular and the Arb folks suggest reserving tickets ahead of time.) 3675 Arboretum Dr., Chaska.

Sept. 13 — Autumn Arts Festival, North St. Paul: This annual event at Casey Lake Park features dozens of art vendors, plus a bounce house, face painting, kids crafts and several local food trucks. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; 2101 E. 17th Ave., North St. Paul.

Sept. 13 — Fiesta Latina, CLUES St. Paul: Join the Latino community for this massive, lively family festival that’ll include dancing, live music, craft activities, and health and wellness opportunities. Starting earlier/running later this year: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free; 797 E. Seventh St.

Sept. 13 — Rivoli Bluff Bash, St. Paul: Celebrate urban food production with Urban Roots at the Rivoli Bluff Farm and Restoration Site, with farm tours, garden activities, face painting, produce giveaways and other entertainment. Free; at the corner of Rivoli Street and Minnehaha Avenue.

Sept. 14 — Selby Jazz Fest, St. Paul: The beloved annual festival returns with a variety of jazz performances, plus food and crafts, hosted by local actor T. Mychael Rambo. Free, from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the corner of Selby Avenue and Milton Street. Besides the daylong festival on Sept. 14, musicians can also sign up for master classes on Sept. 13 and 15 at Walker West Music Academy; more info at selbyavejazzfest.com.

Tennessee Chroma Zone muralist Birdcap (aka Michael Roy) paints “goblins” on the west side of the Security building on University Avenue in St. Paul in May 2024. Seven new murals will be debuted with events like artist talks, tours, music and food, part of Chroma Zone’s fifth annual artist celebration, Sept. 18-20, 2024 in St. Paul. The art festival is free and open to the public. (Courtesy of the Creative Enterprise Zone)

Sept. 18–20 — Chroma Zone Mural and Art Festival, Creative Enterprize Zone: All summer long, muralists have been bringing art to walls around South St. Anthony Park. Attend a muralist panel discussion at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at Bang Brewing Company (2320 Capp Road), attend the outdoor block party from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 19 and see the murals with bus and bike tours Sept. 20. More details at chromazone.net.

Sept. 20–21 — Viva la Vida Taco and Tequila Festival, St. Paul: This is the inaugural year for a two-day celebration of Latino culture — food trucks, cultural demonstrations, arts, soccer showdowns, dance lessons and live music headlined by Los Amigos Invisibles and Salsa del Soul. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 20 and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 21 at the former Sears parking lot; 425 Rice St. More info at vivalavidamn.com.

Sept. 20 — Marine Mills Folk School Fall Festival, Marine on St. Croix: Artists and friends of this organization that safeguards and teaches traditional crafts will have handmade items for sale — plus, live music, raffles, sheepherding demos and hands-on crafts. Free. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 550 Pine St., Marine On St. Croix.

Sept. 21 — 40th Anniversary Open House, Ordway: In honor of four decades, the Ordway is hosting a day of live performances, backstage tours, treasure hunts, games and the chance to try on costumes from the theater’s collection. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with tickets available to reserve in advance online. Free; 345 Washington St.

Sept. 21 — Twin Cities Veg Fest, Harriet Island Regional Park: One of the largest vegan festivals in the Midwest, thousands are expected to gather along the Mississippi for a day of music, cooking demos, nutrition presentations, family performances, art and more. Free, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 200 Dr. Justus Ohage Blvd.

Sept. 27–28 — MinnesoThai Street Food Festival, St. Louis Park: This two-day celebration of local Thai culture, from fashion to folk dance to music to food. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 27, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 28. Free, but note the changed location: This year’s festival is at Wat Promwachirayan; 2544 Highway 100 S., St. Louis Park.

October

Oct. 3–4 — Twin Cities Oktoberfest, State Fairgrounds: For the 15th annual festival, enjoy plenty of beer and food, plus the exact kind of live music you want to hear at Oktoberfest. No admission charge, but IDs are a must and your own mugs are encouraged. Runs 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, and noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. Find more info at tcoktoberfest.com.

Oct. 4–5 — Rivertown Fall Art Festival, Stillwater: The 48th annual art festival along the St. Croix is set to bring more than 200 artists — one of its largest-ever lineups — and thousands of art fans to Stillwater. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days; Lowell Park.

Oct. 10–12 — St. Paul Art Crawl, various locations: More than 300 artists across the city are opening their studios and hosting special events and sales, as are various museums, shops and cafes. Check out more details at stpaulartcollective.org.

Oct. 11 — MN Woodworkers Expo, State Fairgrounds: Local and national woodworkers, manufacturers, and organizations will converge for a day of tool swaps, demos, kids crafts and other fun activities. Free, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Progress Center building (aka Eco Experience)

Volunteer Sam Steinmeyer, 17, from Menomonie, Wis., takes advantage of the “perfect chair” on one giant pumpkin to take a break from moving the gargantuan gourds during the St. Croix Growers Association Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Stillwater’s Harvest Fest on Saturday, Oct., 14, 2023. In all there were 50 giant pumpkins, from 5 states, at the event. The winning entry was the Lancaster resident, Charlie Bernstrom’s 2501 lbs monster. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Oct. 11–12 — Stillwater Harvest Fest: Giant pumpkins — weighing, dropping, eating, rowing in them as boats… what more could you ask for?! The festival bills itself as a smashing good time, and the schedule is packed, so don’t miss it. Downtown Stillwater; full schedule at harvestfeststillwater.com.

Oct. 11–12 — Country Fall Days, Franconia Sculpture Park: In addition to hayrides, scavenger hunts and a barn quilt drop-in activity, attendees can participate in a textile collage workshop on Oct. 11 and honey-tasting on Oct. 12. The park is open all day, as usual, but these specific events run 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 29836 Saint Croix Trail, Shafer.

Oct. 25–26 — Autumn Fest, Franconia Sculpture Park: Keep celebrating fall at Franconia with trick-or-treating and other fun activities, including a “dog and human costume contest” on Friday, Oct. 25. The park is open all day but events run noon to 4 p.m. both days.

Oct. 26 — BOOnion Depot, St. Paul: Put on your costumes and head to Union Depot for crafts, a DJ and dance zone with prices, face painting, balloon artists and character meet-and-greets. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 214 E. Fourth St., St. Paul

November

Nov. 8 — Twin Cities Book Festival, Union Depot: The 25th annual literary fest features author tables, readings, sales and more for all ages, presented by Rain Taxi. Free; 214 E. Fourth St.

Opening Nov. 20 — “Show & Tell,” Walker Art Center: Specifically designed for those under 9, this interactive exhibition — on view till April — presents and reimagines iconic works from the Walker’s collection in hands-on, kid-friendly ways. This exhibition is included with regular museum admission, which is free for kids (and Walker members of any age) anyway, but the grown-ups among us can reserve tickets in advance at walkerart.org or pay at the door for $18, $16 for seniors or $12 for students. 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis.

CRACKED WALNUT POETRY FESTIVAL: Before I Lie (Voices Cracked Open), a program presented as part of the Cracked Walnut “Expressions!” series, features an evening of spoken-word and poetic voices that will not be silenced. Featuring Jess Human, Ayolanda Evans, James K. Estwick, Christian Avey, Simonet Poetry, Folasade Adesanya and Lucreshia Grant, hosted by Dralandra Larkins. 6 p.m. Tuesday, American School of Storytelling, 1762 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

ERIN SODERBERG DOWNING: Minnesota author introduces her new middle-grade novel “What Happened Then,” an alternating narrative about a decades-old family secret buried within the sand, water and woods, waiting for cousins Avery and Jax to find it and uncover the truth. Downing has written more than 75 books, including “Controlled Burn” and “Just Keep Walking,” as well as the Peach adventures. 3 p.m. Saturday, Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul.

JUDY KAROFSKY: Introduces “DISElderly Conduct: The Flawed Business of Assisted Living and Hospice,” a personal account of unmet needs based on experiences caring for her mother, aiming to spark discussions about new approaches for America’s aging population and family decision makers. The author lives in Madison, Wis. 7 p.m. Monday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER: Discusses “Apostle’s Cove,” latest in his Cork O’Connor series. 5 p.m. Monday, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul; 5 p.m. Wednesday, Totally Criminal Cocktail Hour, Grand Banquet Hall, 301 Second St. S., Stillwater, presented by Valley Bookseller $10.

MIDSTREAM READING SERIES: With Barry MacDonald, Mae Steins, Anne Piper and Bill McCarthy. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Unity Church-Unitarian, 732 Holly Ave., St Paul.

(Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society Press)

LORI STURDIVANT: Lunches “Martin Sabo: The Making of the Modern Legislature” (Minnesota Historical Society Press), in conversation with Mike Erlandson, Sabo’s chief of staff in the U.S. House of Representatives. 6 p.m. Thursday, Augsburg University, 2211 Riverside Ave., Mpls., home of Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship.

What else is going on

(Courtesy of Simon & Schuster)

Minnesotan Lauren Stringer’s children’s picture book “An Abundance of Light: A Story of Matisse in Morocco,” has been selected for the Original Art 2025 exhibition of Children’s Book Illustration by the Society of Illustrators. A ceremony will be held in November in New York, with the exhibition at the society, 128 E. 63rd St., from Oct. 15 to Dec 27. The story is about the famous painter leaving rainy Paris for the abundance of light in Tangier, Morocco, only to find Tangier is suffering its coldest, rainiest winter in years. Yet he discovers that sometimes the darkest shadows bring the brightest light.

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Last May, a study came out suggesting that merely giving people money doesn’t do much to lift them out of poverty. Families with at least one child received $333 a month. They had more money to spend, which is a good thing, but the children fared no better than similar children who didn’t get the cash. They were no more likely to develop language skills or demonstrate cognitive development. They were no more likely to avoid behavioral problems or developmental delays.

These results shouldn’t have been a big surprise. As Kelsey Piper noted in an essay for The Argument, a different study published last year gave families $500 a month for two years and found no big effects on the adult recipients’ psychological well-being and financial security. A study that gave $1,000 a month did not produce better health, career, education or sleep outcomes or even more time with their children.

Way back in 1997, Susan E. Mayer, a University of Chicago sociologist and behavioral economist, published “What Money Can’t Buy.” She began her research believing that cash transfers would make a big difference in people’s lives but was persuaded by the evidence that even if you doubled a family’s income, it would have a limited effect on their children’s dropout and teenage pregnancy rates or other outcomes.

She stated her findings clearly: “The results in this book imply that once children’s basic material needs are met, characteristics of their parents become more important to how they turn out than anything additional money can buy.”

She added, “Parental income is not as important to children’s outcomes as many social scientists have thought.” Rising out of poverty also requires the nonmaterial qualities we now call human capital, such as skills, diligence, honesty, good health and reliability. Mayer concludes, “Children of parents with these attributes do well even when their parents do not have much income.”

With human capital, not so good

As a society, we are pretty good at transferring money to the poor, but we’re not very good at nurturing the human capital they would need to get out of poverty. As a result, we do an OK job supporting people who are in long-term poverty but a poor job of helping them lift out of poverty. As Piper noted in a subsequent post, we spend more money combating poverty today than the entire U.S. gross domestic product from 1969, yet “the share of Americans whose pretransfer income places them in absolute poverty has barely fallen.”

Piper’s essay kicked up a bit of an internet storm. You might have thought the progressive reaction would have been: We need to keep giving poor people money, but we also need to focus on the human and behavioral factors that will enable them to build comfortable, independent lives.

But that wasn’t the reaction. The progressives I saw doubled down on the thesis: Poor people just need money.

Matt Bruenig’s contention, also in The Argument, was typical. He scorned the very idea that focusing on human capital is a good way to improve social mobility. He wrote, “Cash is the key part of every welfare state in the developed world and absolutely critical for keeping poverty down.” We shouldn’t make fighting poverty overly complicated, he argued. “As a policy matter, these are mostly solved problems.” Just write people checks.

This is consistent with something I’ve noticed all my life — the materialist bent of progressive thought: the assumption that material conditions drive history, not cultural or moral ones. A couple of decades ago, Thomas Frank published “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” based on befuddlement that Kansans were apparently voting against their economic self-interest. Doesn’t economics drive voting behavior? Progressives have often argued that improving schools is mostly about spending more money, that crime is mostly the product of material deprivation.

The importance of manners and morals

Conservatism, as you know, is a complete mess in America right now. But reading conservative authors like Edmund Burke, Samuel Johnson, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gertrude Himmelfarb and James Q. Wilson does give you an adequate appreciation for the power of nonmaterial forces — culture, moral norms, traditions, religious ideals, personal responsibility and community cohesion. That body of work teaches you, as Burke wrote, that manners and morals are more important than laws. You should have limited expectations about politics because not everything can be solved with a policy.

Neoconservatism came along and took conservative insights and applied them to policymaking. During the Iraq War, the word “neocon” came to mean the opposite of its real meaning, but originally, it was a movement within the Democratic Party to correct the policy failures of the Great Society.

Thinkers like Irving Kristol and Nathan Glazer had been poor immigrant kids. They were willing to spend money to fight poverty, but they wanted the programs to nurture the values that they had seen firsthand help people rise: hard work, family and community cohesion, reliability, a passionate commitment to education. These values tend to inhere in communities before they are transmitted to individuals.

Progressives, by contrast, are quick to talk about money but slow to talk about the values side of the equation. That’s in part for the best of reasons. They don’t want to blame the victims or contribute to the canard that people are poor because they are lazy.

But there’s something deeper. Progressivism emerges from a different lineage. Karl Marx influenced many people who are not Marxist, and he saw the world through a material-determinism lens — people’s consciousnesses are shaped by their material conditions.

Since the dawn of the Progressive movement over a century ago, the left has been more technocratic. Those early Progressives tried to make a science of society and govern according to scientific principles.

Today, the social sciences are the narrow doorway all of human knowledge has to pass through if it’s going to influence policymaking. We want studies!

The social sciences are great. I use them all the time. But when overly quantitative, they can misrepresent reality. They see only what can be quantified. They see only masses of people whose data can be tabulated, not unique individuals.

A route to all sorts of bad judgments

As Christian Smith, a Notre Dame sociologist, has been arguing for decades, the social scientists obliterate the subjective experiences of the people they study. Human agency disappears if research subjects are reduced to a bunch of variables that can be correlated. People who overly rely on social science knowledge are going to tend to focus on money because it can be counted more easily than culture. People who rely on government to solve problems will tend to overemphasize the power of money because that’s the thing government most easily controls.

This materialistic bent leads to all sorts of bad judgments. For example, Joe Biden and his team had one job: to make sure Donald Trump never set foot in the White House again. They tried to accomplish that the only way they knew how: throw money at the problem. The vast bulk of the new Biden spending went to red states to employ workers without college degrees. Politically, the project was a complete failure. Populism is not primarily economic; it’s about respect, values, national identity and many other things. All that spending did not win anybody over.

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Today, most of our problems are moral, relational and spiritual more than they are economic. There is the crisis of disconnection, the collapse of social trust, the loss of faith in institutions, the destruction of moral norms in the White House, the rise of amoral gangsterism around the world.

Driven from the right, but can’t join the left

I’ve been driven away from the right over the past decade, but I can’t join the left because I just don’t think that tradition of thought grasps reality in all its fullness. I wish both right and left could embrace the more complex truth that neocon Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan expressed in his famous maxim: “The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change culture and save it from itself.”

If you can find some lefties who are willing to spend money fighting poverty but also willing to promote the traditional values and practices that enable people to rise, you can sign me up for the revolution.

David Brooks writes a column for the New York Times.

Looking for a mentor: Zach (Kids ‘n Kinship)

Kids ‘n Kinship provides friendships and positive role models to children and youth ages 5-16 who are in need of an additional supportive relationship with an adult. Here’s one of the youth waiting for a mentor:

First name: Zach

Age: 11

Interests: Some of his favorite things include games, Popeye’s chicken, candy. He enjoys riding bikes, going to the park with his family, playing in the snow, climbing the snow mountains and sledding.  He likes to draw.

Personality/Characteristics: His guardian describes Zach as smart and loving to ask questions to learn more and tell stories. The three words/phrases he uses to describe himself are: funny, smart and cool.

Goals/dreams: When he grows up he thinks he may want to be a movie maker. If he could have three wishes he would want: 1) To go to Urban Air 2) To have the newest XBox 3) Go on a shopping spree at Toys ‘R Us.  He wants a mentor who he can be a kid with and get away from all of his siblings!

For more information: Zach is waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship in Dakota County. To learn more about this youth mentoring program and the 39+ youth waiting for a mentor, sign up for an Information Session, visit www.kidsnkinship.org or email programs@kidsnkinship.org. For more information about mentoring in the Twin Cities outside of Dakota County, contact MENTOR MN at mentor@mentormn.org or fill out a brief form at www.mentoring.org/take-action/become-a-mentor/#search.

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