It’s a busy weekend of food and music events in the Twin Cities.

Even if you don’t have tickets to the biggest show in town, Farm Aid, there are plenty of things to do, some of which are cheap or free!

Viva La Vida: Taco & Tequila Festival

The former site of the Sears building near the Capitol in St. Paul will be turned into a celebration of all things Latino this Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 20-21).

There will be more than 20 food trucks and restaurants at this festival, including El Burrito Mercado and Los Ocampo. And the music selection is top-notch: Saturday’s highlights include state representative and hip-hop powerhouse Maria Isa and Venezuelan disco savants Los Amigos Invisibles. On Sunday, Salsa de la Soul and the International Raggae Allstars will take the stage.

Tickets are $20 for general admission, but you can pay an extra $30 and get a tequila tasting experience. Taste samples from some of Mexico’s most celebrated tequila producers, including G4, Código, Arette, Tapatio and Mijenta.

There will also be lucha libre wrestling, roving mariachi bands, cultural dancers and a market featuring local artisans, handmade goods and gifts.

The fest runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The address is 425 Rice St., St. Paul, and tickets are available at vivalavidamn.com.

Oktoberfest at Waldmann

My favorite local Oktoberfest has to be the one at Waldmann Brewery.

They put up a big tent and host live music, traditional dancing, stein-holding contests and more.

Best of all, the traditional German sausages, pretzels and Oktoberfest beers are top-tier delicious.

It’s not exactly a secret — Waldmann has expanded the fest to include two, three-day weekends (Friday, Sept. 19 through Sunday, Sept. 21, and Friday, Sept. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 28) to help alleviate crowding, and they reserve the right to limit your time to three hours if they reach capacity. It’s $10 to get in, but I’d also budget for public transportation or a rideshare to get there, because parking is pretty much nonexistent.

The brewery is just outside of downtown St. Paul at 445 Smith Ave., St. Paul. The fest runs from noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and noon to 7 p.m. Sundays.

For more information, go to waldmannbrewery.com/oktoberfest.

Fulton Oktoberfest

Fulton also hosts a giant German beer tent this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 19-20) and next weekend (Sept. 26-7). Admission is free.

Highlights include live polka, Bavarian dancers, stein-holding competitions and a brat toss.

Food includes brats, pretzels and a meterwurst.

The fest takes place at the brewery (not the taproom), which is at 2540 Second St. N.E., Minneapolis. It runs from 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays and noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays.

For more information, go to fultonbeer.com/oktoberfest.

SurlyFest

If a traditional Oktoberfest doesn’t appeal, perhaps SurlyFest is for you!

On Saturday, Sept. 20, Surly will host a full day of (free!) live music in the brewery’s gigantic beer garden. Musical acts are curated by local hip-hop producer Lazerbeak: Shredders, Bad Bad Hats, White Boy Summer, Christy Costello, Sophie Hiroko and a DJ set from Sick Trim (Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger).

There’s a special menu that includes cabbage rolls, sauerbraten, “impossibly large” pierogies and, of course, SurlyFest beer.

Doors are at 11 a.m.; music begins at 2 p.m.

For more information, go to surlybrewing.com/surlyfest-2025.

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What to know when the Vikings host the Cincinnati Benga;s on Sunday afternoon:

Vikings vs. Bengals
When: 12 p.m. Sunday
Where: U.S. Bank Stadium
TV: CBS
Radio: KFAN
Line: Vikings -2.5
Over/Under: 41.5

Keys for the Vikings

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz (11) warms up during the first half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

— Don’t put too much on Carson Wentz‘s plate. Never mind that he has logged 94 starts in his career. He signed with the Vikings less than a month ago, and thus, shouldn’t be relied upon to shoulder the load in the short term. There should be a healthy dose of Jordan Mason this weekend. He should have at least 20 carries. On the other end, the Vikings should be able to force turnovers with Jake Browning starting for the Bengals. Though he’s proven the ability to be a prolific passer, Browning has been known to throw interceptions.

Keys for the Bengals

— If the Bengals want to have a chance, they need to dominate with the pass rush. There’s a chance Trey Hendrickson will get to go up against either Walter Rouse or Blake Brandel at left tackle as Christian Darrisaw is listed as questionable. Ryan Kelly has been ruled out by the Vikings, meaning Michael Jurgens will make his first career start at center. There should be able opportunity for the Bengals to get after Wentz throughout the game. That could result in turnovers given Wentz’s track record.

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The Adams administration declined to send agency representatives to two City Council hearings, inflaming councilmembers who hoped to get answers about the administration’s response to Trump’s budget cuts and a proposed housing project in the Bronx.

“Millions of New Yorkers are going to lose their health care and are going to go hungry and the Adams administration’s response is to stick their head in the sand,” City Councilmember Lincoln Restler said at Monday’s hearing. (John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

The feud between City Hall and the City Council reached new heights this week, as the Adams administration declined to send agency representatives to two City Council hearings, inflaming councilmembers who hoped to get answers about the administration’s response to Trump’s budget cuts and a proposed housing project in the Bronx.

Thursday, NYC’s Health and Hospitals (H+H) officials were due to testify in support of their “Just Home” project that would build 58 units of housing for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with significant health needs. The controversial project already went through years of public review and local resistance.

In an unusual move for a land use applicant, H+H delivered a letter to councilmembers Thursday saying the administration was now “actively reviewing” the project, which was slated for a building on the Jacobi Hospital campus. The Daily News reported that City Hall pulled its support for Just Home earlier this week, an abrupt reversal from even a month ago, when H+H said in a press release that it expected to break ground “in the next year.”

The livestream of Monday’s oversight hearing on federal budget cuts. (Screenshot)

“This is the second time this week that the city is being represented by empty chairs in this chamber,” said Councilmember Justin Brannan, before crumpling up the note.

Administration officials also declined to attend Monday’s oversight hearing on how federal cuts will affect New York City.

“The Adams administration has always taken decisive action whenever federal funds were reduced or at risk under both the current and previous federal administrations,” a spokesperson for City Hall told City Limits when asked about the absences.

“Our full written testimony will be submitted for the record, outlining in detail the steps we are taking to safeguard the city’s future. But let’s be clear: hours of hearings staged for political gain, without real purpose or impact, are a waste of taxpayer dollars and do a disservice to our constituents,” they added.

A spokesperson for City Hall pointed out that Diane Savino and Tiffany Raspberry, two Adams administration officials, did testify later in the hearing on Just Home. They said they tried to reschedule the hearing.

“Asking to change a hearing 24 hours before a hearing that was scheduled three weeks earlier, It just shows that this is all some sort of backroom deal,” said Brannan.

Before Monday’s hearing, tenants rallied outside City Hall to call attention to Medicaid cuts and  expiring funding for emergency housing vouchers under the Trump administration.

“The big, beautiful bill is the single most devastating piece of legislation for the people of New York City in decades, and it is going to have enormous budgetary consequences by creating multi-billion dollar holes in the state and city budget,” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler, the governmental operations committee chair.

“And tragically, millions of New Yorkers are going to lose their health care and are going to go hungry and the Adams administration’s response is to stick their head in the sand.”

Here’s what else happened in housing this week—

ICYMI, from City Limits:

A contentious plan to demolish and rebuild NYCHA’s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses is moving ahead, with 120 households asked to move this fall to make way for construction. A number of those being relocated are seniors wary of the incoming changes, and what it means for their community ties.

“Think of New York not as an undifferentiated mass of buildings, but as a collective of people who add layers of depth to the story,” says Asad Dandia. Learn more about his neighborhood walking tours of the city.

There are dozens of vacant or underutilized lots along the Bronx River waterfront, and you can weigh in now on what they should be used for.

International students attending school in New York City face a sometimes unexpected hurdle to finding an apartment here: the need for a guarantor.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

The head of a Queens-based construction company was sentenced to four years in prison for allegedly overcharging the city and submitting fake invoices for work related to homeless shelters, according to Gothamist.

A much-delayed vote on the future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Red Hook, where officials are planning thousands of new apartments and other changes, is expected to take place Monday, The City reports.

Community advisory groups shot down developers’ bids to build casinos in Times Square and the west side of Manhattan, according to the New York Times.

“We’ll be looking to work closely with Mayor Mamdani, if he is the mayor on Nov. 4,” Jim Whelan, who heads the Real Estate Board of New York, told Crain’s.

Speaking of Zohran Mamdani: a new political action committee is looking to stir up support for the assemblymember and mayoral candidate among Black homeowners, City and State reports.

The post Adams Admin No-Shows at City Council Hearings, and What Else Happened This Week in Housing appeared first on City Limits.

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order allowing it to strip legal protections from more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants.

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The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that the administration wrongly ended Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco refused to put on hold the ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen while the case continues.

In May, the Supreme Court reversed a preliminary order from Chen that affected another 350,000 Venezuelans whose protections expired in April. The high court provided no explanation at the time, which is common in emergency appeals.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the new court filing that the justices’ May order should also apply to the current case.

“This case is familiar to the court and involves the increasingly familiar and untenable phenomenon of lower courts disregarding this Court’s orders on the emergency docket,” Sauer wrote.

The result, he said, is that the “new order, just like the old one, halted the vacatur and termination of TPS affecting over 300,000 aliens based on meritless legal theories.”

President Donald Trump’s administration has moved aggressively to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians who were granted protection during Joe Biden’s presidency. TPS is granted in 18-month increments.

Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife or other dangerous conditions. The designation can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary.

Chen found that the Department of Homeland Security acted “with unprecedented haste and in an unprecedented manner … for the preordained purpose of expediting termination of Venezuela’s TPS” status.

In denying the administration’s emergency appeal, Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote for a unanimous three-judge appellate panel that Chen determined that DHS made its “decisions first and searched for a valid basis for those decisions second.”