Apple Valley Summer 2026: What Moved, What Opened, and Where Locals Are Actually Going
July 23, 2026
July 23, 2026
If you built your Apple Valley summer routine around lawn chairs at Kelley Park and a Pizzeria Social pickup on the way home, this year rearranges the furniture. The park is under construction. The pizzeria is gone. In their place: a five-concept food hall at Fischer Marketplace, a concert series scattered across two temporary venues, and a Freedom Days lineup that pulls almost everything into one park east of Cedar.
Nothing about the summer got smaller. It just moved. Here is where.
Music in Kelley Park runs from June 19 through August 7, and for most of that stretch it isn't in Kelley Park. Due to construction in Kelley Park this summer, concerts are being held at Bogart's Entertainment Center from June 19 through July 31 and at Splash Valley on August 7, with the series concluding with a grand re-opening celebration concert in Kelley Park on September 26.
The Splash Valley night is the one to circle. The Apple Valley Arts Foundation's Music in Kelley Park Concert Series is making a special stop at Splash Valley Water Park for a free evening of live music, food, and swimming. A free outdoor concert at a water park is not a normal Thursday.
| Dates | Where | Address |
|---|---|---|
| June 19 – July 31 (Fri) | Bogart's Entertainment Center | 14917 Garrett Ave |
| August 7 (Fri) | Splash Valley Water Park | 14421 Johnny Cake Ridge Rd |
| September 26 | Kelley Park (re-opening) | 6855 Fortino St |
The Bogart's concerts run 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m., excluding July 3. If you're used to walking to Kelley from the north side of 140th, plan for a car this summer.
The building at 14889 Florence Trail spent years as Pizzeria Social and Curiouser Coffee. As of this year it is Revolve Hall, a five-concept food hall from Tony Donatell's Wondrous Collective, the same operator behind restaurants in Eagan, Farmington, and Savage.
What's inside is worth knowing by name, because "food hall" undersells it:
The counter-ordering side means you can grab coffee at 8, take a lunch meeting at noon, and come back for steak at 7 without changing zip codes. For a suburb whose sit-down dinner options tended to be chain-anchored, that's a real shift in what a Friday looks like.
Two doors down at 14883 Florence Trail, Brick & Bourbon runs 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday. Between those two addresses you have a short walkable stretch that didn't exist as a dining cluster three years ago.
The 58th Freedom Days runs June 26 through July 4, and almost every event happens at Johnny Cake Park East, 5800 140th St W. The exceptions are worth flagging so you're not standing in the wrong parking lot.
Where things actually happen this year:
One thing residents forget every year: Items may not be placed on City of Apple Valley streets, boulevards, or sidewalks before 9 a.m. on July 3, per Ordinance 96.06(D). Chairs staked out Wednesday night get moved.
The undersold event is Casting with the Cops. Free fishing gear, a public pier, and officers who are there to teach kids to fish rather than direct traffic. It's the least crowded, most low-key hour of the whole week.
The Minnesota Zoo at 13000 Zoo Boulevard operates on a split schedule you can read as two entirely separate summer destinations depending on when you arrive.
The daytime version is the one you know. The Wings Credit Union World of Birds Show runs daily at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. in the outdoor amphitheater, Sea Lion Discovery shows daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Llama Trek is open along the Northern Trail. The Treetop Trail is included with general admission, and Llama Trek lets you walk among llamas and, for an additional fee, ride a camel.
The evening version is new-ish and, for residents, the more interesting one. When the sun goes down, the Wanderlight Trail opens: a walk through the woods surrounded by larger-than-life lanterns of the animals you love, available for a limited time, June 3 – August 2. The three lantern experiences are Pollinators, Wonders of the Ocean, and Wonders of the Land, and there's a DJ on the trail if you want a dance break. Fast Pass is an add-on at $15 per person, limited to 250 per night.
If Wanderlight isn't your speed, the underused summer add is Music in the Trees. Various artists play select Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. on the Treetop Trail, and the lineup ranges from classical fusion and world rhythms to jazz and pop, with locations along the trail varying by weather. That's a live show 30 feet above the Northern Trail, included with a zoo membership. It's not on most residents' radar.
Because Kelley Park is a construction site, a weirdly complete Saturday can be built without leaving the center of town.
Start at the Municipal Center parking lot. The Saint Paul Farmers' Market runs Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through the summer, hosted by the Saint Paul Growers Association. The Apple Valley market runs later in the year than most, through October 31, 2026, which matters when you're still buying tomatoes in mid-October.
From there, Fischer Marketplace is a short drive east. Curiouser Coffee & Conservatory handles brunch. If you want to keep the day outdoors, the Wanderer Bar patio is the summer add at Revolve Hall. Late afternoon, the zoo. Evening, either a Bogart's concert or, on the right night, Wanderlight.
A note for residents who moved here in the last two years and haven't tried it: recent zoo admission examples were about $21.95 for ages 13+, $15.95 for ages 3–12 and seniors, ages 2 and under free, with parking an additional fee around $8. Membership includes free admission and parking, and if you visit a few times a year it can pay for itself. Given the 500 acres and the fact that Wanderlight, Music in the Trees, and the daytime shows are effectively three different experiences, membership math is easier than it looks.
Looking past July, the Fall Food Truck Festival on September 26, 2026 is a free, all-ages event with live music, activities, and food trucks. It lands the same day as the Kelley Park re-opening concert. If both events run in tandem, that Saturday is going to be the busiest single day the park has seen since the construction fence went up.
For residents who care about how their neighborhood is changing, that September 26 date is the one to watch. It's the day Apple Valley finds out what the rebuilt Kelley Park actually looks like and whether the summer rhythm returns to its old address in 2027 or stays scattered across Bogart's and Splash Valley for good.
Neighborhood knowledge is what makes the difference between a house that fits your Saturday routine and one that fights it. If you're weighing a move within Apple Valley, thinking about selling near Cobblestone Lake or Fischer Marketplace, or relocating here from another Twin Cities suburb, I'd rather have that conversation with a map and a calendar in front of us. Kary Marpe has spent decades helping Twin Cities buyers and sellers work through exactly those decisions. Let's connect — call or email today.
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