You don't know Fargo. Explore the vibrant North Dakota capital that's brimming with creativity

Chicago Tribune

09-04-2025

Having enjoyed the Coen brothers' dark comedy film 'Fargo,' as well as the award-winning FX series of the same name, I thought I knew North Dakota's largest city: quaint and provincial, with residents stumbling through ubiquitous snowdrifts most of the year and peppering their conversations with 'you betchas' and 'geezes' galore.
Instead, as I wandered about Fargo's downtown, I found a savvy nexus of sophistication and creativity. The vibe is warm and welcoming as the main street bustles with myriad coffee shops and cafes. The city bubbles with energy, entrepreneurship and a profound maker movement.
Here are some of the diverse goings-on in Fargo that are sure to delight even the most discerning traveler.
Street art
Public art is the pulse of downtown Fargo. Strolling about, you'll find nearly two dozen vibrant murals that offer insights into the history and culture of the city and the state, as well as sculptures and other artwork. Much of the art blankets the walls of alleyways and building facades. Download Visit Fargo's art mural map or pick up a hard copy at the visitor's center, then set off on your self-guided tour.
You'll gape at the towering image of erstwhile Fargo resident Bob Dylan on the former Bison Hotel. Elsewhere, a giant likeness of Duke Ellington is displayed near where he and his band performed in 1940. Many creations are a nod to the North Dakota landscape, including clusters of wheat and a colorful native prairie.
Broadway Square
Smack in the middle of downtown, this urban space buzzes with community spirit year-round, hosting a roster of educational, cultural and fun outdoor activities. Sunday mornings, lay out your yoga mat on the Broadway Square lawn for a class. Some evenings you can bring a chair or blanket and enjoy a concert with local musicians or watch a feature-length movie on a giant screen.
On Saturdays from mid-July through late October, crowds throng the outdoor Red River Market, browsing the dozens of vendors and food trucks that focus on locally sourced products. For example, the jalapeno cheddar sourdough and honey oat bran with cranberries sold by Breadsmith come straight from their hearth stone oven.
At Timber to Table, their white oak with black walnut charcuterie boards are especially tempting. A handful of times, from spring through fall, the Night Bazaar entertains families with tarot card readings, face painting and roving roller-skating performers, while trucks sell an array of dishes, from Vietnamese spring rolls to waffles.
Drekker Brewing and Brewhalla
Just beyond downtown stands a 19th century former railroad warehouse and repair facility that's home to the innovative Drekker Brewing Company. Known for its experimental small batch brews, Drekker produces a rotating roster of beers such as a New England-style IPA with an intense hops flavor, and a smoothie sour with a rich mango aroma. The fruited sours with unusual flavors like raspberry cheesecake are especially distinctive.
The brewery also holds interest for architecture and design buffs. Many of the interior details were repurposed from the original building, with tables fashioned from salvaged wood and skylights made from train exhaust smoke hoods. Once you pull yourself away from the taproom, the sensory experience continues next door at Brewhalla, Drekker's expansion that's home to a market and a hotel.
On the ground floor of this soaring, four-story, sun-laden space, you can people-watch, sip a cappuccino, nosh on raw oysters paired with a glass of wine and browse the shops for gourmet pet treats or cowboy hat-shaped planters.
And if you can't get enough of Brewhalla's novelty, you can stay overnight at its hotel located on the top two floors. Each of the 40 spartan, industrial-style rooms displays a large psychedelic mural inspired by one of Drekker's craft beer labels. Adding to the authenticity: You'll likely hear trains rushing by, given the property's proximity to an active rail line.
Unglued
Set within Brewhalla, Unglued is a hub for exciting handmade creations by more than 200 regional makers. This is a craft gift shop like no other, with items that appeal to kids and adults. Shelves and walls are chockablock with the unexpected, such as hair claws shaped like martini olives, gummy candy resembling chicken feet, bearded gnome cat hats and Froot Loops-scented candles.
Sign up for one of their two-hour workshops and, once you're settled into the second-floor Craftorium, you'll be given the tools and instructions to wield your own magic. At a needle-felting class, for example, you might produce a cute frog, and after a stained-glass workshop, you might walk away with vivid mushroom plant stakes for your garden.
Unglued holds a summer weekend adult sleepaway camp on a lakefront expanse one hour from Fargo, where you can participate in activities such as watercolor painting, wood turning and screen printing. Of course, it includes sunning, swimming and s'mores. At Brewhalla, kids can take a four-day youth summer camp where they learn skills like using Japanese shibori techniques to indigo dye T-shirts.
Carmine and Hayworth
Owner Courtney Schur has imbued Carmine and Hayworth, her well-curated clothing and gift shop, with a cool, hip vibe. Naming this store for a lively shade of red and the 1940s Hollywood star Rita Hayworth, Schur stocks mostly vintage or vintage-inspired items from the 20th century. But because her inventory is so eclectic, upbeat and sometimes quirky, funky or irreverent, your shopping experience will never be boring. Think snarky body products like the Hot Grandma soap, a 'My Vag' coloring book, bourbon tobacco candles and absinthe-scented soap.
Among her treasures are a rare World War II-era brass bow brooch, an antique Victorian-Edwardian style, early 1900s hand-painted fan and a 1920s-inspired beaded shawl with sequins aplenty. One of her most notable Hollywood pieces is a dramatic violet-hued, 1970s peignoir set owned and worn by Elizabeth Taylor. Favoring items made by female designers, especially if they're local, Schur is all about offering her customers an experience, rather than having them simply buy something and leave.
Jasper Hotel
Both this sun-drenched 125-room, pet-friendly hotel and its stylish restaurant, Rosewild, reflect the aesthetics of the city's Scandinavian roots, while referencing Fargo's history, landscape and the spirit of Jasper B. Chapin, the former 19th century mayor and hotelier. Soaring columns in the Jasper Hotel lobby reference grain silos. And Rosewild's suspended wood beams symbolize railroad ties because Fargo's growth was intimately linked to the railways.
The works of regional artists and artisans are incorporated into the hotel's decor, including a space dedicated to an artist in residence. In the guest rooms, needlepoint pillows honor Chapin's wife, Emma, a prolific crafter, while the wallpaper patterns are mostly prairie themed, featuring images like bison or prairie roses, the state flower.
The hotel's green and amber color palette is a nod to the prairie as well. With a wood-burning hearth evoking a sense of nostalgia and expansive windows looking out at Broadway Square, Rosewild is a comfortable space where you'll enjoy rustic, Midwest cuisine such as pork cheeks with lingonberries and twice-baked sweet potatoes accompanied by pickled walnuts. Relying on locally sourced ingredients as much as possible, the menu changes seasonally.
Hotel Donaldson
An artistic aesthetic predominates at the Hotel Donaldson, a property that originally dates to the late 1800s. The hotel boasts 17 contemporary guest rooms, each featuring the works of a different regional artist. You'll find a binder in your room that provides background information on the artist and their work.
For example, Room 1 showcases the whimsical paintings of Ali LaRock. In Room 5 are Susan Haas Morrisey's figurative mixed media and sculptures that convey a complex array of emotions. Room 15 displays the delicate and iridescent glass blown objects created by Jon Offutt.
Each evening, guests socialize in the lobby at the hotel's complimentary wine and cheese hour that is accompanied by, among other things, toasted rosemary focaccia and sometimes an artisanal three-cheese bread. Another place to gather for drinks and nibbles is the Sky Prairie Lounge, which, from its outdoor perch on the fourth-floor rooftop, offers stellar views of the understated but artistic downtown.