Perfect Duluth Day - Duluth, MN Events, News, Blog

Making it Up North: Teague Alexy

PDDTV Apr 19, 2026 No Comments

Singer-songwriter Teague Alexy talks about his unlikely path from the hip-hop crews of the Jersey Shore to the heart of the Minnesota music scene. Moving to Holyoke, about 10 miles southwest of Duluth, transformed his creative process, leading him to trade violin lessons and rap for American roots music and the harmonica.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.


Music, Videos , ,

Postcards from Superior Street at Fifth Avenue West

Paul Lundgren Apr 17, 2026 No Comments

The intersection of Fifth Avenue West and Superior Street — featuring the Lyceum Theatre and Spalding Hotel — is near the top of the list of Duluth scenes featured most frequently in early 20th century Duluth postcards. Many have been featured on Perfect Duluth Day in the past, but we’re pretty sure the six in this post have not appeared on this website previously.

Read More


History , ,

Making it Up North: Apostle Islands Kayaking Express

PDDTV Apr 16, 2026 No Comments

The Apostle Islands Kayaking Express team leads tours out of Bayfield, exploring the 10,000-year-old glacial history that carved sandstone arches, caverns and tunnels at Devil’s Island.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.


Outdoors, Videos , ,

David Abazs shares creative gardening strategies

David Beard Apr 15, 2026 No Comments

David Abazs at the Mount Royal Branch of the Duluth Public Library.

David Abazs, executive director for the University of Minnesota Extension Northeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, shared some insights on gardening at the Mount Royal Branch of the Duluth Public Library on Monday.

Read More


Random

Moose-heavy Montage from Voyageurs National Park

PDDTV Apr 14, 2026 No Comments

This montage of trail camera footage from Voyageurs National Park includes numerous moose walk throughs, along with the usual array of northern Minnesota critters. The Voyageurs Wolf Project has roughly 350 cameras set up in the park, which is about 100 miles north of Duluth. This footage is all from one camera, captured last summer.


Outdoors, Videos ,

Stars and Satellites: Trampled by Turtles Live at First Avenue

PDDTV Apr 13, 2026 No Comments

Trampled by Turtles has released to YouTube a mini-documentary featuring the band performing all the tracks from the 2012 album Stars and Satellites, with commentary on the process of writing the songs and recording in a log home outside Duluth.

The documentary is directed and edited by Charlie Berg.


Music , ,

From the Northern Lights Stage to National TV

Sharon Falkowski Apr 13, 2026 No Comments

When bass-baritone Andrew Hiers took the stage at the Northern Lights Music Festival in Aurora, audiences knew they were witnessing a performer with something special.

The rest of the country will see it on April 19 when CBS Sunday Morning airs a segment on Hiers, an opera singer who has recently gone viral for something unexpected: singing operatic car sales pitches from a dealership in Florida. His videos, blending humor with serious vocal talent, have attracted millions of views across social media.

Read More


Music , ,

Embracing the Nordic of the North Shore

Julia Guttenfelder Apr 12, 2026 No Comments

American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. (Photo by Julia Guttenfelder)

The overall culture of Minnesota connects to a broad array of ethnic backgrounds. From the indigenous Anishinaabe and Dakota people to the influx of European immigrants and more recent growth of Black, Hispanic and Asian populations, the state is becoming more and more diverse.

Still, it seems Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish traditions hold an outsized influence on what’s considered Minnesotan. Those traits — most famously the “Minnesooota” accent — took hold in the 20th century and remain prevalent.

Read More


News and Current Affairs , , ,

Emily Gaarder appears on the SongWriter podcast

David Beard Apr 12, 2026 No Comments

Duluth musician and scholar Emily Gaarder appears on the “Ali Selim + Carla Kihlstedt” episode of Song/Writer podcast released March 23. Gaarder is one of the visions behind local band The Rhizomes.

Read More


Music

Ripped at Some Dude’s Cancer Benefit in 2001

Slim Goodbuzz Apr 11, 2026 No Comments

[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the drunken compendium of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty-five years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to the West Duluth American Legion and composed this article for the April 4, 2001 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper.]

So I pop into the American Legion last Saturday night and it smells like 1987. People definitely have their Brut by Fabregé on — at least the hoards of 35-year-olds who take up the bulk of the room do. But they’ve all brought their grannies and their kids, too, since everyone is here to help “offset medical expenses” for some dude named Dave who has been treated for the big C. And it’s obvious from the wall-to-wall people that this guy is a well-liked and respected member of the community, whoever he is.

Read More


Random ,

Indecent Proposal – “Tears in Rain” (DJ SMOXA Remix)

PDDTV Apr 10, 2026 No Comments

The latest video from Duluth band Indecent Proposal was shot during two performances — last summer’s Downtown Duluth Street Dance outside Dubh Linn Irish Pub and the band’s opening slot for Third Eye Blind at Black Bear Casino in March. The video production work is by Capture Chaos Productions.


Music, Videos ,

Making it Up North: Seed Treasures

PDDTV Apr 09, 2026 No Comments

In Angora Township, about 70 miles north of Duluth, Jackie and Will Atkinson are rescuing ancient heirloom seeds from extinction, turning their passion for “growing history” into a thriving, cold-hardy seed business called Seed Treasures.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.


Videos , ,

Postcard from a Giant Freighter in Duluth Ship Canal

Paul Lundgren Apr 07, 2026 No Comments

At the top of the postcard pile today is an undated image from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography. The caption on the back reads: “Giant Freighter entering Canal of Duluth Superior Harbor, Westerly Terminus of the St. Lawrence Seaway.”


History , ,

Making it Up North: Alan Nyiri

PDDTV Apr 06, 2026 No Comments

Alan Nyiri, a lifelong photographer who has traded the traditional retirement for a life on the open road, travels the country with his wife in a fifth-wheel trailer, serving as a “volunteering professional.” Currently stationed at Grand Portage National Monument, he is using his decades of technical skill to document the history of the fur trade and the legendary Rendezvous.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.


Outdoors, Videos , , ,

Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907 Part 1: Introduction

Matthew James Apr 05, 2026 4 Comments

Superior Street, 1907.

The image above comes from a high resolution scan of Superior Street looking east toward Fifth Avenue West. It has been shared online many times before, including on Perfect Duluth Day. For those who have wondered about the businesses visible and half-hidden in the photo and the stories behind them, this series has some answers. Using the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub to match photo elements with newspaper articles, it describes a maritime birth, a crooked pawn shop owner, and an ingenious inventor in its tales of both incredible wealth and stark poverty on Superior Street in 1907.

Read More


History, Photos