News & Events

Wabasha Main Street has announced their kick off to the holidays with a great lineup of Christmas activities for Wabasha on December 3rd. They have added many more events for you and your family and included highlighting the local organizations, churches and businesses celebrating the season with Open Houses and Holiday Sales - inviting you to spend the entire day downtown and at Heritage Park. Perhaps check out a Bazaar or Cookie Sale, grab lunch at a local restaurant or coffee and head over to Heritage Park for the Annual Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting and Santa event under the bridge at Heritage Park downtown. Come for any or all events and spend the day all over town during Wabasha’s Christmas Day- everyone is invited!!! This year’s events include: Annual Christmas Bazaar at UCC from 8:00am-1:00pm, along with Faith Lutheran’s Cookies, Candy & Crafts Sale from 9:00am-3:00pm. There will be Holiday Shopping specials and Open Houses all over town including: Turning Waters B & B&B, Local World Gallery, Hoppy Girl Brewing, Driftless Books, , LARK Toys, SVJ Creatives, National Eagle Center, Barb’s Breakery, and Hill’s Hardware. Herb + Arrow (across from Heritage Park) is offering again this year an Outdoor [...]

The Wabasha area is full of small businesses participating in Shop Small Saturday. Check out a list of specials below!

(Wabasha, Minn. Oct. 5, 2022) – The City of Wabasha will use a $50,000 Blandin Foundation Leadership Boost Grant to help local leaders and emerging leaders to return to much of the organizing that was disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Leadership Boost Grants were launched to encourage Minnesotans living in rural and Tribal communities to be visionary and creative as they move their communities forward after two years of snowballing challenges.Wabasha’s “Happier and Healthier in Community” project will support a return to collaboration among community members on projects which lead to successful strategy and planning for the community’s future. “Rather than funding a one-time project, we seek to build enduring community capacity that will perpetuate collaboration for future work,” says Mayor Emily Durand, adding, “The Blandin Foundation truly understands the dimensions of rural communities that need support and realizes barriers small communities face when seeking funding.”“The last two years of complex crises have taken a toll on leaders across rural Minnesota,” said Sonja Merrild, director of rural grantmaking at Blandin Foundation. “In times like this, of great challenge and opportunity, the resilience and fortitude of rural people and places shines through. Yet, we recognize the critical need for more [...]

As part of their transformational strategy, Wabasha Main Street continues to make improvements in the downtown historic Main Street district. The City of Wabasha installed two 6 foot benches at Popcorn Park for locals and visitors to rest and enjoy this tiny park in the downtown area. Wabasha Main Street has done the following improvements in the downtown area over the past five years: purchased Wabasha Main Street banners and Artist on Main banners, started an Adopt a Planter Program and maintenance of 40 of them, coordinated the efforts of purchasing and starting a free Bike Share Program and continue investing in updated software, signage and brochure printing, along with investing in the purchase of new water fountain in Heritage Park. Wabasha Main Street has also infused over $30,000 worth of Artist lead programs and projects over the past 3 years highlighting the Artist on Main Program with a Capstone installation- the “Community Roots” Mural painted by Artist Sue Mundy. Poet Pamela Larson wrote the poem that is also on the mural describing community and placing roots. Wabasha Main Street Director, Mary Flicek is searching for more grants to continue another round [...]

Widespotarts WideSpot? New Spot! WideSpot has relocated to their new venue at the Broadway Theater in the Mittel Schule building in Wabasha at 611 Broadway Avenue, Wabasha, MN. Celebrate the Grand Opening on September 10th at 7pm with live entertainment by Davina and the Vagabonds! Learn More

Wabasha Main Street has been recognized by the  National Main Street and Minnesota Main Street Programs for achieving their 2022 Affiliate level. Wabasha Main Street has gone through multiple levels of criteria to continue this affiliation status and continues to lead with Transformational strategies, 4 - point programming of organization, design, promotions and economic development in the downtown Main Street District. Our board and steering committee members have also had attendance at state and national conferences for the past 5 years, along with submitting quarterly statistics of reinvestment in the Wabasha Main Street district from businesses, organizations and city reinvestments in our downtown area. Wabasha Main Street does an annual housing survey each summer and will be submitting those statistics to RETHOS, our umbrella organization to Minnesota Main Street. If you want to learn more about projects or programs that Wabasha Main Street has done, or would like to part of our efforts please join us through memberships, donations, or volunteering.

Post Bulletin Bella Carpentier June 28th, 2022 WABASHA — Pragmatic, selfless and committed is how Wabasha city representatives described coworker and first female mayor of the city, Emily Durand. Durand has been mayor of the city since 2019 and was recently named the first recipient of the League of Minnesota Cities’ Emerging Leader Award. “One of the first impressions I had (of Durand) was just how committed she is to the community,” Caroline Gregerson, Wabasha’s city administrator, said. According to Gregerson, she decided to nominate Durand for the award based on qualities like Durand’s data-driven and research-oriented approach to problem solving, the energy she brings to the workplace and her ability to balance all factors in decision making. Read the Full Article!

Kyle Kroeger info@viatravelers.com ViaTravelers.com Despite the city’s small size, there are numerous exciting things to do in Wabasha. Enjoy the rich history, festivals, winter games, and fishing tournaments. Located in the heart of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Wabasha is a city that has plenty to offer both for local and international tourists. With a small population of slightly above 2,500, as of the 2010 census, the city lies in a perfect spot near the Chippewa and the Mississippi rivers’ confluence. There are numerous things to do in Wabasha, Minnesota, that will capture not only your eyes but also your heart and mind. Although not as popular as the big cities around the country, Wabasha is a unique tourist destination that is stealthily finding a spot among the well-known tourist destinations. This article intends to explore all the Wabasha attractions and give you an accurate picture of the fun you can have while in this city. Whether you long to go kayaking or just watch the incredible eagles fishing, the 90 minutes drive from the Twin Cities is worth it…. Read the Full Article on Via Travelers!

National Park Service awards $7.27M in grants to support historic preservation projects in rural communities News Release Date: May 25, 2022 Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS) today announced $7.275 million in Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants to 11 recipients in 10 states to support economic development through the preservation of historic buildings in rural communities across the country. “The Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants program fosters economic development in rural communities through the rehabilitation of historic buildings,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “With these funds, our state, Tribal, local government, and non-profit partners can develop subgrant programs and select individual projects that will support the economic development goals and needs in their communities.” This year’s grants will support historic preservation work in the City of Attica, Indiana, where Indiana Landmarks will help rehabilitate commercial buildings in the 3,200-person town. In Idaho, the Idaho Heritage Trust will use its grant to support the rehabilitation of historic theaters in rural communities across the state. Rural downtowns in northern New York will benefit from subgrants offered through Adirondack Architectural Heritage, Inc. These grants mark the fourth year of funding for the program honoring the late Paul Bruhn, executive director of [...]