Eighteen-foot-tall sequined river spirit puppets, a cabaret stage, and a nightfall ritual along the Mississippi River are converging on Raspberry Island this Sunday for a free, all-ages event called Insomnia Salon Vol. 3: The Night Circus. The pop-up runs from 7 to 9 p.m. on August 23, drawing more than 45 collaborating artists to the small island tucked beneath downtown Saint Paul.
According to Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, the gathering is billed as a two-hour sunset-to-twilight experience blending circus-inspired performances, immersive art, and live music at the Raspberry Island bandshell. The department's announcement describes the evening as a dazzling night circus for the senses, and notes that another Insomnia Salon happening is already planned for nearby Harriet Island. The event welcomes guests of all ages, with no cover charge.
Puppets, Perfume and a Walking Void
The visual centerpiece of the night comes from a partnership with Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater, which helped build the towering red-and-blue sequined river spirit puppets that will roam the island, according to TC Jewfolk. Guests can also expect roving interactive characters nicknamed the Perfume Woman and the Walking Void, alongside free tarot readings, custom fragrance creation, and interactive dance stations scattered across the grounds, per the same outlet.
Those roaming attractions eventually funnel toward a structured cabaret at the Schubert Bandshell. The twilight lineup includes Twin Cities dance troupe Vox Medusa, musician Eddie Estrin, belly dancers, dance duo Mariusz Kujawski and Emma Fitzsimmons, and guitarist Liz DeYoe, TC Jewfolk reports. The night is set to close with a luminescent fire and water spirit ritual staged along the riverbank at nightfall, as reported by MPR News, which flagged the pop-up as a recommended family-friendly way to close out summer.
An Arts Collective Born in 2025
Insomnia Salon began in 2025 as a collaborative art project founded by artists Eddie Estrin, Margit Berman of Jackson Street Arts, and Julie Marie Muskat of Deeper Water Arts, with support from the Jewish Arts Collective. Deeper Water Arts describes the series as a surreal performance collective built to foster human connection and creative response during anxious times. Beyond its public pop-ups, the initiative also runs Art Noshes, a series of biweekly community workshops and creative incubators for artists across disciplines, held at partner spaces including Jackson Street Arts and private studios.
Vol. 3 is financially backed by Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council, a program of the Minnesota JCC, and co-produced with Jackson Street Arts, Deeper Water Arts, and Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, per the TC Jewfolk listing. Local vendor Ixcali Tacos is serving as an official event sponsor. Axios also singled out The Night Circus as a top Twin Cities weekend attraction in its August coverage, highlighting the event's transformation of Raspberry Island into what the outlet called an animal-free outdoor circus experience.
A Stage With Deep Roots on the River
The bandshell hosting the cabaret is itself a civic landmark. The glass-and-steel structure was commissioned by the Schubert Club in 2002 and designed by architect and glass artist James Carpenter, anchored within a $5 million parkland renovation the City of Saint Paul completed in 2008, according to the Saint Paul Parks Conservancy.
Raspberry Island is Saint Paul's last remaining true island, as channels surrounding other historical river islands were filled in over the 20th century, per Lisa Stories. The two-acre spot was known as Navy Island from 1949 to 1968 while it served as a U.S. Navy training facility. Long before that, Mdewakanton Dakota, Ojibwe, and Winnebago tribes used the island as a meeting place, and since 1885 it has been home to the Minnesota Boat Club, the state's oldest athletic organization, whose 1910 Mission Revival boathouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
