Cactus Blossoms, Nur-D, Big Wu will headline Wild Nights at the Minnesota Zoo

Tickets are on sale for the fourth annual music series featuring local artists.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 19, 2025 at 10:30AM
Page Burkum & Jack Torrey of The Cactus Blossoms perform at the Palace Theatre on the second night of its reopening. Photo By: Matt Weber
The Cactus Blossoms, Page Burkum and Jack Torrey, will headline at the Minnesota Zoo on July 11 for the Wild Nights music series. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The fourth annual Wild Nights at the Minnesota Zoo will feature prominent local musicians for five Fridays this summer.

Among the groups scheduled to appear are Davina & the Vagabonds, Nur-D and Cactus Blossoms.

Once again, two artists will each play two 45-minute sets at the amphitheater or upper plaza stage. There will an opening act for the upper plaza stage as well as a wandering musician.

The headliners are:

June 13 — Nur-D, Smells Like Nirvana

June 27 — Big Wu, Davina & the Vagabonds

July 11 — Cactus Blossoms, Bad Bad Hats

July 25 — Wookiefoot, Captain Fantastic

Aug. 8 — Cloud Cult, Sweet & Tender Hooligans

The wandering musician starts at 6 p.m., opening act at 6:30 and both headliners perform from 8 to 10 p.m. with a 15-minute break in the middle.

Tickets, priced at $40 and $30 (for zoo members), are on sale at mnzoo.org/WildNights.

about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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