Join us for an afternoon of connection, creativity, and conversation at Rural Assembly Everywhere’s live event hosted by Department of Public Transformation and the Rural Assembly on Thursday, July 23rd from 2:00–6:30 PM CT at The YES! House and Bluenose Gopher Public House in downtown Granite Falls, Minnesota!
This year’s gathering explores the power of neighboring, storytelling, gathering spaces, and rural creative life through a mix of livestreamed national programming, local conversations, music, food, and community conversation.
At this event, we’ll celebrate the ways rural people continue to care for one another, create culture, and build vibrant and equitable futures rooted in courage and care. The afternoon begins with a livestream watch party of the national Rural Assembly Everywhere broadcast, connecting Granite Falls to rural communities gathering simultaneously across the country.
Following the broadcast, local panel conversations will dive deeper into themes shaping rural life here in Southwestern Minnesota and beyond.
Featured panel conversations include:
The Geography of Care: Neighboring in Good and Hard Times – A conversation with rural organizers, advocates, and community leaders about mutual aid, solidarity, and the everyday acts of care that sustain rural communities through uncertainty and change.
The Courage to Be Heard: Why Open Mics Matter in Rural Places – An uplifting discussion with rural musicians, artists, and organizers about the importance of open stages as spaces for creative risk-taking, belonging, experimentation, and community connection.
The event will include food and drinks, opportunities for reflection and conversation, music and mingling at Bluenose, and an evening open mic celebrating local voices and creative expression.
Whether you are an artist, organizer, neighbor, musician, storyteller, educator, community builder, or simply someone who cares deeply about rural places, this gathering is an invitation to connect, reflect, and remember that rural communities are strongest when we have the courage to create and care together!
Join us, bring a friend, and stay for the open mic!
Rural Assembly “Everywhere” | Gathering and Watch Party in Granite Falls, MN
Thursday, July 23, 2026
2 – 6:30 PM CT
(optional Open Stages to follow from 6:30-8 PM CT)
@ The YES! House | 726 Prentice St, Granite Falls, MN 56241
Our Creative Executive Officer, Ash Hanson, will join Erin Borla, Executive Director of the Roundhouse Foundation and a 2026 TIME100 Philanthropy honoree, for a conversation at Rural Assembly Everywhere on July 23.
Together, they'll explore the realities of rural philanthropy, persistent funding gaps, and what it takes to invest meaningfully in rural communities for the long haul.