17 free things to do in Fargo
Fargo is a lot of things, but it isn’t expensive. With most major attractions (and even sporting events!) costing less than $10, it’s not hard to find a cheap day out in the city.
That being said, we prefer a free day out. So, we’ve compiled 17 fun things to do for free in Fargo:
1. Embrace the great outdoors in Fargo’s parks
Biking, rollerblading, and walking on the parks’ designated trails are some of locals’ favorite free things to do.
Families can take advantage of the parks’ large playgrounds, sport courts, and disc golfing courses, and wide open green spaces make an ideal field for a pick-up kickball game.
In winter, dozens of outdoor ice skating rinks are open to the public (Broadway Square is open to all). You can also hit the cross country ski trails and snowshoeing spots if you have your own gear (if you don’t, you can rent it for less than $15).
2. Take a goofy pic with the Fargo Woodchipper
Stop by Fargo’s Visitors Center to take a photo with the original woodchipper prop from the movie Fargo. Make sure to tag #FargoWoodchipper when you post it!
3. Capture a memory by the Fargo Theatre
This 1926 theater in downtown Fargo is one of the city’s most iconic sites… and photo backdrops.
Take a picture, and then use the theater as a jumping-off point for exploring the rest of downtown.
4. Discover Fargo’s street art
Downtown has tons of photo ops, from sculpted bike racks and wrapped electrical boxes to creative murals by local artists. Downtown’s murals are accessible to anyone and are incredibly Instagram-friendly.
Some favorites include the #FargoMarioWall behind The Toasted Frog, the Silver Lining Creamery wing murals, and Art Alley, where artists have free reign to spray paint whatever comes to them.
5. See a Norwegian Stave Church
An exact replica of the Stave church outside of Vik, Norway, you can find a piece of Scandinavia in Moorhead outside the Hjemkomst Center. It’s free to walk around the park and church, but entry to the church and Hjemkomst Center is $8-10.
6. Learn about a baseball legend at the Roger Maris Museum
Baseball fans won’t want to miss the Roger Maris Museum, which is located in the West Acres Mall.
Maris hit a Major League Baseball record 61 home runs during the 1961 season for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season record of 60 home runs in 1927… so he’s kind of a big deal. The museum includes:
– A video room for watching historic footage while sitting on actual Yankee Stadium seats from the Maris era.
– A replica of Roger’s Yankee Stadium monument.A replica of Roger’s 1961 locker.
– Displays and artifacts from Roger’s youth and Major League playing days.
7. Visit our major art museums
Time to take your art appreciation indoors at the Plains Art Museum – North Dakota’s largest art museum – in Downtown Fargo or the Rourke Art Museum in Moorhead.
Both feature carefully curated local, regional, national, and ‘Midwest Modern’ art pieces, alongside rotating exhibits.
Oh, and they have free entry, did we mention that?
8. Go window shopping in Fargo’s downtown district
While window shopping isn’t an easy feat, Fargo’s downtown is packed with boutiques and stores selling locally-made goods.
Unglued and Zandbroz Variety sit along the main street of Broadway, and both sell Fargo and Midwest-related products and cool oddities. Local clothing boutiques and some antique and thrift shops also adorn the various backstreets.
9. Hunt for bison… the painted kind
Painted bison dot the Fargo area. You can pick up a free map at the Visitors Center and go on a search for all 20+.
10. Geocaching
Another kind of scavenger hunt, grab your GPS (or just your cell phone), an Official Fargo-Moorhead GeoTour passport from the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center, and get caching! Once you’ve found 20 of the 24 caches, you can turn your passport in for a prize.
New to Geocaching and not sure where to start? Try our Adventure Labs! “What’s an Adventure Lab,” you ask? Adventure Labs use an app to give clues and directions to different stops. Unlike traditional Geocaching, Adventures does not require a physical container and can be located indoors.
11. Attend a free event
Free events are constantly cropping up around Fargo, from the largest farmers’ market in the state and night bazaars to music festivals and family-friendly days.
To find one happening during your stay, you can visit the Events Calendar.
12. Stroll the ‘Walk of Fame’
Fargo has had its fair share of celebrities and famous faces, and this ‘Walk of Fame’ near the Visitors Center highlights their handprints and names.
See how many of the names you can recognize.
13. Listen to live music
Live music, karaoke, and open mic nights are usually free and tend to happen almost every night of the week.
Chances are, if you stop in at Dempsey’s Public House, Sidestreet, The Aquarium, Front Street Taproom (which also serves only regionally-brewed beers), and the Sons of Norway you’ll hear some rockin’ live music. Not to mention any of Fargo’s breweries.
14. View the world’s largest Dilly Bar
At the seasonal, walk-up Moorhead Dairy Queen, you can take your picture with a 16-foot-tall Dilly Bar statue… the largest in the world in case you were wondering.
15. Appreciate a North Dakota sunset
Fargo’s flat. And while that doesn’t make for great downhill skiing or mountain climbing, it does make for incredible sunset views.
You’ll also notice the city doesn’t have many tall buildings. The fertile soil of the valley means it’s easier to build out than up. So instead of having a traditional skyline, we like to think the #FargoSkyline is made up of incredible sunrises and sunsets.
Locals love to watch these incredible light shows anywhere they can. Find a list of great places to watch a sunset here.
16. Head to the library
Moorhead, Fargo, and West Fargo all have excellent libraries and offer summer reading programs for kids. This summer, the Moorhead Library is offering outdoor storytime on Thursdays at the Rourke Museum!
17. Go birding
A restoration and preservation initiative has improved the city’s natural grassland and wetland areas, making them the perfect spot for birding. Find out more at the Audubon Dakota website.
Free and Fargo definitely go together… you just have to know where to look.