FREE
Chateau Theaters – Free Kids matinees every Saturday starting at 11:00 Am
Visit the Canadian Geese at Silver Lake and enjoy the park and it’s playground facilities. Located along 7 Street NE & W on Silver Lake Drive it’s only a short drive away. Please don’t feed the Geese to much through, sometimes we can hurt them with kindness!
Foster Arend Beach – free but no lifeguard on duty
Visit our local Quarry Hill Nature Center! Besides offering a huge number of hiking trails and rentable equipment, the nature center provides an amazing educational building filled with hands on materials and a charming group of animal friends for all visitors to enjoy.
The Public library puts on all sorts of cool events, including summer programs for young children, bedtime stories, and a large variety of adult educational, discussion, and creative writing programs as well.
Visit the Rochester Art Center and view their wonderful modern art exhibits. The art center, due to generous sponsorship from our local community, is FREE to children, students, members, 2010 Olmsted county residents, and military families.
Down By the Riverside offers FREE concerts every Sunday at 7pm during the months of July and August. The event is held in Mayo Park downtown Rochester.
The Rochester Chamber Music Society is working hard to bring affordable classic music to the people of Rochester. Join them for the season as they provide FREE concerts. Donations are welcome.
They can be contacted by e-mail rcmsociety@gmail.com or phone (507)289-4019. The Chamber Society office is located at 400 5th Ave SW, Rochester MN, 55902-3297.
Grand Legacy Art Gallery operates out of the lobby level of the Kahler Grand Hotel, 20 2nd St SW in Rochester. They display and sell art created by a variety of local artists. Looking is always fun to do so stop by and visit sometime during their hours. They are open Monday through Friday 9 am to 6 pm, and Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
The Olmsted County History Center offers a lot to our community, and though it may cost a little to visit the museum, they have a bunch of events for everyone to enjoy!
Historical Mayowood Mansion has Sunday Garden Tours brought to us by the Master Gardeners club. The Tours are held on the grounds of the Mayowood house and are from noon until 3:30 pm. They are FREE and provide special children’s activities.
Movies on the Barn begin every Friday at dusk. This FREE event is great for the whole family and provides special activities offered by local non-profit organizations.
SEMVA Art Gallery features southeastern Minnesota visual artists in its bright and creative store. Located at 16 1st St in SW Rochester (the peace plaza across from Barnes and Nobel). They are open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Wednesday and Saturday, 10 am to 9 pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and from noon to 4 pm on Sundays.
Oxbow Park and Zoo in Byron offers a FREE zoo for anyone who wants to visit. Donations are welcome. They have a great park with many animals to view and enjoy. Learn about local wildlife while you walk along their board-walked paths. The Zoo and Nature Center open from 10 am until 4 pm, and the general park and trails are open from 7 am until 10 pm.
House of Bounce is a fun place to be! It has a minimal entrance fee on most occasions, but if you have a child age 2 and under they can bounce all they want for FREE! Mom and Dad will cost $3 though.
And we can’t forget about the wonderful parks and amenities offered to us by the city of Rochester’s park and Recreation department. Visit Outdoor Recreation for a more complete listing of our FREE outdoor amenities!