By anyone’s measure, the inaugural Northern Spark festival last June was a wild success. From dusk to dawn, people discovered the Twin Cities in a new light while making the rounds to some 100 projects by more than 200 artists. This year’s all-nighter, on June 9, features more projects, concentrated in downtown Minneapolis for easier navigation. Here are a few happenings that piqued our interest.

The s’mores bar is sheer genius, but there are, of course, other reasons to recommend stopping by the Walker as a major hub for Northern Spark. Among them: A live show with 20 iPad-wielding performers that stands to take the swaying, glowing phones of concertgoers into a whole new realm. Pros and amateurs gathering for songs, stories, and readings as part of the ongoing Acoustic Campfire series—now with real fire! Those flames tie in with another project involving wooden objects by seven Minnesota artists, exhibited for a very short time before their ritual sacrifice. Speaking of limited engagements, Large Blue Horses, a perennial favorite, will be on view for one night only. And it’s fun to imagine what Drawing Club’s clever NIGHTclub edition might entail: Velvet ropes? Not likely. A glitzy version of a Trisha Brown dancing/drawing/improv thing? Highly possible.

—Julie Caniglia, Walker magazine managing editor/staff writer

Some of the best works at last year’s Northern Spark used light and enormity of scale to good effect, a natural fit for the large crowds and dark night. Bumps in the Night promises a similar spectacle this year. A tie-in with the excellent Eyeo Festival, the piece uses the Mill City Silos as a towering canvas for data-visualization-as-art, drawing information from a variety of sources reflective of the night itself, from nocturnal animal activity to festival participants themselves. The appeal of the former goes without saying; smart integration with smartphones and social media enables the latter.

—Eric Price, new media designer

Back in 1855, Joshua C. Stoddard intended for his musical invention—the calliope—to become the next great ecclesiastical instrument. While this steam-powered organ never did replace church bells, it managed to make its way into circuses and onto riverboats, churning out very loud and charming off-pitch notes that undoubtedly created the soundtrack for the great ole Miss decades ago. Fast-forward some 150 years to the latest and, in my mind, greatest iteration of this near-extinct contraption: the Pizza/Calliope. This ingenious hybrid uses thermal energy for making pizzas and powering musical pipes, thus satisfying stomachs and ears. For sheer novelty, Galactic Pizza’s electric delivery vehicles have met their match!

—Ashley Duffalo, community programs manager

Aaron Dysart turns the corner of 24th Street and Third Avenue into a tree-top dance club. His project suspends five 18-inch disco balls from the tallest limbs of a majestic tree, bathing the neighborhood in countless layers of spinning light. A beautifully simple and elegant piece that may delight, or perhaps annoy, the neighbors.

—Scott Stulen, mnartists.org director

Combining dance with electronic media art, In Habit: Living Patterns is inspired by the Indian tradition of Kolams— the rice powder patterns that women create daily on the floors of their homes, which are characterized by their symmetry and complexity, and which change and dissolve as they are walked on. This performance will create evolving patterns through a dance that repeats from sunset to sunrise. Plan on visiting a few times throughout the night to see the transformation.

—Andrea Hyde, graphic designer

Jim Campbell’s Material World is a good bet, if his Scattered Light project from last year is any indication. While that work was rendered with light bulbs strung up in a 3-D rectangular space along St. Paul’s riverfront, this year’s takes advantage of some 70,000 full-color LED lights atop Target’s South Tower in downtown Minneapolis. No doubt it will take a similar form to the artist’s other LED pieces—shadowy figures seemingly moving through space, as in the 2011 image here—but at a totally different scale. The tower lights can be seen throughout the entire city, so stop to look towards downtown during the night.

—Kristina Fong, digital marketing associate

A sidebar to the Northern Spark festival, this group bike ride takes you down the Midtown Greenway for a tour of select projects. Not only will I enjoy a mugging-free twilight ride on this beloved bike thoroughfare, but whizzing past dreamy projections and installations will be a true phantasmagoria.

—Joey Heinen, visitor services assistant director