Mall of America is throwing itself a birthday party. The mall opened its doors on August 11, 1992, and this year's anniversary celebration runs from 1 to 4 p.m. on the actual date, August 11, 2026, in the Huntington Bank Rotunda. Admission is free.
The lineup leans casual: free samples of Mountain Dew, Frito-Lay snacks and Jonny Pops, DJ Matty Matt spinning through the afternoon, and photo ops with SpongeBob SquarePants. Organizers are also running a birthday-party sweepstakes, though full entry details weren't posted on the event page as of this week.
That 34th anniversary is no small thing for a mall built on the old Metropolitan Stadium site — the property the Bloomington Port Authority bought in 1985 after the Twins and Vikings moved on, with groundbreaking in 1989. When it opened in 1992, 330 stores went live and more than 10,000 employees started their first shift. Today the mall says it draws roughly 32 million visitors a year and hosts more than 300 events annually.
No tickets or registration are required — organizers describe it as a walk-in celebration in the Rotunda, the mall's central event space.