For serious night owls a 2 a.m. closing time is too cruel a rule. Although bars still have their normal curfew, one night per year Twin Cities culture junkies are encouraged to stay out until dawn.

The fourth annual all-night art festival Northern Spark, which last year drew 45,000 attendees, returns Saturday. From 9 p.m. until daybreak, artists of all mediums will perform and exhibit their work at locations across Minneapolis.This year's theme: "Projecting the City."

While there is much to see and experience during the sleep-depriving arty party, anyone whose get-down urges extend passed bar close might head to Kim Bartmann's coming-soon Loring Park restaurant, where the music won't stop till the birds are chirping. The restaurateur behind Barbette, Bryant Lake Bowl, Pat's Tap, the newly opened Tiny Diner and more is staying tight-lipped regarding her plans for the former Cafe Maude and Nick and Eddie space at 1612 Harmon Place. But Bartmann will open its doors starting at 9 p.m. for a late night of music and performance art.

"We're excited to bring a little bohemian life back to Loring Park," she said.

Presented by the Bedlam Theatre and DJ Rambo Salinas, indoor performers include singer/songwriter Brian Laidlaw, who's teaming with literary rag Paper Darts for a vaudevillian music and poetry piece, rockabilly quartet L'Assasins, energetic soul rockers Black Diet, DJs Dan McAllister of Worldwide Discotheque, Soul Togetherness' Brenda Hernandez and Kevin Jones, and more. Outside the restaurant Lea Devon Sorrentino and Forever Young's Chris Cloud host a silent dance party, while the Independent Filmmaker Project MN screens silent films in the alley scored live by local bands. Plus an outdoor ping pong tourney and a sunrise yoga session (see full schedule below).

Though the unnamed restaurant is still under construction, food, booze and much-needed espresso will be available. Bartmann had hoped to open before Northern Spark, but had a hiccup with an energy-inefficient back door. The Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission denied her request to have the door replaced, so she essentially built a door within a door as a workaround. The restaurant is about three weeks away from opening and more details about the concept and her collaborators (which include a former Minneapolitan who's returning after running a Brooklyn bar) will be announced next week.

Until then, tell the Sandman to shove it and enjoy the dusk-till-dawn art extravaganza.

Inside performances at 1612 Harmon Place:

9:10 p.m. Frank Theater
9:30 p.m. Paper Darts
10:20 p.m. DJ Tarik Thornton
11:20 p.m. L'Assassins
12:20 a.m. DJ Brenda Hernandez
1:30 a.m. Black Diet
2:20 a.m. DJ Dan McAllister
3:20 a.m. DJ Kevin Jones
4:20 a.m. DJ Rambo Salinas

Outside performances at 1612 Harmon Place:

9 p.m.-3 a.m. IFP MN presents Out of the Shadows - Movies & Music in the Dark (live score by local bands at the top of each hour)
9 p.m.-1 a.m. Happenstance...Negative Jam (Silent Dance Party!) by Chris Cloud & Lea Devon Sorrentino
9 p.m.-3 a.m. Ping Pong by Starlight - Register for tourney online at http://tinyurl.com/NSpingpong or sign up on site by 10:45 p.m. (open pong before & after tourney)
5:30 a.m. Sunrise Yoga in Loring Park (located on north side of the park, across from 1612 Harmon Place)