Vintage Band Festival announces 2026 bands

Vintage Band Festival 2026 (VBF 2026) will take place Thursday, July 30 – Sunday, August 2, 2026. This year’s festival will celebrate the 20^th anniversary of this annual Northfield, Minnesota tradition.

The roster of bands will include ensembles from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Washington D.C., Florida and Europe. Two European bands will be performing: Moritz & Co., a brass septet from Austria and Original Drachenfelser Musikanten, a brass quartet from Germany.

There will be two stages at VBF 2026, the main stage in Bridge Square and a second stage in Central Park. Performances on Thursday and Friday will be in Bridge Square and performances on Saturday and Sunday will take place in both locations. The start times for the concerts will be staggered by ½ hour so that folks can sample both bands during the same hour if they so choose!

On Friday morning in Central Park there will be a living history pageant celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the United States of America, beginning with a recognition of the native people that preceded the arrival of European colonists. Spoken word performances of several significant historical documents and speeches beginning with the Declaration of Independence have been planned. Musical performances will include the Civil War period of band music and World War I, with a performance by the renowned American Expeditionary Forces Headquarters Band, under the auspices of The Doughboy Foundation of Washington D.C. The Northfield Suffragette Singers will sing several songs from the early 20^th century period of women’s right- to-vote activism.

Saturday at noon on both sides of the Cannon River in downtown Northfield a Battle of the Bands will occur. VBF 2026 bands will be placed on both sides of the river and perform period songs from the 19^th century in a round robin sequence. Spectators may position themselves on either side of the river to enjoy this spectacular musical experience.

Evenings in Bridge Square will be lively with salsa music from La Clave Orchestra and K-Libre 24, the Brass Messengers, McNasty Brass Band, Too Darn Hot, and the swing band MN Jazz Orchestra. Fireworks will follow the conclusion of music on Saturday evening. Look for additional performances at the VFW Hall, The Grand Event Center and downtown pubs. On Sunday morning a number of VBF 2026 bands will provide special music at local church services.

Be sure to follow Vintage Band Festival on Facebook and www.vintagebandfestival.org for the complete schedule of events and updates as they happen.

Early Brass Festival call for proposals

The Historic Brass Society will be hosting their Early Brass Festival, being held in conjunction with the 20^th anniversary of the Vintage Band Festival from July 31-August 2, 2026, in Northfield MN.

The HBS invites proposals for presentations related to any aspect of early brass or brass bands – including but not limited to band history, pedagogy, repertoire, performance practice, and biographical/historical information. Musical topics related to the 250^th Anniversary of the United States of America, as it relates to early brass and wind band history, are also encouraged.

Proposals should include an abstract (250 words) and a biography (75 words) with email contact information. Presentations should be no more than 20 minutes; 5-7 minutes of Q&A will follow each presentation. Decisions regarding acceptance of presentations will be forthcoming no later than January 31, 2026. More information can be found at https://www.historicbrass.org/early-brass-festival-2026-call-for-proposals.

Please send proposals as email attachments (PDF or Word docx preferred) to Sandy Coffin at scoffintpt@historicbrass.org.

In addition to papers, the Early Brass Festival will include informal playing sessions, social events, and attendance at concerts of the Vintage Band Festival.

Additional information and updates about housing and registration will be posted after January 1, 2026 on the Historic Brass Society website: www.historicbrass.org

Vintage Band Festival awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board grant

It’s very satisfying to announce that Vintage Band Festival has received a 2026 Arts Experiences grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board! We received the entire $35,000 for which we applied.

This grant and others we’ve received in the past are made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund established in 2008 by an act of the Minnesota legislature and ratified and renewed by the Minnesota voters. This funding is the life blood of many arts organizations in the state of Minnesota.

We will use the funds from this grant to partially underwrite Vintage Band Festival 2026 taking place July 30-August 2, 2026. Specifically, we will tell the story of military and ceremonial bands in the United States from the 19^th century to the present day. There will be reenactor bands from the Civil War period, the late 19^th century American town band period, World War I, and contemporary military and ceremonial bands represented.

2026 will be the 20^th anniversary of Vintage Band Festival as well as the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We intend to focus the festival programming on each of these milestone dates.

Give to the Max Day 2025

November 20 is Give to the Max Day in Minnesota. This is the annual day of giving for many of the non-profit organizations in the state. Vintage Band Festival is one of those organizations and we’ve been participating in Give to the Max Day since its inception in 2009. In the 15 years since then, the total Give to the Max Day contributions and the number of organizations which participate have each doubled.

There are many reasons for the success of this program, but the two that stand out for Vintage Band Festival are the following:

The convenience of donating to multiple causes on the same platform at the same time
The collaborative spirit the platform and the event elicits and the community building that occurs as a result

Vintage Band Festival 2026 is going to be a multi-day event (July 30-August 2) and comes with significant budget pressure. There are no tickets or reserved seats for those who attend the festival, but there are hefty expenses required for its production.

We need to raise $25,000 by the end of 2025 to be on track to hit our total fundraising goal by the summer of 2026. Your contribution today will go a long way toward achieving that goal.To make a donation today, click on this link: https://www.givemn.org/organization/Vintage-Band-Music-Festival

Please visit www.vintagebandfestival.org to find out more about our work and follow us on Facebook for regular updates on our progress. Thanks in advance for your financial support!

Sheldon Theatre Brass Band Holiday Concert

The Sheldon Theatre Brass Band will present a free holiday concert on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 3pm. The location is Bethel Lutheran Church, 1321 North Ave, in Northfield, Minnesota. The concert will feature spirited arrangements of familiar Christmas carols and holiday music from the movies. Guest vocalist Debbie O’Keefe will sing Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree and other favorites. Consider yourself invited!

This is a family-friendly event and admission is free. Donations will be accepted, with proceeds going to the Rice County Area United Way.

The Sheldon Theatre Brass Band is a favorite of Vintage Band Festival audiences. The Music Director of the band is James Kurschner.

Vintage Band Festival voted 2025 Best Music Festival of Southern Minnesota

In an unexpected turn of events, Vintage Band Festival was nominated in the Southern Minnesota Scene Magazine’s Readers Choice Award contest for 2025 Best Music Festival of Southern Minnesota last June. There were four other festivals nominated in the category, festivals in Owatonna, Faribault, St. Peter, and Mankato. Voting took place during the month of June and the winners were announced during the last week of July.

All of us at Vintage Band Festival want to thank our audience members and fans for voting for us! We are humbled and grateful.

Meet the VBF bands part 3

It’s T-3 days until Vintage Band Festival 2025. So far we’ve featured 7 of the bands that will be performing on Saturday. This installment of VBF News showcases the remaining four ensembles.

Lake Wobegon© Brass Band

The Lake Wobegon© Brass Band is a British-style Brass Band from Anoka, Minnesota. The British style is a tradition noted for its characteristic dark, mellow tone. The name Lake Wobegon© comes from Garrison Keillor’s radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, and was the band was given permission to use the name with the stipulation that the band perform at a picnic sometime for Keillor. The ensemble gives concerts throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas and has toured twice in Great Britain. The band is led by Dr. Matthew George. Lake Wobegon© Brass Band is a Vintage Band Festival veteran performer.

RLC Jazz

RLC Jazz, an 18-piece big band, was formed in 2005 by members and friends of Roseville Lutheran Church (RLC) and is led by John Helgen on keyboard. The band’s first event was Roseville Lutheran’s New Year’s Eve service on December 31, 2005. They now play a free concert every New Year’s Eve, and it has become an annual tradition. Listeners and dancers are both welcome! The band also plays for Sunday morning worship, concerts, and other events throughout the year, utilizing a wide variety of repertoire ranging from big band standards to contemporary jazz to arrangements of hymns. They have played numerous venues in the Twin Cities area including riverboat cruises, weddings, ballroom dances, community events (Taste of Rosefest) and even went on tour in 2016!

Selby Avenue Brass Band featuring Thomasina Petrus

The Selby Avenue Brass Band takes its name from an extremely well-known neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota. The group is led by Tom Wells, tubist, arranger and composer and music educator in the Twin Cities area. Tom’s compositions and arrangements fuel a band comprised of enthusiastic and experienced musicians (including a couple of Grammy winners). While their musical roots come from the streets of New Orleans, they expand from that genre into many others. Thomasina Petrus is a Minneapolis actor and jazz vocalist, known for her signature role as jazz icon Billie Holiday. Selby Avenue Brass Band is a veteran Vintage Band Festival ensemble.

New Prague Area Community Band

The New Prague Area Community Band is a dynamic, nonprofit organization of volunteer musicians who share a love for playing music that entertains diverse audiences. Their members range from high school students to grandparents, united in their passion for making music that’s enjoyable for all. Rush Wagner is their conductor and he has a flair for creating wonderful programs. This ensemble has been the first band to perform at every Vintage Band Festival!

VBF board members take a Trek Through Time!

This week four members of the Vintage Band Festival board of directors joined host Kosmo Esplan on his KYMN radio show “Trek Through Time.” The hour-long interview explores the history of the festival: how and when the festival was begun, what inspired its creation, and the challenges and achievements that the organization has experienced during the past 20 years.

Kosmo is a very engaging high school student who asked some terrific questions. He’s been a fan of Vintage Band Festival for a number of years and did a deep dive on the VBF website and Facebook page in his preparation for the interview.

Thanks to Paul, Randy, Joy and Dan for taking us on a trip down memory lane. It’s remarkable how the festival has grown and evolved since 2006.

Tune in to 95.1 FM on Monday, July 21 at 9am to hear the show or stream it on demand from the KYMN radio archive after that. We hope you enjoy the show!

Meet the VBF bands part 2

Last week we showcased 3 of the Vintage Band Festival 2025 bands. This week we’re going to brag on 4 more bands that are appearing in the Bridge Square Stage on August 2, 2025.

Jack Brass Band

Based on the traditions of New Orleans brass bands, the Jack Brass Band is an ambassador of the Crescent City’s rich musical history. The 8-piece band plays “Feel-Good Music” for audiences of any age and any occasion. JBB has the ability and repertoire to play everything from old New Orleans jazz from Louis Armstrong’s era, to the modern street Mardi-Gras anthems with the instrumentation, feel and energy they have mastered through countless gigs, parades, festival appearances and trips to New Orleans to listen, learn and play alongside the masters.

Bavarian Musikmeisters

The Bavarian Musikmeisters are a 35-member wind instrument band from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota that have been sharing the beauty, enjoyment, and history of traditional Germanic band music and culture with people of all ages at festivals, park concerts, senior residences and private parties since 1985.

The Musikmeisters are modeled after the traditional village bands found in the German-speaking areas of Europe. Their attire, instrumentation, and musical arrangements of marches, polkas, waltzes, folk dances, and ballads are all authentic.

The Freier Department

The Freier Department is a seven piece band that effortlessly plays nasty Funk, swingin’ Jazz, and driving Latin music. Ethan Freier, leader and trombonist, has been a band director in Northfield for 26 years while continuing a busy freelance schedule in the twin cities. In The Freier Department, Ethan is joined in the horn section by Rich Manik on saxophone and Bob Case on trumpet. These are horn players that can blow!

The amazing rhythm section of Bill Chouinard on bass, David Schmalenberger on drums, Chris Olson on guitar, and Ted Godbout on keys will keep the grooves deep and the jazz smokin’. Freier’s arrangements of classic funk and jazz tunes are fresh and exciting. The Freier Department will also be performing some of Freier’s original compositions which can be heard on their 2021 album “Dysfunktion”. When you hear this band, you’ll know why these are some of the most sought after musicians in the Twin Cities.

Sheldon Theatre Brass Band

The Sheldon Theatre Brass Band was founded in 1989 as the resident performing ensemble at the newly-restored, turn-of-the-century T. B. Sheldon Theatre in Red Wing. The band is made up of cornets, trombones, tenor horns, euphoniums, tubas and percussion. They use the instrumentation of the traditional British Brass Band and play a broad variety of musical styles including original pieces for brass and percussion, marches, orchestral transcriptions, and unique arrangements for brass. In addition to regular performances at the Sheldon Theatre, the band performs at a variety of venues throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin and has performed at many brass band festivals throughout the United States, including NABBA Great American Brass Band Festival. Jim Kurschner is the Director of the band.

For more information and the complete schedule for VBF 2025, visit the Vintage Band Festival website.

A message from VBF board member Jan Stevens

Why I gave the lead gift to begin the Vintage Band Festival Fund at Northfield Shares:

Early in my life I realized that I had won the lottery by being born in the United States, in the Midwest, on a farm into a strong family with unconditional love plus a deep and strong religious life. My wonderful parents were major volunteers in the church and in the community where we lived. They lived a life of generosity, kindness and love, providing an excellent template for my own life.

Newly married and employed in the Dean’s Office at the University of Illinois I was working with an older colleague who was weathering some serious family trouble. Jeanne suggested to Stan and me that we should build a memory bank into our lives, as she had done. “Celebrate everything, plan special events, travels, family events, make your own traditions. When trouble comes, and it will, you can withdraw happiness and joy from this bank to help you get through this trouble.” IT WORKS!

OK, the world is a mess. World history is war, pestilence and starvation. My graduate education is in economics, “the Dismal Science….”

However, I have made it a practice in my life to wake up every morning looking for every sparkle of joy I can find to savor! It is a good thing to do.

My 19 years of volunteer service for the Vintage Band Festival provides me with great memories and joy in spades! Everyone involved, Board members, musicians, volunteers, friends, family, audiences, townspeople and the many assorted, random folks who find themselves surprised and delighted to be here during the festival enjoys this event. Live brass music, in the open air, in this (admit it) idyllic town connect the audiences and the musicians with one another. WE ARE NOT BOWLING ALONE!

Our audiences are very inclusive and varied. You will find families and individuals of all ages, races, ethnic backgrounds, economic status and social classes. All are welcome here.

My great good fortune is to be able to support this event with a lead financial gift to ensure VBF continues to delight everyone in the future. I want to especially honor Paul Niemisto for his brilliant ideas, knowledge and enthusiasm and Dan Bergeson for his superb management skills and his enthusiasm. The Vintage Band Festival is a mature organization and ready to receive your charitable donation to the fund managed efficiently and prudently by the local board of Northfield Shares. This fund is separate from our yearly fundraising.

The Vintage Band Festival is a secular event that may appeal to your specific philanthropic plans. We have been a 501C3 nonprofit organization for many years, providing donors with tax advantages.

Our website, www.vintagebandfestival.org has more information or text me anytime. If you would like to donate today, click on this link https://northfieldshares.org/vintage-band-festival-agency-fund/.

WELCOME TO JOY!

Janet (Jan) Gettings Stevens

JULY 18, 2024