Members of Bavarian Musikmeisters hail from southern Minnesota and model themselves after traditional German village bands, lederhosen and all. The band’s 35 musicians perform authentic musical arrangements on a variety of brass and woodwind instruments: flute, clarinet, trumpet, flugelhorn, tenor horn, baritone, trombone, tuba and percussion. They perform for numerous events in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and have performed at Germanic festivals in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota, as well as at the German-American Mardi Gras Association annual meeting in Las Vegas.
Bavarian Musikmeisters will perform at 1:00 pm on July 29 at VBF 2023.
The most common form of pipe band, the Scottish/Irish pipe band, consists of a section of pipers playing the great highland bagpipe, a section of snare drummers (often referred to as ‘side drummers’), several tenor drummers and usually one, though occasionally two, bass drummers. The entire drum section is known collectively as the drum corps. The tenor drummers and bass drummer are referred to collectively as the ‘bass section’ or as the ‘midsection’. The band follows the direction of the pipe major; when on parade, the band may be led by a drum major, who directs the band with a mace. Standard instrumentation for a pipe band involves 6 to 25 pipers, 3 to 10 side drummers, 1 to 6 tenor drummers and 1 bass drummer. (Minnesota Scottish Fair & Highland Games website)
Vintage Band Festival relies heavily on volunteers to stage its annual events. Without our loyal donors and helpers, we couldn’t do what we do. If you’re interested in joining us on July 29 and you have a couple hours to help out, we’d love to meet you and give you a set of tasks. You could help us with set up on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, you could work in the information tent recording donations and answering questions or you could help us on Saturday evening as we close out the show and put stuff away.
Minnesotans are fortunate to have a number of bands that focus on Mexican and other south of the border musical traditions. Two of the best (in our opinion!) are veteran performers at Vintage Band Festival and we’re excited to welcome them back to Northfield in 2023.
Banda La Verdadera
This high-energy Minneapolis band is a favorite Vintage Band Festival performer. Banda La Verdadera plays a type of traditional Mexican music that features brass instruments, woodwinds, drums and singing. The band performs a variety of musical forms, including rancheras, boleros and cumbias. They are in high demand in Minnesota and we’re lucky to have them back in Northfield in 2023.
Mariachi Mi Tierra
The mariachi ensemble is the only ensemble that requires the vihuela and the bass (guitarrón mexicano). These two instruments are the rhythm section. There’s no other ensemble in the world that uses them, except mariachi. If you go to a festival or a party and they say they have mariachi and they don’t have a vihuela and a bass, it’s not really Mariachi. The rest of the instrumentation is pretty straightforward. They include trumpets, violins, and vocal singers.
Mariachi Mi Tierra is the oldest Mariachi ensemble in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. Rosalio Castro (trumpet), who formed the group in 2003, has played various Mexican styles of music since he was in his teens. Eduardo Castro (also trumpet) is the group’s director. Together, the Castros have brought together a group that produces the full sound of authentic mariachi in Minnesota.
Mariachi Mi Tierra will perform at 5:00 pm on July 29, 2023 and Banda La Verdadera will take the stage at 6:00 pm. View the complete schedule for VBF 2023 here: https://vintagebandfestival.org/vbf-2023/ and check back for any updates.
Brass Messengers are a Minneapolis street band playing mostly original music inspired by global sources. The BMs formed from the annual rubble of of the Heart of the Beast Mayday Parade and Ceremony in Minneapolis. The musical origins were found in the music of Africa, the Carribean and Balkans, but now the BMs play whatever works, throwing in a country song to the crying drinkers, a high speed polka or two for the midwest dancers, running in circles with the little ones, activating gatherings of our activist kin or a bit of Black Sabbath for the metal crowd. But mostly, it is an original music that rises from the heart of the band that can only be described as a homegrown Minneapolis street music sound.
The Messengers play stages large and small, events from parties to bars, large theaters to street parades and funerals. The Mess have been a part of the HONK community for nine years running, attending more than ten HONK festivals in Sommerville, Seattle and Austin, TX.
Vintage Band Festival 2023 will take place on Saturday, July 29,. 2023 in Northfield, Minnesota’s Bridge Square. Brass Messengers will take the stage at 7:15 pm.
The 34th Infantry Division Band of the United States Army is returning to Northfield for Vintage Band Festival 2023. “The Red Bull Band” has performed at VBF several times in the past and we’re delighted to have them back.
The band is stationed in Rosemount, Minnesota and is currently assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota National Guard. The mission of the 34th Infantry Division Band is to provide music throughout the spectrum of military operations to instill in soldiers the will to fight and win, foster the support of citizens and promote the national interests of the United States at home and abroad.
Officially organized 30 April 1900, the 34th Infantry Division Band has proudly served state and nation for over 114 years, seeing service in WWI, WWII and the Global War on Terrorism. Whether performing for the public, supporting military ceremonies, or entertaining US Service members and our allies the Soldier-Musicians of the Red Bull Band are honored to serve in one of the US Army’s most respected Divisions.
Vintage Band Festival 2023 will be on Saturday, July 29, 2023. The Red Bull Band performs at 11:00 am.
In the VBF 2022 Official Program, the Northfield Historical Society placed an ad with a picture of a community band from the early 20th century. The bass drum in the picture had the words “Northfield Minnesota City Band” painted on it. No one on the VBF board had ever seen the photograph before and a couple of members decided to track down the provenance of the photo and the occasion for which the band posed for the photographer. The photograph was found on the Northfield-Rice County History Collection, a digital collaboration by nearly 20 Rice County entities with archival collections, including the Northfield Historical Society.
Jeff Sauve, the curator of the Northfield Historical Society at the time, gave the VBF Marketing Committee permission to use the photograph and the decision was subsequently made to put it on the cover of the 2023 Official Program.
According to the Northfield News of June 24, 1980, the band in the photograph was chosen to play at the Grandstand of the Minnesota State Fair, about 1917. The photograph was taken outside the grandstand. The band members were identified as follows: Left to right, front row: Pete Johnson, Art Sunde, Merril Lawrence, George Mohn, Hjalmar Berge, Lawrence Emmons, Leonard Obrech, Eugene Lee, Lester Batson, Carl Gulbrandson, Robert Babcock, Norman Lende, George LaPointe; back row: Bernard Gimmestad, Roy Palmer, Theodore Carel, Roman Berke, Pat Brown, Al Haue, William Dunn, unidentified, Leon Neulen, Walter Fink, Earl Page and Harry Emmons.
Thanks to Jeff Sauve and the Northfield Historical Society for allowing us to use the photograph in our 2023 marketing efforts.
We are nearing the end of our spring fund drive. The goal for the 2023 festival is $15,000 and we are getting closer to achieving that every day, but we’re not quite there yet. We need to reach that goal by June 16 in order to ensure we have the means to meet our budget needs for VBF 2023.
Have you made a contribution yet? Thanks to all of those folks that have. If you haven’t, there’s still time. Go to the VBF home page (www.vintagebandfestival.org) and click on the big green “Donate” button. Checks can be sent to Vintage Band Festival, 204 W. 7th Street #130, Northfield, MN 55057.
On and off over the years, Vintage Band Festival audiences have enjoyed the music of a small group of alphorn players in southern Minnesota. Alphorns have a history rooted in the mountains of Europe, particularly in Switzerland. This year, the alphorns will be returning to Northfield to the delight of all.
On a typical beautiful evening during spring, summer or fall, Ralph and Mary Brindle can be found playing alphorns somewhere … at home, at local parks, in the BWCA, in the mountains, even out in the snow while snowshoeing! Mary & Ralph play for outdoor weddings, Swiss Independence celebrations, and special occasions upon request. Active musicians with a variety of musical groups in the Twin Cities, Ralph and Mary began playing alphorn in 2004 are excited to bring some alphorn serendipity to the Vintage Band Festival!
Watch for the alphorns along Division Street on July 29 with multiple stops during the day between 2nd Street and 6th Street in front of coffee houses, restaurants and the public library.
The Wenger Foundation has been a financial supporter of Vintage Band Festival since the festival’s inception in 2006. Recently, the Foundation ended its 40-year mission of supporting arts organizations in the state of Minnesota. In a letter sent to Vintage Band Festival explaining this development in its philanthropic life cycle, the Wenger Foundation also enclosed a very generous check for $20,000. This was a completely unforeseen gift from our lovely friends in Crystal Bay, Minnesota.
Wendy Wenger Dankey, a member of the Foundation’s board of directors, explained, “It has been a great run as an arts funder and as a family foundation, but all things change over time and we have reached our finale. I really send our good wishes for a sustainable and successful future! We really do hope you have many more years of successful Festivals!”
It can honestly be said that without the many years of support from the Wenger Foundation, Vintage Band Festival would not have continued beyond the first festival in 2006. The support came not only in the consistent funding, but also in the inspiration and encouragement that the Wenger board of directors passed along to the Vintage Band Festival board of directors.
The final Wenger gift will allow Vintage Band Festival the opportunity to envision long-term financial sustainability. Stay tuned for more information about this exciting possibility in the coming days.
Join our mailing list!
We’ll email you when this site is updated with news about the next Vintage Band Festival!
