Category Archives: Grant Awards

SEMAC awards Legacy Amendment grant to Vintage Band Festival

On November 19 the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC)  awarded Vintage Band Festival (VBF) a $10,000 Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund grant for its summer 2025 one-day event. Other Northfield recipients of SEMAC grants in this cycle are the Bridge Chamber Music Festival, the Northfield Jazz Festival, the Paradise Center for the Arts, and the Healthy Community Initiative.

The SEMAC grant will enable VBF to recruit 3 high-caliber bands for the schedule in addition to funding part of the audio technology necessary to achieve a great audience experience.

VBF 2025 will be held on Saturday, August 2, 2025 in Downtown Northfield, Minnesota. Without this financial support from SEMAC, it would be much harder to balance the budget of Vintage Band Festival. Thanks to SEMAC and thanks to the Minnesota voters who supported and continue to renew the 2008 Legacy Amendment to the state constitution that provides for ongoing funding for arts and culture in the state of Minnesota.

Vintage Band Festival awarded a 2023 SEMAC Legacy Grant

The Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) has awarded Vintage Band Festival a 2023 Legacy Grant for Organizations. The $10,000 grant will be used to partially fund the upcoming Vintage Band Festival 2024 next summer.

One member of the review committee had this to say about our application:

“The people involved in this project are very qualified and have varied skills…great that you are helping to keep Big Band music alive and bringing high quality music to your community….by varying the styles of music it is a educational experience for your audiences and keeps it enjoyable…the location keeps the event very inclusive of all…by mixing amateur and professional bands everyone learns from each other and that makes it a win win for everyone!”

Another reviewer commented:

 “A very unique event that evolves and keeps your community involved because of the quality bands and the live music experience….great that you are including Latino bands also…this project seems to have lots of community support from donors to volunteers to attendees…  Community involvement is great for this project, and there appears to be planning to improve upon past experiences.”

We’re grateful to our fantastic grant writer, Joy Riggs, for another successful outcome. We’re also grateful to the Minnesota legislature for passing the Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment in 2008. That legislation provides the funding for SEMAC and other regional arts councils in Minnesota to administer.

Vintage Band Festival announces Wenger Foundation gift

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.

Vintage Band Festival receives SEMAC grant

 

Last month Vintage Band Festival received a $10,000 grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council in support of the forthcoming one-day festival in 2023. We are honored to have our application approved and grateful

The intended use of the grant is to build on the efforts made in the summer of 2022 to assist seniors with safe transportation to and from the outdoor venues at Vintage Band Festival and seating during the performances. Several other community partners worked with VBF on this project and the hope is that they will do so again next summer. These partners included the Northfield Retirement Community, Three Links Care Center, Benedictine Living Communities, the City of Northfield, and Age-Friendly Northfield.

Other Rice County  recipients of SEMAC grants in the most recent cycle include: Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra, Carleton College, Northfield Arts Guild, Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, Northfield Troubadors, and Paradise Center for the Arts.

In November 2008, Minnesotans passed the clean water, land, and legacy amendment to the Minnesota Constitution.  As a result, over the next twenty-five years, a small portion of the state’s sales tax will be dedicated to: a clean water fund, an outdoor heritage fund, a parks and trails fund, and an arts and cultural heritage fund.

Proceeds from the arts and cultural heritage fund “may be spent only on arts, arts education and arts access and to preserve Minnesota’s history and cultural heritage.”

Wenger support continues for Vintage Band Festival

Christmas came early for Vintage Band Festival in 2021. In late November we received word that the Wenger Foundation awarded the organization $10,000 in support of our 2022 4-day festival, July 28-31 next summer. We are profoundly grateful for the confidence the Wenger family has placed in the VBF mission of wind band music performed in public settings throughout our hometown of Northfield, Minnesota.

The Wenger Corporation produces innovative products for the music education, performing arts and athletic markets. Harry Wenger, Owatonna, Minnesota’s own “Music Man”, founded the Wenger Corporation in in his basement in 1946 and It is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2021. The Wenger Foundation has been a Vintage Band Festival benefactor since the festival’s founding in 2006.

Vintage Band Festival awarded $10,000 SEMAC grant

On November 10, 2021, the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) announced that Vintage Band Festival has been awarded a $10,000 Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund grant for use in staging the 4-day Vintage Band Festival 2022. The grant was one of five awarded to Rice County non-profits organizations.  Here are the other four:

Faribault Parks & Recreation — $5,000 Arts and Cultural Heritage grant for Faribault Concerts in the Park series.

• I Cantanti Chamber Choirs — $5,000 General Operating Support grant for facilities & staffing.

• Northfield Arts Guild — $9,925 Arts and Cultural Heritage grant for focused arts learning, home school/after school.

• Paradise Center for the Arts — $10,000 Arts and Cultural Heritage grant for Marquee Children’s Theatre.

Vintage Band Festival will use the grant to help fund a number of brass and wind musical ensembles from Minnesota that will be invited to perform in Northfield in July of 2022. SEMAC has been generous to our organization over the  past 15 years and we are grateful to our elected representatives for continuing to support the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was established in 2008. This initiative benefits all Minnesotans!

Thanks to VBF Secretary Joy Riggs for her skillful writing in the SEMAC application!

The Financing of Vintage Band Festival

 

Each Vintage Band Festival event requires financial support from various funding sources in order to be produced. Our organization is a non-profit corporation that relies on grants, sponsorships, and donations from private individuals and businesses to underwrite our expenses.

GRANT AWARDS

As we ramp up preparations for Vintage Band Festival on July 31, 2021, we want to take a moment to thank our loyal and continuing supporters in the granting community. We have been fortunate to receive assistance multiple times from Wenger Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB), and the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC). These wonderful arts supporters have been generous not only to Vintage Band Festival, but also to a number of our performing ensembles as well. In recent years, funds granted by both MSAB and SEMAC are the direct result of dollars provided by Minnesota taxpayers through the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment enacted by the Minnesota State Legislature in 2008. Please thank your representatives for this marvelous and thoughtful legislation!

SPONSORSHPS

In 2021, we have sponsorship opportunities for organizations to assist us with the financial needs of the festival. The top level of sponsorship is the Stage Sponsor. We’re pleased to announce that both the Northfield Rotary Club and the Northfield News have agreed to be Stage Sponsors of Vintage Band Festival 2021. Thanks to both of these fine partners for their support this year and in years past.

   

LEGACY GIFTS

2021 is the 16th year of Vintage Band Festival’s life. During that time we have established a track record of great performances, a collaborative spirit, and many memories for our performers and our audience. We have started to see our friends respond to this work in wonderful ways.

In the past 12 months, Vintage Band Festival has received nearly $10,000 in legacy gifts from two longtime supporters of the festival. Both of these donors have requested anonymity, but we wanted to let our audience know how incredibly grateful we are for this recognition and for their generosity. One of the gifts came from a musician family in one of our performing ensembles and the other was inspired by the work of one of our ardent volunteers. In each case, the donor expressed gratitude for the joy that Vintage Band Festival has brought to their lives and the hope that this experience will continue for many years to come.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

If you are considering becoming a 2021 Stage Sponsor ($1,000) or a 2021 Band Sponsor ($500), we’d love to hear from you soon so that we can include your name in all of our promotion and marketing activities. If you are considering a legacy gift to Vintage Band Festival or a 2021 sponsorship, please contact our Fundraising Committee at vintagebandfestival@gmail.com. Thank you and hope to see you in Northfield, MN on July 31! The music starts at 9:30 am.

For continuing updates about Vintage Band Festival, visit our website at www.vintagebandfestival.org and follow us on Facebook at Vintage Band Festival.

Vintage Band Festival Announces Grant Award from Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council

May 22, 2017

For Immediate Release

Vintage Band Festival Announces Grant Award from Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council

Northfield, Minnesota—Vintage Band Festival is pleased to announce that it has received a $3,000 grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) in support of one of the performing bands at this summer’s one-day festival on July 29. The award also covers expenses for sound production at the event. SEMAC has been a strong supporter and advocate for Vintage Band Festival since the festival was launched in 2006 and this recent grant continues that tradition.

Vintage Band Festival was founded in 2006 by Dr. Paul Niemisto, at the time a faculty member of the St. Olaf College Music Department. The inspiration for staging a series of brass and wind band concerts simultaneously at multiple outdoor venues in Northfield, Minnesota came from observing similar events while visiting small towns in Germany and Austria. The local community responded enthusiastically to the idea and Vintage Band Festival is now a thriving and beloved ongoing enterprise in Northfield. Four-day festivals have been held in 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2016. Recently, a variation on the concept was created and now one-day summer events are staged during the intervals between the grand four-day events. The next one-day Vintage Band Festival will be held July 29, 2017.

Fall 2015 Report to Friends of VBF

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

 One Day Festival August 1, 2015

Our second one-day event on August 1 was a tremendous success. 12 bands played on the Bridge Square stage during the 12-hour festival and donations from the audience reached $8,000. Thanks to Riverwalk Market Fair for another fruitful collaboration!

Financial Update

On August 3, 2015 Vintage Band Festival was able to meet all of its past obligations, pay for the expenses of the 2015 one-day festival and continue into the fall with a positive cash balance. Since that time, additional donations and grant awards have resulted in a cash balance of $20,000. Since the projected budget of the 2016 festival is approximately $100,000, $80,000 remains to be raised. We plan to accomplish this with a combination of grants, business sponsorships and appeals to VBF friends like you!

Homecoming at Fort Snelling

VBF sponsored the music for the reenactment of the 150th anniversary of the 2nd Minnesota Infantry’s homecoming at historic Fort Snelling on August 15.  Thanks to The Manitou Regimental Band for a fabulous job!

Vintage Band Festival Presents

VBF hosted three amazing educational programs during the fall. On September 28 Paul Maybery gave a presentation on the history of brass bands in the United States. William Crowder, “Bugler Bill”, was in period dress on October 26 and demonstrated dozens of bugle calls in a “day in the life” of the United States Army infantry. On November 23, Joy Riggs read from her forthcoming biography of her great grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, a real-life music man. Thanks to our friends at the Northfield Retirement Center and the Northfield Senior Center for being great partners in this effort.

 News from the Board of Directors

Jesse Streitz joined the Board at the November meeting. Jesse is a recently retired local business owner and a fine clarinetist. Welcome Jesse! Jim Haas, VBF Treasurer, announced his plans to resign from the Board at the end of 2015. Thanks to Jim for his outstanding work during the past two years!

VBF Secures SEMAC Grant

Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council awarded Vintage Band Festival a $10,000 Arts and Culture Heritage Grant in November. The money will be used to support the participation of a number of Midwest bands in the 2016 festival. Thanks to Board Secretary Joy Riggs for her successful grant application.

2016 Festival

The next multi-day Vintage Band Festival is scheduled for July 28-31, 2016. The band roster is nearing completion and promises to be an outstanding array of variety and talent. 2016 will be the 10-year anniversary of Vintage Band Festival and next year’s festival will be the sixth staging of this unique blend of brass and wind music,

You Can Help!

Please consider a year-end tax-deductible donation to Vintage Band Festival. You can make a secure donation on our website, vintagebandfestival.org, or send a check to Vintage Band Festival, 204 W. 7th St.., Box130, Northfield, MN 55057.

VBF Receives $10,000 SEMAC Grant

Vintage Band Festival is pleased to announce that on November 17, 2015 VBF received a $10,000 Arts and Culture Heritage Grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC). This grant will be used to support several Minnesota bands that will be appearing in the next Vintage Band Festival July 28-31, 2016.

SEMAC awarded 38 grants in this cycle for a total of $234,460 in funding to applicants throughout southeastern Minnesota. This included eight Presenter/Production Assistance grants for $22,500, eight Small Towns/Rural Areas grants for $19,605, and 22 Arts & Cultural Heritage grants for $192,355.

Many thanks for the efforts of Joy Riggs, Vintage Band Festival Board member and Secretary, for her fine work in writing a successful application. This is the second SEMAC grant that Joy has written. The first was a $4,000 General Operating Support grant awarded in August 2015.