Category Archives: VBF 2020

COVID-19 update from Vintage Band Festival

The last event that Vintage Band Festival produced took place on February 29, 2020. We had a great turnout at the Northfield Ballroom for our “Leap Year Swing Dance” with music provided by Bend in the River Big Band. Two weeks later, all live entertainment in the entire country was silenced by COVID-19. Vintage Band Festival went on hiatus for the rest of 2020.

Now that vaccines are being distributed, the medical community and governmental agencies are considering what that means for resuming activities that 12 months ago were thought of as “normal” or “routine.” We are following those discussions and announcements with great interest and trying to chart a course for Vintage Band Festival in 2021.

It’s too early for us to know whether we’ll be able to provide music this year in our usual format: outdoors in a public park. Because of that uncertainty, we are exploring options for streaming music in a virtual format. This could be live or recorded music or a combination of the two. Stay tuned for developments on this front!

In the meantime, we continue to raise funds for the future needs of Vintage Band Festival. We have recently added PayPal as an additional option for online donations at www.vintgagebandfestival.org. We also are beginning to see donors considering legacy gifts to our organization. These are larger gifts using donor-advised funds from investment portfolios. Please consult with your financial advisor if this is something you may be interested in doing. Some folks have even told us that they’re setting aside some of their stimulus money for Vintage Band Festival!

We hope this message finds you in good health and good spirits. One last thought: if you haven’t received your COVID-19 vaccination yet, please do so as soon as circumstances allow. The more people that get vaccinated, the sooner we can gather in a group setting to listen to brass bands together!

Sheldon Theatre Brass Band-VBF 2018

Give to the Max Day Nov. 19

2020 has been a challenging year for all non-profit organizations and Vintage Band Festival is no exception. Due to COVID-19 we found it necessary to cancel all of our planned events for the year, including the Vintage Band Festival One-Day Mini-fest scheduled for July 31 and Tuba Christmas in Northfield, scheduled for December 5.

We are hoping that 2021 will be a better year for VBF and to that end we are fundraising for future activities.

Vintage Band Festival is participating in Give to the Max Day (GTMD20) as part of the VBF 2020 fund drive. GTMD20 will take place November 19 from 12 am-11:59:59 pm. One of the benefits for donors who make gifts during GTMD20 is the chance to be winners in over 100 prize drawings. If you are selected, an additional donation will be made to VBF. Prizes range from $500 to $10,000!

Here is a list of the prize drawings during GTMD20:

$500 Golden Tickets every 15 minutes
$1,000 Hourly Golden Tickets
$500 Early Giving Golden Tickets (1 each day between November 1-19)
$10,000 Super-sized Golden Ticket (drawn from all donations)

How to donate to Vintage Band Festival during GTMD20:

Go to www.givemn,org
Click on the green “Donate Now” button
Do a search for “Vintage Band Music Festival”
Click on the green “Donate” button
Choose your suggested giving level or fill in your unique amount
Enter your credit card information
Accept our thanks!

The goal for the VBF 2020 fund drive (through December 31, 2020) is $5,000. As of today, we have raised 26% of that amount. Give to the Max Day would be an excellent time for our friends to help us make significant progress toward reaching or exceeding our goal.

Early giving is now open for GTMD20. You can donate anytime between today and 11:59:59 pm on November 19, 2020. Please use the hashtag #GTMD20 when you share any news about Vintage Band Festival on social media.

Vintage Band Festival Annual Meeting Feb. 10

The Vintage Band Festival Board of Directors will hold the organization’s annual meeting on Monday, February 10 at noon at the First United Church of Christ in Northfield, MN. The main order of business will be the election of officers for 2020. The following persons have volunteered to serve as officers and will be nominated at the meeting:

President–Dan Bergeson
Vice-President–Randy Ferguson
Secretary–Joy Riggs
Treasurer–Mary Rosenberg

The meeting is free and open to the public. All are welcome.

Leap Year Swing Dance February 29

Put on your dancing shoes for Leap Year Swing Dance, February 29, 2020. The event will be held at the Northfield Ballroom (1055 HWY 3 North) and will run from 7:30-10:00 pm. Music will be provided by Bend in the River Big Band with vocalist Linnea Nelson Marrin. Victor Albrecht, a local dance instructor, will provide free swing dance lessons beginning at 6:45. There will be a cash bar. General admission tickets are $15. Student admission is $10.

Invite your friends and neighbors. All are welcome!

This event is a benefit for Vintage Band Festival.