Category Archives: VBF 2026

Vintage Band Festival announces 2025 and 2026 dates

The Vintage Band Festival board of directors has decided that Saturday, August 2, 2025 will be the date for VBF 2025. The festival will take place in Bridge Square Park in Downtown Northfield, MN along the banks of the Cannon River. Current plans call for a schedule on that day from 9:00 am – 10:00 pm. There will be 10-12 bands playing 45-minute sets with a short break in between performances for stage changes. Riverwalk Market Fair will share the park with Vintage Band Festival. 30-40 vendors will be onsite showcasing artisan products, fresh produce, and prepared food from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Vintage Band Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026. Coincidentally, 2026 is also the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. We are hoping to do some programming that calls attention to this special date as well. Tune in to America250 for more information about this propitious celebration. Watch for periodic updates on the plans for celebrating these milestones in our local and national history.

Bridge Square Redux

Bridge Square has been the central gathering place of Northfield, Minnesota since the early days of the 20th century. Originally, it was a place to park your horse and buggy. In later days it has hosted governors, European royalty, carnival booths, political rallies and protests, and, of course, brass bands.

The City of Northfield has been planning a substantial renovation of Bridge Square in Northfield’s for several years. The sidewalks and plazas are deteriorating and the infrastructure needs to be reshaped to better accommodate the increasing numbers of people attending the annual cycle of events. It’s likely that the construction process will occur in 2025. If you’re curious about what the outcome might look like, click here for architectural renderings of the changes.

What does this mean for the Vintage Band Festival event to be held on August 2, 2025?

VBF 2025 will not be presented in Bridge Square as the reconstruction won’t be finished until later in the summer. Instead, the festival will take place in Central Park, a wonderful venue just three blocks east of Bridge Square. We have used Central Park in past years as an auxiliary location when we’ve needed a second stage.

Central Park, VBF 2022
Stone Arch Jazz Band

It’s likely that in future years (beginning in 2026), whenever Vintage Band Festival is a multi-day event, the main stage will be in Central Park and the secondary venue will be Bridge Square. After the Bridge Square rehab is complete, there won’t be a space in the park large enough for the the footprint of the larger stage that’s needed.

That being said, VBF 2024 on July 26 and 27 will be staged in Bridge Square in its customary location in front of the Post Office. We hope to see you there!