Tag Archives: Spring Forward MN

Vintage Band Festival is Back!

Have you heard the news??

Vintage Band Festival 2021 will take place July 31, 2021. Exactly 425 days will have elapsed since VBF’s last public event: the Swing into Leap Year Dance on February 29, 2020. It’s been a long time coming. With the lifting of restrictions by the Governor’s office a couple of weeks ago, it looks like our outdoor event in Bridge Square can be held safely.

We’re going to have a great lineup for 12 hours of brass band enjoyment. The evening schedule is set. At 5:30 on the Wenger Showmobile Stage we’ll have Southside Aces, a fantastic Twin Cities jazz ensemble led by Tony Baluff on clarinet. Copper Street Brass will take the stage at 6:45 and the evening will finish with the sounds of the Roseville Big Band. Copper Street Brass has appeared at every Vintage Band Festival since 2006, but the Roseville Big Band will be making its debut with us. Bring your dancing shoes!

We’ll announce the rest of the lineup just as soon as we get confirmations from everyone. Check back often at the VBF website for  the rest of the day’s schedule and other festival details.

Riverwalk Market Fair, an open-air bazaar featuring fresh produce vendors and artisans of all sorts, will again be sharing Bridge Square with Vintage Band Festival. This collaboration has been taking place for a number of years now and we love the synergy that results from the co-mingling of our audiences!

Thanks to our spring donors who stepped up during Spring Forward MN in May. We have a goal to raise $5,000 before the July festival and we’re 30% there following the May fund drive. If you can help us with a gift in any amount, please visit www.vintagebandfestival.org and click on the green “Donate” button.

This past year has been difficult for everyone and we’re looking forward to seeing all of you again in person. If you haven’t gotten a COVID-19 vaccination yet, please do so at your earliest opportunity. The best way to reduce the risk of virus transmission for everyone is for people to be fully vaccinated.

Spring Forward for Vintage Band Festival May 1-11

May 1-11 has been designated “Spring Forward MN” by the online fundraising organization GiveMN.org. GiveMN offers a platform with which donors can give gifts to multiple Minnesota non-profits simultaneously. The website is available for year-round donations, but has an annual event called “Give to the Max Day” in November.

Last year GiveMN saw that non-profit organizations were unable to do traditional in-person fundraising due to the COVID-19 pandemic so it added a spring event to assist them. It was so successful that the decision was made to repeat the event in 2021.

Vintage Band Festival has participated in every Give to the Max Day since the event began and uses the GiveMN platform throughout the year as well. Earlier this month the VBF Board of Directors elected to also participate in “Spring Forward MN 2021.”

Besides the convenience that GiveMN.org offers donors, there are other benefits during Spring Forward MN. $50,000 will be awarded in increments of $250 and $1,000 for donors to make an extra contribution to an organization of their choose. These Bonus Grants will be determined with hourly and daily drawings during the May1-11 donation period. Vintage Band Festival has been the recipient of one of these surprise grants in the past and hopes to be a lucky winner again.

At Vintage Band Festival we are planning to return to live programming in 2021, although at this time we’re still not sure whether that will be in-person or virtual performances due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps it will be a combination of the two formats! In any case, we will have production expenses in order to put on a show. This is where you can help us. We have established a goal of $5,000 to be raised before May 31, 2021.

Please join us during Spring Forward MN in the drive toward our goal of raising $5,000. Donate online with whatever amount is right for you at GiveMN.org anytime between May 1-11. Just search for “Vintage Band Music Festival” on the givemn.org home page and click the big green DONATE button. Maybe your donation will be the one that secures another Bonus Grant for Vintage Band Festival!