Ticket sales brisk for second Bend of the River Festival; 38 Special, Elle King to headline

Sep. 10—When 5,000 music fans descend on Minnesota State University Saturday for the Bend of the River Festival, they'll be treated to the classic rock sounds of 38 Special, the alt-country stylings of Elle King and the southern rock attitude of Tim Montana.

But in addition to being fans, attendees also will be deciders, so to speak, of what this festival will look like in years to come.

"We're still trying to decide who we are," said festival organizer Jerry Braam. "Are we going to be a country festival, are we going to be rock — we just don't know yet. What we do know is we wanted to be a community event and that's what we wanted at the beginning. We want the community to be involved, not just the college atmosphere."

Bend of the River is in its second year, and organizers hope to both establish the event as a fall celebration and grow it each year. The event begins at 3 p.m. Saturday and includes performances by the aforementioned performers and an array of food vendors and artisans. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets, but outside beverages are prohibited. (There'll be plenty of adult beverages for sale, don't worry.)

The festival is on the MSU football team's practice fields. Unlike last year, the event will be far less spread out. The stage and spectator area will be on one side of the field while the vendor and sponsor area will be on the other.

"So more of a community feel," Braam said.

Bend of the River Festival is organized by Braam, Mike Drummer and Robyn James. Braam also organizes other festivals around the region — some bigger, some smaller. He organized one at the casino in Hinckley, and a large event at Target Field in Minneapolis that featured Imagine Dragons and The Killers.

Drummer, who owns Drummer's Garden Center and Floral, The Pond on Madison among others, said those two businesses came in handy while dealing with logistics for Bend of the River.

"(We're providing) all the decorations and houseplants so that will really deck it out that way for the for the property," he said. "I help with any of the hauling they need done. And with The Venue (the new event center at The Pond), I've got a lot of chairs and tables that we'll have up there."

The Mankato event, for now, is on the smaller side, but the event and venue have several built-in advantages, the kind Braam said will help it grow.

One advantage is parking. No one has to pay for parking at Bend of the River, and the walk from even the farthest spot from the stage is a mere five minutes. Another advantage is the built-in audience. While most of the attendees are older than 22, 30% of it is college students — a nice base to build on for an event planner.

But Braam said that while the college crowd is definitely part of the equation, it is not the target demographic. Bend of the River Festival, he said, is designed as a community event.

"I didn't want to go up to MSU and do a college party. The reason why we chose MSU was just the venue," he said. "You know that big Blakeslee Field — someday we could grow that into 10,000 or 12,000 people really easily."

In addition to being an event, Bend of the River is also a fundraiser for MSU as well as area K-12 schools.

Schools participate by selling event tickets. For each ticket sold, a portion of the proceeds will go right back to the school. Last year nearly $60,000 was raised for schools.

"Every single penny that came into the event last year went out. Myself, Mike Drummer and Robyn James, we didn't make any money and we didn't take any money for wages," Braam said. "It all went right back to the community."

Added Drummer, "The fact that we made a few dollars last year in a festival's first year, that's outstanding. And this year with 38 Special, tickets seem to be going even better."

Ticket sales for the event so far have been brisk; as of midweek, they'd already surpassed 4,000 sold. All $83 VIP tickets — which allow close access to the stage, private bar and restrooms, free snacks and two free drinks — are sold out. General admission tickets can be purchased online or at the gate on the day of the event.