If you are a music lover summer just got more fun in Grand Marais.
On Tuesday, May 2 the park board granted a special event permit to the Grand Marais Music Collaborative for a three-day music festival that will be held in Harbor Park from July 28 to July 29.
While nothing is set in stone, tentative plans are to have music played from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. A beer garden may also be in the works, and a food vendor, and sales of memorabilia. But some of that will depend upon whether additional permits are sought and granted by the city.
When the Dragon Boat Festival ended a couple of years ago, said Grant Adams, it left a void in the weekend it occupied. But this new event, said Adams, who represented the Music Collaborative at the park board meeting, “might bring back some of the energy to downtown that has been missing since the days of the Dragon Boat races.”
All of the money raised from the festival will be used to provide music lessons for area youth 14 and up who now can’t afford them, Adams said.
The goal is to create full scholarships for area youth who will be taught by area music instructors in a community setting.
“I wish we had this program when I was growing up here,” Adams added.
As far as the festival itself, Adams said most of the performing musicians will be local, “but some discussion has been had about bringing in one feature act.”
The Music Collaborative will set up the stage used at the Grand Marais Lions’ Fisherman’s Picnic and leave it up for the following weekend’s Fisherman’s Picnic activities. “That will be one less thing for the Lions to do,” said Adams.
Rec Park Director Dave Tersteeg asked Adams – or someone else in the Music Collaborative – to contact area businesses beforehand to give them a “heads up” about the festival. Adams said he would make sure to take care of that.
In other business:
. Tersteeg reported that seasonal staff began work on April 24 and the park is now open seven days a week. “We have several applicants to recommend for hiring to the city council and should be okay for summer help at the park,” Tersteeg said, adding, “The golf course is still seeking outside help.”
. Nordic Electric has begun electrical upgrades to more than 40 camper sites. Based on the low bid, the park board recommended hiring Hunt Electric to do the work but the city council voted to hire Nordic Electric because it is a local company. Nordic Electric also has a strong track record for performing service work in the park when it is needed.
. The Earth Day/Adopt a Beach was a big success with approximately 40 volunteers cleaning the downtown beaches. All told 113 pounds of trash was collected. Tersteeg thanks East Bay Suites, Voyageur Brewing, Northwoods Volunteer Connection, and the Nordic Nature Club for their efforts and contributions to making the day successful.
. The park will really come alive on Tuesday, May 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. when 8th grade science class teachers April Wahlstrom and Susan Nelson bring their classes to help clean up the gardens in Harbor Park.
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