Fest aims to augment traditionYouth Day today

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The Heritagefest that opens today isn't the same one that opened to a different crowd 30 years earlier.

Because its core audience is decreasing, the annual festival seeks to attract a different group of people in addition to the traditional Heritagefest-goer, said executive director Kathleen Backer.

Today's Youth Day is one way Heritagefest is making an effort to find its new crowd.

The day is aimed at teenagers and will feature a by-one-get-one-free admission at an already-reduced rate. Heritagefest is also offering karaoke and a jaeger schutzen, in which participants shoot paintballs at targets, new foods on its menu and the band, Mankato-based 69 Cents, in its lineup.

"We're not loosing sight of (tradition). We have a good traditional program. We're trying to enhance it," Backer said. "The old Heritagefest is still here."

A look at the festival's schedule shows that many of Heritagefest's longtime stalwarts like Don Klossner, the Wendinger Brothers, the Concord Singers and New Odyssey are on this year's bill along with a few acts from Germany.

Youth Day is, in fact, one of a few new things about Heritagefest this year. In addition to the sauerkraut wrestling, Heritagefest will host a Red Hat Society Day for all the Red Hat Ladies that might be in town.

New Ulm's largest chicken dance competition is a new addition, along with the European auto rally and an appearance by Bob Wootton, the former Johnny Cash lead guitarist who played twice at Turner Hall this spring.

Another thing that's changed at Heritagefest is the level of sponsorship. In the past, the festival's sponsors weren't even mentioned on its brochures, Backer said. Heritagefest now has the support of the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce and the New Ulm Business and Retail Association. Backer said one upcoming challenge is to replace those sponsors in the years to come.

"We realized it was also time to add new attractions," Backer said. "The traditional audience is shrinking and replacing it with a new vitality is vital to our future. People expect a different thing than they did 30 years ago."