Audiences warm to Heritagefest

Swell weather swells crowds

By CHANCE PRIGGE

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The second day of Heritagefest kicked off Saturday, with warm weather in the 80's under a clear sky.

"Beautiful weather brings out the people," Heritagefest Executive Director Kathleen Backer said.

Backer said there were no serious concerns about the weather, especially after last year's festivities took place in the 90's.

"That was tough," she said.

The crowd didn't seem too concerned about the weather either, as a large number of people again filled the festgrounds.

"There are people everywhere," Backer said. "Saturdays are always the busiest."

The attendance number at Friday's Heritagefest was not in as of Saturday.

"Certainly it was a good crowd," Backer said.

Saturday nights typically lean toward the more adventurous crowd, Backer said.

"The later we get into the evenings we get a younger crowd," Backer said, "particularly on Saturday nights."

The Saturday night crowd, she said, comes together with the New Odyssey and Concord Singers performances.

This year, the fest is looking to find more activities for the youth and young at heart, Backer said.

A stroll by the Wintergarten Variety Tent Saturday proved that target group was being reached.

The tent featured alternating shows by Professor Foolzum and Tuey Wilson.

Wilson, of Faribault, Minn., is a professional juggler, who goes for awe and humor in his shows.

One of his tricks had him performing 11 acts at once. He stood on one leg atop a stool, a ring swinging on his other leg. On his head was a placer that held a roll of unwinding toilet paper, and on the placer spun a ball. In his mouth was another placer that also spun a ball, in addition to a kazoo and a noisemaker he blew into. On his right arm spun two rings, one spinning clockwise and one counterclockwise. His right hand juggled two rings.

For his finale, Wilson stood on a small free-standing ladder with a spinning three-pronged beanie, each end set on fire, while he juggled three lit torches.

Professor Foolzum, the alter ego of Bob Fessmann, did traditional magic tricks with an emphasis on humor.

"Magic runs in the family," he said at the show's beginning. "When I was 3, my father disappeared."

He did tricks such as the disappearing wand, the color-changing handkerchief, the disappearing rope knots and the needle through the balloon.

This is Fessmann's 21st year at Heritagefest.

"I like the whole setup," he said. "It's a quaint town. It's a clean town. It's a friendly town."

Fessmann, who's done magic for about 45 years, does most of his work in Wisconsin. He's from Winneconne, Wis.

"They're fun crowds," Fessmann said of the many children and adults who watched him. "A lot of times you don't find that. I get a lot of repeat crowds."

Fessmann used to do a stage act before doing smaller magic shows.

"It got to be just too much lugging around," he said.

Fessmann said he continues doing shows because it's like a hobby he doesn't want to give up.

"I want to keep going as long as I can," he said.

Another popular attraction, though not quite so with the kids, is the Schell's Beer Tasting Tent.

The tent had hourly shows from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, with crowds averaging 40 to 50 people.

The tent offers free samples of five Schell's beers: four specialty and one seasonal. Tom Kaehler, quality control manager at Schell's Brewery, spoke about Schell's and the beers during the demonstrations.

"It's not your typical American beers," Kaehler said.

The tent is there to bring Schell's to the people, seeing as how summers are busier for tours and this may damper down the tour crowds, though some people become interested in tours after first tasting the beers, Kaehler said.

He said people from overseas have told him that the beers taste like those from Europe.

People on the tours generally ask about the beers' alcohol content, how they're made and how far they're distributed, Kaehler said.

He said the daytime visitors are a little tamer than those later in the afternoon. Crowds, however, are well behaved.

"They generally don't abuse this," Kaehler said. "It's a pretty nice crowd."

Kaehler said he doesn't see the same people come to the tent for every hour's tasting but does see annual returns.

"Next weekend I guarantee you'll see a couple from Nebraska here," he said.

Today's Heritagefest concludes the activities until Friday. A parade will go through the festgrounds today at noon. Tuba Mania will take place at place at 2:30 p.m. in the Eldeweiss Tent.

Heritagefest will run again Friday and end Sunday.

"Our second weekend is usually bigger," Backer said. "And that will hold true if the weather pulls through for us."