Officials pleased with fest's run

Final assessment

of fest's success

to be known

in weeks

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Heritagefest organizers said they are hopeful that this year's version of the festival was a success in many ways.

Plagued in the recent past by heat humidity, the annual celebration of all things German steadily lost money over the past two years.

All six days of the 29th annual festival saw cool weather, clear skies and plenty of people from around the region. That's what organizers were praying for and that's what they got.

"I think it went pretty darn well," said Kathleen Backer, executive director of Heritagefest. "Overall, it met my expectations if not exceeded them."

Backer said she is cautiously optimistic that the 2003 version will land in the black. Preliminary figures show the festival is on target with its budget, but not all the returns are in yet.

The members of the board of Heritagefest, Inc., are going to start planning next year's bash in the weeks to come, Backer said. And that planning is going to involve lots of analysis to figure out what worked this year and what didn't.

During performances in the fest grounds, members of Gutzgauch once again found themselves explaining the world of the hurdy-gurdy to curious onlookers. The instrument, which is played by turning a crank with one arm and pressing keys with the other hand, factored heavily into the northern German folk group's sound.

City and Heritagefest officials recognized each of the European performers who played at the festival. Mayor Joel Albrecht, Heritagefest President Hugh Nierengarten and Board Member Dick Seeboth took a few minutes later Sunday afternoon to recognize Die Fuenf Lustigen Sechs with pens, coffee mugs and beer glasses. The band, in turn, gave Albrecht a framed photo, which the mayor said will hang in City Hall.

"This is a true cultural exchange experience. We don't just put them in a hotel and let them sit," said Seeboth. Each of the German and Austrian performers stay with host families throughout their time in New Ulm.

Sunday was the debut day of Mariachi Flor Y Canto, a Mexican dance band from St. Paul's West Side. The group, led by Pedro Torres, quickly started into a long set of Mexican dance tunes that put its two trumpets, three violins and four guitars to use.

The band got an introduction from Kitz Cleary, a New Ulm native who lives in Menomonie, Wis., and teaches Spanish at the University of Minnesota.

"In the past, this festival celebrated German culture," she said in Spanish. "Now, it has expanded to include Latinos."

The Lin Hans Rud Dancers from Hanska also managed to attract a crowd to their demonstration on the Variety Stage. The group locked arms, danced around in circles and politely filed out of the hall, waving "Goodbye" to the audience as they regrouped outside.

Towards the end of the day, the remains of the crowd steadily migrated towards the Rosen tent for the festival's grand finale, in which the Concord Singers, Gutzgauch, Die Fuenf Lustigen Sechs, Original Schwabenmusikanten, Miss New Ulm and the princesses and the Narren linked arms, sang a few familiar tunes and closed the show by singing the national anthems of Austria, Germany and the United States.

Backer said she's heard lots of good things about the air-conditioned Civic Center Fest Halle, particularly from the merchants who set up the gift shop there.

The highlight was the music.

"We worked to find a good variety entertainer for the second weekend," Backer said, referring to Mankato rythm'n'blues group Powerhouse and Grammy-nominated polka rocker Lynn Marie.

She said it will still take a couple weeks to get all the paperwork done. Letters about feedback are going out soon to some sponsors, vendors and entertainers.