Organizers

pleased with fest

Attendance

figures look

good, Berg says

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Another day of mild weather drew the crowds to the final day of the 26th annual Heritagefest.

Festival officials say 2000 may be a record-breaking year for them.

"Saturday was an all-time record high for the second weekend since we have gone to two weekends, " Executive Director Leo Berg said. "That is in terms of sales. Actual attendance won't be known for a few days yet. I am very pleased with the way things went this year."

Officials always wonder if they are doing the right thing by having the festival in July because the weather can be so strange. When the weather is good, the event does well, Berg said.

"Today was the biggest crowd we have ever have for a parade," he said. "We had a big early crowd, and many of them are staying around for other events. Last year was a record year in history, but we will exceed last year."

A nice surprise for this year's festival was the appearance of the Boellerschutzen from Germany, who performed various black powder demonstrations throughout the weekend.

"We have never had a group like that here before and it worked well for us," Berg said. "They made a lot of noise and drew a lot of attention."

Parade watchers lined up as many as five deep along the entire length of the route. Many local businesses and organizations were represented in the parade, as well as groups from Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Many of the Heritagefest bands also participated. Members of the New Ulm square dance club, Twist and Twirl performed a square dance along the entire parade route.

During the parade, candidates for federal and state offices greeted the crowd and handed out stickers and literature. Whether it was Senator Rod Grams driving a tractor, Rep. David Minge running, or all three District 23 legislators riding in a Jeep, election-year campaigning was evident.

"We try to limit the political entries at the parade to one unit per party, and they are usually pretty good about staying within their limits," Berg said.

A Sunday highlight was a performance of the Minnesota Traditional Morris Dancers.

It was a celebration of a different sort for Albert and JoAnne Wright from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, who came to New Ulm just to attend Heritagefest. It was Albert's 80th birthday.

"We decided to do something unique and different for his birthday this year," JoAnne said. "We were originally going to visit St. Paul, but we saw this advertised and decided to come here. Neither one of us is German, but it looked like fun. It is a really great event for such a small town."

The festival weekend ended with a grand finale at the grandstand, where the anthems from Austria, Germany, Slovenia and the United States were sung.

"It is always a nice ceremony," Berg said. "Europeans don't normally do these things and this gives them a chance to see our patriotism, which many of them can sense. We give all band members a flag to take home."