Rock Bend Folk Festival History

We have Ross Gersten to thank for the Rock Bend Folk Festival. Driving a Wisconsin highway in December 1990, inspiration struck, and he did more than just sit on a good idea. Within a month he'd gathered friends at the Saint Peter Food Co-op to consider the possibilities. Gersten remembers the vision, and the spirit of the group that became founders of the Festival.
"Driving that day, I saw a party where every musician and artist I knew in the Mankato-St. Peter-Kasota area could strut their stuff. My house was way too small for that kind of party, so Minnesota Square Park came immediately to mind. I envisioned a ring of artists' booths around the pavilion. I saw children playing on the playground equipment. I heard music coming from the pavilion. I could smell good food, and see families picnicking throughout the park. It was so real and I was having a great time. Then I remembered I was still driving my car!

"I had two thoughts: 1) This could really be done, and 2) I wasn't going to do it alone! I saw Kris Higginbotham as the festival's 'visual' expert, Ron Arsenault of City Mouse/Lost Walleye Orchestra fame as the music coordinator, Saint Peter leather worker Dawn Devens as craft coordinator, and KGAC-FM station manager John Gaddo as promoter of the festival. Luckily for me, they all said yes. As Ron put it, "What a great committee. Even if we don't get anything done, I still want to come to the meetings."

The group chose Rock Bend as the festival's name shortly thereafter because it connected the festival to Saint Peter history. Steamboat captains in the 1850s had known the bend in the river at Highway 99 as Rock Bend, and Saint Peter itself had carried the name during its first year.

The committee agreed that children's activities should be part of the festival and invited educator and puppeteer Pat Grelson to coordinate those activities. There was consensus among the group that, more than anything else, the festival was for the ENTIRE community --- young and old, rich and poor. It would be a celebration of music and art, a gathering of friends, a time to kick back, enjoy and say good-bye to summer. Art we like. Music we like. People we like. The theme of the festival was simple but important; it asserted that the gathering was a time for people, not for profit or commercialism. Through the years that spirit has endured.

The success of the first festival led naturally to others, made possible by the ever-committed organizers and the generosity of regional businesses and organizations. The Minnesota State Arts Board,Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council and the City of Saint Peter have been major supporters from the beginning, and the Saint Peter Tourism and Visitors Bureau, Save the Kasota Prairie, Inc., and the Carl E. and Verna Schmidt Foundation have also been generous. The Festival has operated on a shoestring through the years, but the fact that it's free has remained important. Time has shown, too, that financial realities have shaped the Festival in unanticipated, positive ways. "We wanted to book nationally-recognized performers," says Higginbotham, "but every year found we couldn't pay the price. Instead we discovered it's exciting to share the energy of regional and emerging musicians. But, as Ron Arsenault says "they're often more genuine and original, "and their spirit has become a part of the festival."

Through the years things have gone well most of the time, but a few persistent stories bring back memories of things that were funnier afterwards. "In 1991 we had to explain constantly that this was not the Rock BAND festival," says Gersten. "We also had power outages, and having overseen one critical supply shortage, I can tell you there is no such thing as having too much toilet paper at a folk festival." Arsenault laughs, "No one will ever forget the time the Wild Goose Chase Cloggers went right through the stage."

Naturally, time brought change. Three of the original organizers, Ross Gersten, Pat Grelson and John Gaddo, moved away by 1995. The tornado slowed life down considerably in 1998, but gathering seemed more important than ever and committee members moved on with a few simple changes, like renaming the North Grove Stage the North Tree Stage. New members brought fresh ideas and welcome energy through the years. Trudi Olmanson, Sally Idso, Margo Ross, Marilee Rickard, John Ganey, Carol Gappa and Tom Holets helped keep the festival going. Within the first ten years, the Rock Bend Folk Festival had brought 109 groups and individual performers to Saint Peter. It's become an event that marks the change of seasons, welcomes Gustavus students back to the community, and creates an opportunity for each of us to step out of the ordinary, into a place where friends and music are all that matters.

Our thanks to Nancy Jordet of Envision for writing this history (Nancy has supported Kris Higginbotham for 10 years as she gave the Festival its' look) and to Ross Gersten for e-mailing us his recollections...You say it's your birthday? Well, Happy Birthday to you!

The Year 2000 Committee Members

In front of the Pavilion Stage from left to right: Dawn Devens, Ron Arsenault, Margo Ross, Ross Gersten (Founder), Carol Gappa, John Ganey, Trudi Olmanson, Kris Higginbotham, & Marilee Rickard.

- Past Performer List -