(lively music) - Hello and welcome to "Prairie Pulse".

Coming up a little bit later in the show, we'll meet Osage, Minnesota hand weaver, Bruce Engebretson.

But first, our guest joining us now is the general manager of WE Fest, Mark Bjerke.

Mark, thanks for joining us today.

- Thanks for having me.

- Well, as we get started, tell the folks a little bit about yourself.

- Well, I'm a local boy, grew up in Grand Forks and spent most of my time over here in Fargo, Moorhead, Minnesota, Pelican Lake, Detroit Lake.

So not born here, born in Kansas, but raised in North Dakota and Minnesota.

- Well, Mark, WE Fest is coming up in August, but there's a big anniversary.

Tell us about that.

- Well, 40 big years for us.

We started in 1983 and so we have our 40th birthday party this year and it's a big one.

We've been growing last few years and this is gonna be a great show for us.

- So what are the dates in August and what are you doing to mark the 40th?

- Well, the dates for We Fest are the third through the fifth, which is Thursday through Saturday, but we are having a birthday party on Wednesday with a band called Cheat Codes and that'll be up on our barn stage and that'll be our kickoff birthday party on Wednesday.

- Okay.

Do you have a theme this year or?

- Well, our theme is the '80s.

You know, we started in 1983, so we do have a camping contest and our theme is the '80s.

So if a person does get a chance to get out to WE Fest and run around the campgrounds a little bit, you'll see a lot of '80s themes.

I'm sure that's big hair.

- Well you say '80s, so let's go to that.

Talk about the history of WE Fest.

How was it founded?

Who founded it?

And how's it been going?

- Well, it was founded in 1983 by Jeff Krueger, he was a local boy to Detroit Lakes.

Couple years later, he brought in some partners.

And in 1985, the Mithun family also bought all the property, which was Soo Pass, it was a dude ranch, a horse riding ranch.

And that continued that way till about 2010.

And then Rand bought out the other partners and then it was sold again in 2014 to Town Square, then sold again in 2019 to Live Nation, and then the Mithun family picked up the majority share.

And so now it's locally owned, both the festival and the property are owned by the Mithun family with a minor partner of Live Nation.

- Of course, the last time it was, well, I shouldn't say that, in 2020 there was a thought or at least rumored of moving it.

Was there ever a lot of truth to that or?

- There was actually zero truth to that.

It was 2019, it was sold and that sale happened at the 2019 show.

And to plan a show of this size is not a 12 month, it's a 18 month minimum.

And so there wasn't a show planned for 2020.

So I know a lot of other shows didn't have a show that year 'cause of COVID.

We didn't have a show, because we just weren't able to plan one.

So our first show back was 2021.

And yeah, so we're under new management from 2021 through now.

- Okay, well good.

Let's talk about this year, I guess.

What are some of the acts that are playing this year?

- Well, our big one is Morgan Wallen.

He's kind of the big get, obviously, Kane Brown also is really packing him in, and then Brad Paisley, obviously our support acts too with Brothers Osborne, Travis Tritt, and many others, of course.

- Yeah.

Well of course, Morgan Wallen had some issues with his voice I understand lately.

Have you been in contact.

What's the chance that he may not show up?

Will he be able to?

- Well, we think the chances of him not showing up are almost zero.

He's back performing, he's announced his dates now, That will be before WE Fest.

So he'll be up on stage before he gets to WE Fest, so he'll get a chance to warm that thing back up and give us a great chill.

- Okay, but I was gonna ask, what would you do if he was unable to make it?

Do you have a plan at all?

Contingency plan?

- Well, no and yes, the answer is both.

And the contingency plan is whatever happens, usually, you know, our booking agents will take care of that.

You know, I noticed Jason Aldean stepped up for a couple of shows and I know that Luke Combs stepped up for a couple of shows.

So we would expect to certainly have another headliner of that magnitude.

But right now we're not planning on anything different.

In fact, we're communicating with Morgan's camp on a daily basis on making sure we have everything just right for him.

- So what is the ticketing situation for this year like with the 40th anniversary with all the acts you've mentioned?

- Well, we are sold out of all of our premium spots, so any reserve seats, VIP seats, reserve lawn seats, all of our electrical sites are sold out, we do have a few campsite in a few of our campgrounds left and then we'll open up some more, we have plenty of room to open up more, and now we're at general admission tickets, so if somebody still wants to come to the show, they can get a general admission seat and general camping and still have a good time.

- Well, you know, you talk about Soo Pass Ranch, you know, how has it grown over the years and why is that a great venue to have something like this?

- Well, one thing that makes it unique was it was a dude ranch, so it was a horse riding ranch, so I already had that western theme to it, all the buildings were Western, but it's a natural bowl.

If anybody's ever been out there, they'll know that it's actually the whole venue is naturally curved towards the stage.

So our topography is great for a concert of this size.

We can handle up to 50,000 people and they all have a great seat and great sound.

- Yeah.

And I understand something new this year, a glamping village?

- Yes.

- Can you tell us about that?

- Sure, sure.

Well, because we've been sold out of quite a bit of our camping and all the hotels in the area are booked up and resorts, so we partner with a company called Homma, and they will come in and set up a glamping village.

And so it's high-end tents with actual beds and night tables and nightstands and lamps and heating and air conditioning, whatever it calls for based on the weather, with a little community area.

So it's all set up.

You just buy your ticket and you come in and bring your sleeping bag and you're ready to go.

- Okay, so it's basically, well, a tent, but a little more glamorous.

- Very, very glamorous.

Like I say, it's actual beds, you know, mattress, beds, off the ground, and lighting and everything, so yeah.

- I understand last year, you identified tickets and WiFi issues were some of the biggest issues for your attendees.

How have you addressed those?

- Well, the ticketing we brought in-house, so that we addressed actually right away last year when we saw that there was an issue and we brought it back in-house and now we're ahead of schedule.

So everybody should be receiving their tickets here shortly.

And the other area was WiFi.

We went to a RFID system, which is a radio frequency identification, which also they can tie their payment to, so they can tie credit card or they can load cash on there and for payment for food and beverages on-site.

And last year, the WiFi company we had didn't quite have the capacity that we really needed, so we've addressed that and we've actually installing our own WiFi system throughout the entire property.

So we shouldn't have any issues with that this year.

- Yeah.

- Well, I mean, over the years, I mean obviously while the venue itself is still the same, the stage has changed, you know, things have changed, so what's been the biggest improvements, do you think, over the years?

- Well, in the most recent years, the stage, because it was all wood and costing us quite a bit of time, energy, and money just to keep it, you know, up to par for our acts.

So we took the whole thing out and made the whole thing concrete.

So it's solid, it's not going anywhere, it doesn't need any maintenance.

The artists like that because it is solid, it's not, you know, giving and bouncing.

And then we also were adding a prancing pony this year.

We took down that building, that's our backstage bar, and the lower level will be for artists hospitality and the second floor will be for sponsors.

We also took down all of our dressing rooms last year.

This year we'll be using some portables for temporary, but then we'll build all new dressing rooms and offices backstage for next year.

So we're doing lots of improvements every year.

We have quite a few capital improvements that we plan out over the next few years.

Again, having the owner that owns the property and the festival, now we look at things long-term instead of, you know, bale twine and bubble gum to get through four days.

Now we're looking at, well, how about next year and the year after and what's our return on investment, so.

- Well, which leads me to say the future sounds bright for WE Fest staying in Detroit Lakes area and at Soo Ranch.

- We're not going anywhere.

Again, the festival and the grounds are all owned by the same family and we plan on staying there for a long time and we're making improvements.

We added another 150 electrical sites this year.

So we're constantly improving.

So yeah, we're not gonna pick up and go anywhere soon.

- Well, what's the country club at WE Fest.

- Well that is our general admission upgrade to a VIP experience.

So it's a tent that sits right in front of the stage to the side, we have an outdoor patio, so there's viewing, so it has a private bar inside with some discounted drinks and there's some specials that go along with that.

We have some live entertainment in there.

But it's basically our VIP tent for our general admission customers.

So it's a little upgrade they can get to have that extra service.

- Yeah.

You know, what makes WE Fest so special?

Well, in your opinion, I guess.

Yeah, but what does make it so special?

- I get asked that a lot and, you know, there's a lot of other festivals that have camping and stages and artists and all those things, but there is something about WE Fest, there's a vibe that goes along with WE Fest that I've worked for other festivals as a consultant and just, it's really hard to duplicate that.

It's like a family reunion.

A lot of people come year after year after year.

We have people that have been coming for 40 years and, you know, when you have that, your employees and your staff and your attendees are all coming year after year, it becomes a little bit of a different experience than just coming for a concert.

- Yeah.

I understand you have different campgrounds.

Can maybe you, you know, of course, can you describe sort of what you have for people that might not know about it?

- Sure, sure.

We have Lake Sallie and Northwoods are our two campgrounds that we have for our little more mature audiences let's say.

And then we have Viking and Blue Ox, which is a little bit more the younger crowd.

And then Oatfield is kind of in the middle there, and then of course the VIP experience, which is right behind the stage and the ground's right behind that area.

So, you know, we have different levels.

I mean, you ask two different people and they're gonna give you two different answers on what their experience at WE Fest was.

One could maybe be a general admission customer that's staying in a hotel and coming in for the day, another one might be a VIP customer staying on-site and has VIP seats and they both have the great experience, but different experiences.

- Different perspectives and yeah.

'Cause, you know, I was gonna say, what's the reason they keep coming, but you mentioned it, it's sort of you make new friends, you do things, and I guess it's self-explanatory in some ways.

But, you know, is it mostly country music festival or do you have other performers that might not fit in the country music genre?

- We have over the past had some non-country.

We had Ringo Star, you know, we've had a few other ones that were, you know, Jerry Lee Lewis, and, you know, Ray Charles.

So we've had a few that were not country but kind of fit in.

Kid Rock was a big hit several years ago and we've had 'em back, but we mainly focus on country music and we're trying to mix some of the new with the old so that we cover both those audiences.

- Well obviously since 1983, country music's maybe changed a little bit also.

- Yeah, right.

It's not the Johnny Cash anymore, standing up there playing a guitar and singing, now it's a full band.

They sound like a rock and roll band, so yeah.

- Okay.

Can you talk about maybe the first year you ever went?

Do you remember that?

- I sure do remember that.

It was 1989 and I camped in a tent in Viking.

I was in my twenties and came with a couple of buddies and we came year after year, that's when I got the bug.

And two years later, we came back with a motor home though.

So we learned to upgrade quickly.

- Well, as you mentioned that, of course, there are different ways to do it.

I mean, you could drive from wherever you live back and forth, you could get a motel, you could get a campsite.

What's the best way to have the WE Fest experience in your opinion?

- Well, I've attended hundreds of festivals and stayed in a camper and I think that's the best way to go.

You stay on-site, you don't have to drive anywhere, you get the best of everything that the festival has to offer with food and drink and comradery, and you get to know those people around you that are camping and that's really that same thing with WE Fest is, you know, you get the same people camping next to each other year after year and you get to be good friends even though you might only see each other once a year.

- Well, yeah, it seems like the biggest names have played WE Fest over the years, you mentioned Johnny Cash and some others as you've already mentioned.

How do you get people like this?

What does it take?

What's the lure?

- Well, the lure is certainly what we're paying them, but also it goes along with the venue.

You know, WE Fest has a great reputation around Nashville and in country music as the big stage, playing WE Fest.

So we start about 18 months out or more looking for artists for 18 months out.

And, you know, it's all about routing and who's touring and where they're gonna be and where's their equipment gonna be.

So it's not just as easy as, "Well, how come you don't get this guy or this gal?"

Well, they might not be touring or they might be touring, but they're in Florida when we need 'em in Minnesota.

So there's a lot that goes into it and I thank goodness we have a great owner and good partners that can figure that stuff out.

- What do the artists say about Detroit Lakes, Minnesota?

I mean, sort of an out of the way place.

- It is, but it's a beautiful country.

You know, there's not a lot of other festival grounds that are surrounded by lakes and hills like we are.

Detroit Lakes Airport just improved and increased their runway, so now these artists can fly right in and out of there.

You know, whether they're flying into Chicago or flying into Detroit Lakes, I don't know that it matters much to them.

- Yeah.

Can you talk about, you know, maybe how many paid staff you have and then the volunteers that you need to make all this happen?

- Sure, yeah.

You know, I get asked that quite a bit too.

You know, "When do you start with WE Fest?

A couple of months out?"

Well no, 365 days a year, we're working on our festival.

We have about 10 full-time staff and then we have a bunch of contracted people.

So, you know, our camping managers, those would be contracted.

And then of course, we bring in the staff for the show and we like to hire between, you know, 800 and 1,200 people.

And then we also have volunteer groups that we do work with.

So, you know, a local soccer team or football team would come in and earn some money for their organization.

- You know, how many people are in attendance on a given year?

- Well, back in the 2014, 15, 16, it was north of 40,000.

When we took the show back over, you know, we were up in the mid-twenties and we'll be in the mid-thirties and maybe flirting with 40 here either this year or next year.

- Well, you know, what about security?

I mean, you got 30, 40,000 people and what's security like?

- Well, with everything, you know, we're basically putting together and taking down a city of 30,000 people in a week.

So our security measures, we work not only with Live Nation, our partner, but we've had security measures in place for years and years.

So we have a security director that runs all of our security companies that we work with on-site.

So, you know, we take it all very seriously and, you know, we're not a police state, but we wanna make sure everybody's safe and secure and having a good time.

- Yeah, you talked about, well, the question was gonna be when do you start for next year in 2024?

You've kind of already answered that, you already started.

But when you talk to acts, I mean, a year and a half out, how does a performer know in 18 months, I'm gonna be in Detroit Lakes and when do you finally, I guess, sign the contract that they're on-site and when do you announce?

- Yeah, yeah.

Well we kind of like to get to the artists before they make it really big, first of all, for our support acts.

But when we get those big acts, you know, some of 'em haven't announced necessarily a tour yet.

But when they're planning a tour, if they're planning a tour for 2024, they're already planning that well into 2023, because again, there's a lot of logistics and venues.

So, you know, when we're 18 months out, we're not really early, we're right on top of it at 18 months out.

- Yeah.

Now you call it a three day event with performers, but really there's more going on the week, I guess, you talk about the birthday bash and things, but let's just stay with, I guess, this year, you said the third, fourth and fifth, what's the day like, when does it start, and when does it end typically?

- Well, Wednesday is gonna be our birthday.

- No, but I mean, as far as the performers is what I was asking, yeah.

- Oh, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, they hit the main stage.

So Wednesday will be our Cheat Codes up on our barn stage.

We have two stages up on our... We have a barn stage and a main stage.

And so all of our artists for the main stage will start on Thursday.

Our gates open at two o'clock and the first act goes on at 2:30.

- So the first act starts at 2:30.

How many acts do you have a day?

- Boy, six or seven acts a day.

- [John] Yeah, wow.

- But then we're also running multiple stages.

So I've got the country club, we've got the barn stage, so we got music playing all over the place.

- And of course, the headliner I guess is usually the last act of the night.

What time do people wind down?

- About 10:30, they go on stage and they play till midnight or shortly after that.

And then we have music that continues on the barn stage.

So we go till about two o'clock in the morning every day.

- Wow.

Well, so it's a full three days of activities.

And again, what would you tell somebody who's interested in WE Fest, that doesn't know about it, 'cause obviously people know about it, don't need to hear about it, but what would you tell somebody who might be wanting to go?

What would you say?

- Well, certainly go to wefest.com, that has all the information, we've gotta frequently asked questions area, but, you know, if you wanna experience WE Fest, buy yourself a GA ticket and a general campsite, and go to Walmart and buy a tent, and come out and for four days and have a great time.

- Well, even at general admission, you've got big screens up there too, so.

- Yeah, yeah.

And repeaters for the sound.

So the sound in the site is just as good when you're right in front of the stage as you are in the back of the venue.

You know, you can see what's going on and, you know, you might not be having your hands on the stage, but the sound in the back is just as good as it is in the front.

- Yeah.

So sounds like WE Fest is a great fun activity and we wish you the best this year.

- [Mark] Great, thank you.

- All right, thanks for joining us today.

Stay tuned for more.

(relaxing music) Bruce Engebretson of Osage, Minnesota is a hand weaver who has spent more than 30 years learning his craft and preserving the weaving techniques of the past.

(birds chirp) (loom whirs) - My name is Bruce Engebretson and I think the best way to say what I call myself is what I don't call myself, but what everyone wants to call me, and that's master weaver.

I am not a master weaver.

I'm Bruce Engebretson, a hand weaver.

(calm music) The fiber guilds in America have done some marvelous stuff, but that's not the tradition I came from.

I come out of the ethnic tradition of Northern Europe, Sweden, Norway, Finland, working people and women who were artistic, but they never considered themselves to be "fiber artists".

Those were the people who influenced me most.

I use floor looms that are pre-industrial and they're made for making fabric, for material.

Saving old looms is not easy.

A lot of people want something new, they want something smaller.

It's an undertaking to try and find use for these.

And I love looking at them.

There's a lot to learn even from little things, bits and pieces of old looms.

I encourage people, if you're out there, realize these looms are really well-made machines.

I have a loom here that we know a lot about.

That loom was built by Bendik Braseth for Tia Strand in Ulen, Minnesota in the 1890s.

We have a lot of stuff that she wove on that loom.

This piece is taken from the pattern that was woven on this loom by Tia Strand.

She wove all that carpeting.

So that's what I liked to do, was to copy old stuff.

(bright music) One of the things I appreciate most about these old looms is how well they work.

These people had results in mind, they were result oriented, and they wanted something that worked well.

These pre-industrial looms work in this way, there's two sets of threads, one set is going one direction, they're horizontal and there would be the long way, and then you wind them around and around a beam.

And so you'll have these many yards on the loom, that's the warp.

And all those threads, like let's say 400 threads, all have to be kept in order and not tangled.

Each thread goes through an eye.

And in a certain order, those eyes are on pulleys and pedals.

So each set of threads will go, you know what, you go under, over, under, over, that's weaving.

Well, half of the threads will be on one set of pedals and pulleys and the other half on the other.

So you don't have to go under, over, under, over, you push your foot down and they go like that.

And then you hear the warp and the weft.

Well then the weft comes in, it goes on a shuttle, and the shuttle carries the other threads across.

And that's the basics.

That'll get you a start if you understand that.

(bright music) I dislike the word "just" when it's used in a way that would be dismissive.

Like, "I just do this."

Really nobody just does anything.

Think about cooking or baking or shopping.

"I just do this."

Not really.

And the same with this work.

You have to have good materials, has to be washed well, has to be prepared well, and then it has to be spun well, and it has to be woven well.

Every step of the way is really important in this and everything.

The craftsman versus the artist is interesting to me.

There's different categories I work in.

The one category is tapestry.

And in that, it's an idea, a feeling, expressing something artistically.

Then I have the craftsman side of me, which I like to make things that are functional and it depends on what kind of materials are at hand.

If I run into a place where I can find some wool to weave with, I'll use that.

If I've spun something and I have something left over or I decide I wanna make a blanket, I'll work on that.

(calm music) Working with fiber and with wool has been a great thing for me.

The history and the beauty of it has been really, really a blessing to me, something I can share with people.

People learn, they enjoy, they can say they've done something, they can see how things were at a different time.

I think one of the things I cherish the very most is the teachers I've had, the transmission, that to me is something I wouldn't be without.

There's the ethnic tradition, which I have and I'm so happy for that, and there's the family tradition, which I think people need to cherish and I think that people don't realize quite how important that is.

I don't care if it's making jelly or hunting or weaving, cherish that, really.

Think about the family tradition.

Transmission to me is really something to cherish.

- Well, that's all we have on "Prairie Post" for this week.

And as always, thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) - [Voiceover] Funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008, and by the members of Prairie Public.