Minnesota Festival Support
ACHF Cultural Heritage
The variety and number of Minnesota artists that are presented through festivals increases. Minnesota festivals have greater financial stability and serve broader audiences. The number of Minnesotans who experience the arts through festivals increases. Our initial goal was sixty-five Minnesota artists and we were 8% above that mark. The tools we used were to survey our performers as well as establish an entertainment line-up that aligned with the diversity of the Midtown neighborhood. We increased input from neighborhood stakeholders and partners. In 2011, a major criticism of our event was that it lacked artists of color as well as performers from the neighborhood. One partner in particular, the Cultural Wellness Center, took a main role in ensuring that the 2012 project reflected the cultures and ethnicities that call Midtown home. We also increased the number of stages from two to three to ensure a full day of non-stop entertainment.
The project featured a diverse array of performances, including spoken word, traditional drumming (African, Native American), dance (salsa, stepping, Bollywood, Turkish, belly), and musical acts (jazz, polka/Scandinavian, European café, salsa and country). In comparison, last year's festival featured just jazz performers. More than seventy Minnesota artists participated in the event, twenty more than the previous year. 2: We ended in the black. A key component to serving broader audiences was our aggressive, yet cost-efficient marketing and promotional plan. Without State Arts Board support, we would have had to limit our entertainment offerings and further cut our marketing activities. Our attendees had a great time and received a good entertainment value, which will help us to spread the word about our 2013 project. We increased outreach to the neighborhood as well as advertised in ethnic newspapers. The grant also funded more performers, many of whom came from the neighborhood. Our target audiences included Midtown residents and business owners, Midtown Global Market supporters, Twin Cities jazz fans, urban tourists, and performers' fans, families and friends--all of whom traditionally find it beneficial to attend outdoor music. Featuring neighborhood-based performers and increasing community outreach helped us to increase neighborhood attendees from 21% of the audience last year to 30% of the audience this year.
Other, local or private