Minnesota Festival Support

Compensation was increased this year to be more competitive and attract more artists, musicians, and dancers. A part time support staff position was created to help manage the dance tent, artisan marketplace, and volunteer coordination. A new performance area, the Literary Corner, was created that presented 10 Minnesota poets and authors. In the Children’s tent, an author and musician coordinated interactive music and dance participation activities for families. The River Stage hosted exclusively Minnesota artists on Saturday and Sunday of the event. More Minnesota acts were able to perform, including Locklin Road, O’Rourke’s Feast, McInnis’ Kitchen, St. Dominic’s Trio, Shari Sazarin, and Brian Miller and Randy Gosa. 2: The Irish Fair continues to be a free event, which increases the number of low and middle-income families who have access to the authentic music, dance, and cultural activities. We hired NemerFieger, a public relations firm to increase our exposure to potential audiences. The board and/or our executive director appeared on local news broadcasts on WCCO, KSTP, KSTC, and KARE, and spoke on radio broadcasts at WCCO, KTWN, and KFAI. Articles about the Fair appeared in the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, and City Pages. We implemented a social media outreach plan and increased our exposure to an audience that may be new to us. We contracted with John Cosgrove and VoiceHive, LLC to create a mobile survey app and online survey for Fair attendees to take to give demographic data and feedback. The data collected and discussion with SPPD Commander Dave Korus and Asia Security indicate our audience increased and was potentially at its highest level in the history of the Fair.