Organizers prepare for inaugural Shakopee River Valley Festival

Shakopee Valley News

Most people don't know the ins and outs of festival planning — not that they should. After all, most people won't get an opportunity to run a festival in their lifetimes.

But for those who will, it's a logistical nightmare. From start to finish, minute details need to be explicitly outlined. A location needs to be rented, stages built, bands booked, permits paid, insurance documented, bathrooms stocked, volunteers found and so on and so forth.

Shakopee River Valley Festival is finally nearing the end of this ordeal. In a mere few weeks, the inaugural Shakopee River Valley Festival will be held in Huber Park on Sept. 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The festival might not have been this year at all if it weren't for the people and business who put in money and effort towards making it happen, Shakopee River Valley Festival President Joy Newgard said.

"Honestly, that has been on our side for this whole thing because it would have cost us so much money we wouldn't be able to be up and running this year without all of the people that have donated their time toward getting this together," Newgard said.

For some examples, IncREDible Graphics designed the logo. Collective Enterprises is hosting the festival's website. Mike Lindell, inventor and CEO of MyPillow, funded the applications to the IRS and the State of Minnesota. R. Menden Accounting is handling the finances, and those are just to name a few.

The festival was formed after the cancellation of Derby Days — the organization's president was charged with misusing a festival credit card. Newgard, who had helped fundraise for Derby Days, announced she would organize a new festival shortly after the board for Derby Days dissolved.

Residents expecting a replica of Derby Days should rethink, but still give Shakopee River Valley Festival a chance, Newgard said. The event will be one day and there won't be a parade.

"Some people, they're going to ponder, 'wow, this isn't what we thought it was going to be, because there's not more events' but what they have to understand is this is our first year," Newgard said.

This year's festival will feature a karaoke contest, people dressed up as Disney characters, a dance group, the Tommie Gun Band, games, prizes, races and more. There will also be food trucks including Asian Invasian, Vesuvious, Sandy's Italian Grill and Italian Ice, Pharroah's Gyros, Big Bell Ice Cream, Roland's BBQ, Olson Popcorn and the VFW will be selling beer.

Starting out smaller for the first year is a responsible thing to do, City Councilor Matt Lehman said. Lehman was the official city liaison for Derby Days and agreed to help Newgard out with the Shakopee River Valley Festival.

"I know that the public's perception might be that they want a lot of other things — fireworks would be nice, a parade would be nice, there are a lot of things that would be nice," Lehman said. "I think they're making a smart decision to try and manage something smaller better than to go real big and fail."

Having more events creates a chain effect of necessities — more volunteers, more resources, more funding, more logistics.

Newgard said she is still looking for volunteers, not only for this year's festival but festivals in the future.

"Let's say we have somebody who really badly wants a car show," Newgard said. "I will ask that person, 'well, are you willing to coordinate it? Put it together? Maybe do a little fundraising for it?' We really have to get local people who are willing to throw in a couple of hours of their time here and there to help with this, otherwise, it just can't run."

The Shakopee River Valley Festival is continuing a longstanding tradition, Lehman said.

"Shakopee, as long as I can remember, has always had something for the community," Lehman said. "Boy, if we are going to keep our history and heritage accurate, somebody has to continue this on, to continue something on. If it's a bunch of smaller organizations doing smaller things here and there, nothing wrong with that."

Though putting together the festival was difficult, Newgard said she wanted to organize it for Shakopee.

"I hope they come down to join in at the festival and check it out and see that we've done our best to get something going for the first year," Newgard said. "I'm doing this for the town."

The festival promotes Shakopee, she said.

"I think it brings really positive things into town," Newgard said. "People can come in and see what the town has to offer."

Residents will also be able to submit input on the day of the event for what they'd like to see in the future for the festival.

"Come down to Shakopee River Valley Festival, enjoy yourself, offer your input and insight for the following year, volunteer to help make it better, make your community better and have a good time," Lehman said.