Fat Ma Rooney and Friends at Fat Fest

Ever since Fat Maw Rooney won their first Cosmic Break contest at 10KLF, they had been thinking about doing their own festival. “We’re trying to follow the same model of getting the pre-parties going and getting a good lineup,” said R.J. Peterson (guitar,vocals). This year Fat Fest will be in its third year and in a new location. Previously, the festival had been in Winona but there were some entanglements regarding permits so the band moved it to the Coffee Mill Ski Resort in Wabasha, Minn. last year.

“We had some pretty big acts come in,” Peterson said. He and his bandmates snagged Oteil and the Peacemakers and String Cheese Incident’s Michael Travis’ and Jason Hann’s side project EOTO. Plus, they brought in a slew of regional bands that had played10KLF and were touring the Upper Midwest. “We’re looking to do something just as big this year,” he stated.

And I think they are going to pull that off neatly. This year’s festival also has EOTO returning, but in the company of Garaj Mahal and Matt Butler’s Everything Orchestra, which will feature RoyEl “Futureman,” the drummer/inventor from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and the keyboardist/flutist Kofi Burbridge of the Derek Trucks Band. Cornmeal, God Johnson, Northwoods Band, Family Groove Company, Hyentyte, Pert Near Sandstone, Unity, and WBPN will be returning. In addition, That 1 Guy will do two sets. The White Iron Ban, Kinetix, Down Lo, Heatbox, Smokin’ Bandits, Hunab, The Feelin, Fancy Bastard, Soap, and Roster McCabe will also be on hand, plus many more, for a total of 33 unique bands.
There is free parking and free camping on forty beautiful acres in a rolling landscape. Three stages will provide music this year, including the new Downtime Barnacle Stage hosting some hot regional bands.

In addition to music, the festival will have a Bald Eagle Presentation by the National Eagle Center in Wasbasha.
Children will always find some wholesome fun at the Kids Creation Station, including face painting, and Secret Circus will bring their fire dancing, fire breathing, juggling, stiltwalking menagerie for everyone’s enjoyment.

And, of course, there is always the Pirate Olympics, a series of good-natured competitive pirate games designed to get physical and have a few laughs. Be prepared to Light the Olympic Torch, Capture the Pirate Flag, participate in the Treasure Trail Hunt, run the Pirate Obstacle Course, or cut down the landlubbing scalawags with a Water Balloon Cannon. There will also be a pirate joke contest and a pirate costume contest.

New this year is Tarp World, two covered tents with pillows, comfy chairs, mood rugs, and tapestries to help festivalgoers relax. Aroma therapy candles, groovy music, and projection screens add to the atmosphere. There may also be a massage therapist available.

The move to the Coffee Mill Resort has been a good thing both for the festival as well as for the local community. “It was a success last year,” Peterson said. “Wabasha county really went wild. They were kind of nervous, as you would expect. They had not really done anything like this before. We had 28 bands, and it was a 3-day festival on the Fourth of July weekend.” But there is a different crowd during a major holiday than one at another time of year.

“It’s about creating a scene, a good environment,” Peterson said. “We had no injuries. I don’t think we had any arrests. We had the Chief of Police at our festival doing food vending. I was kind of nervous about it…he said that he had never seen that many people in one place and had so little a problem! It was a wonderful thing for me to hear.”

That, Peterson thinks, is due to Minnesota nice. “If you think of the festivals in the Midwest, the people generally will look out for each other. It’s a very good environment…The festivals we’ve been to down South have a different feeling…A lot of people know each other at these regional festivals. There’s a real community there. If someone needs water or they need a hand or something, people are willing to help. That’s what it’s all about. It’s the experience. I’ve had a lot of people just say what a wonderful time they’ve had and that it was the best part of their summer. That just makes it all worthwhile, all the months of planning, all the troubleshooting.”

If you want a few late summer days outdoors with music and a great vibe, come on down to Wabasha, Minn. and check out Fat Fest.

If You Go

What: Fat Fest
Where: Coffee Mill Resort, Wabasha, Minn.
When: August 21-23, 2008
How Much: 3-Day $70 Presale Passes until August 15 all sold out; 3-Day $85 Passes at the gate, $30 Daily admission at the Gate; $60 at Crosstown Lounge in Grand Forks and various other locations in Wis. and Minn. Children 12 and under are free.
Info: (651) 565-5366
Consumer Information: Wabasha is 335 miles from Fargo, north of Winona on the Mississippi. If your car gets 20 miles per gallon, that would be 34 gallons, $100 at $3 per gallon and $140 at $4.00