Throughout summer break, students, at Blake and other schools, take part in many fun outdoor activities. Many students attended outdoor music festivals, a common topic of conversation during the warm summer days. In Minnesota alone, there were many music festivals that were popular in the Blake community. Soundset, Rock The Garden, Cultivate, Basilica Block Party and We Fest were the biggest festivals held in the state. Many people who attended spoke very highly about the concerts. Lollapalooza, another very popular festival, was held in Chicago, but many fans of the bands from Minnesota made the 8-hour drive to attend. Ellie Ankeny ‘16 said, “I really enjoyed the music by The Weeknd, Alt J, Kid Cudi, and Glass Animals.”
Cultivate Festival, held in Loring Park, was sponsored by Chipotle. At the festival there were various stations to buy food or items from other sponsors of the festival, such as North Face and Burt’s Bees. Alongside the long lines of stations, Walk The Moon, X Ambassadors, and Atlas Genius performed during the day. Renny Acheson ‘18, a big fan of the performing bands, said, “I really liked how you could see the music but then you could walk around and get food and some free stuff! It felt a lot like all of Minneapolis was there and it was a big community.”
Another great get together music festival was Soundset, held at Canterbury Park. Justin Gainsley ‘18 described his experience at Soundset as “good vibes all the time, good music, fun experience and being with the real world.” Gainsley enjoyed many of the performers, particularly J. Cole, Echosmith, Mat Kearney, and O.A.R.
Sophie Smith ‘17, who attended Basilica Block Party, had an experience like no other: “That day was the first day I cried tears of joy…I heard Fitz and The Tantrums sing ‘Out of My League.’” Because The Basilica Block Party was mainly sponsored by Cities 97 radio station, it attracted many Cities 97 listeners and other fans of the bands.
Rock the Garden, another popular concert in Minneapolis, invited artists such as Modest Mouse and Belle & Sebastian. For the country music lovers out there, We Fest, in Detroit Lakes, had many great artists, including Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.
Although during the winter the music festivals come to a dull halt, remember these amazing festivals in Minnesota for next summer.
