Weird things are happening in Red Wing this weekend. There will be rock bands performing in a furniture store, singer/songwriters in an Episcopal church, blues pickers in a bike shop and even a hip-hop group in an Elks lodge.
"We wound up with more venues than we knew what to do with," boasted Sam Brown, founder of the Big Turn Music Fest, a new event taking over the Mississippi River town on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sort of a wintry small-town version of Texas' famed South by Southwest Music Conference — with various bands performing concurrently under different roofs downtown — Big Turn isn't just taking place in the bars and restaurants that already host live music. Frankly, there aren't enough of those in Red Wing to make this thing fly.
A 33-year-old music nut who started a similar festival in Winona, Brown began asking other downtown business owners if they would be interested in hosting live music for one weekend only. One wristband ($40/two-day or $25/one-day) will get attendees into any of the performances, space-permitting.
Even the good folks at Christ Episcopal Church readily agreed to it, he said.
"I think Red Wing was waiting for something like this to happen," Brown said. "It's a good way of bringing people to town during an obviously quieter time of the year, to help the businesses and show off what we have here."
What they have includes the already well known historic Sheldon Theatre and St. James Hotel, both hosting some of the Big Turn showcases.
Red Wing also boasts Oliver's Wine Bar, Staghead Gastropub, Marie's Underground & Tap House, the Barrel House, Liberty's Restaurant & Lounge, 17 Street (the furniture and home goods store), Red Wing Bicycle Co. & Outfitter, Fair Trade Books, Rivertown Comics & Games and the good ol' Elks Lodge #845 — all "venues" listed on the festival's map, each within about a four-block stretch between the river and W. 4th Street.
