Winona and Red Wing music festivals are back on for 2022 with Low, Polica, Haley

Two of the best annual platforms for Minnesota music outside the Twin Cities, Winona's Mid West Music Festival and Red Wing's Big Turn Festival are both gearing up for comebacks in 2022 after being hindered by COVID the past two years.

Mid West Music Fest (MWMF) organizers announced the lineup for their April 29-30 marathon on Tuesday, with familiar names on the list including Poliça, Haley, Bad Bad Hats, Kiss the Tiger, Gully Boys, Graveyard Club, Humbird, Mark Mallman, the Shackletons, Mae Simpson, Early Eyes, 26 Bats! and Faith Boblett. Also featured are buzzing newcomers Durry and Vial and many non-Twin Citians like Sleeping Jesus, Elizabeth Moen and Karate Chop, Silence.

Passes for the two-day bash — spread out along the river in downtown Winona between bars, parking lots and other cool businesses — are now available via midwestmusicfest.org starting at $70 for general admission or $200 for VIP. MWMF organizers are also planning another fun weekend of live music downriver in La Crosse for Sept. 16-17.

As for Big Turn, that's coming up even sooner, Feb. 18-19, but it won't be the usual bar-hopping marathon with a hundred or so performers scattered across a couple dozen venues. Instead, it's being staged in just one venue, Red Wing's grand dame the Sheldon Theatre, with two of Minnesota's biggest rock acts for headliners.

Cloud Cult and Low will perform together for Big Turn on Feb. 19 with Bad Bad Hats opening (all bands that have headlined First Ave in the Cities). That's the opening date in Low's 2022 tour behind its acclaimed album "Hey What," and it will also be one of Cloud Cult's first gigs promoting its new album due in March, "Metamorphosis." The Feb. 18 lineup is also a cool one with Heiruspecs, Annie Mack and Brothers Burn Mountain.

Big Turn tickets are on sale via bigturnfest.com at $100 for a two-night pass, or one-day tickets are $80 for Feb. 19 and $50 for Feb. 18.