Lakes Area Music Festival Hosts Annual Block Party for Brainerd Community

By Olivia Armstrong

Laughter and music filled the air in downtown Brainerd as the Lakes Area Music Festival held their annual block party this past Wednesday.

“The event that’s going on tonight is a block party, which is kind of a fun community event that anyone can attend. It shows off some of our musicians in a more intimate way,” said flutist Greg Milliren.

“The downtown block party first started with a partnership between the Lakes Area Music Festival and a lot of community organizations who are interested in redevelopment of downtown Brainerd,” said Lakes Area Music Festival artistic director John Taylor Ward. “This is a great opportunity for people, whether they are just walking by or biking by, riding by, to see us out in the community and to see what’s going on over there and maybe discover this organization for the first time.”

By holding the block party, the Lakes Area Music Festival hopes to create an environment for the entire community to enjoy.

“We’re setting up a full string orchestra in the parking lot in downtown Brainerd, where they are going to play pops [music] for all ages in what I hope is going to be a really fun, family-friendly event,” said Ward.

“It just gets community members out and enjoying classical music and some pop music, they do a little bit of everything, and hopefully they’ll be more interested in coming and seeing an opera or a concert,” said volunteer Sue Johnson.

“It’s just come as you are, enjoy yourself, and take in what we’re putting on stage,” said Milliren.

The Lakes Area Music Festival hopes that by providing free experiences such as the block party, they will become a positive force in the Brainerd Lakes Area in years to come.

“We want to create a space that is uplifted through the arts. We think that that has been so important over the past 15 years in the Brainerd Lakes Area that so much of the growth and development that has happened here has been arts-focused and creative. And I think that is something that really serves this community well, not only now, but looking into the future,” said Ward.

The Lakes Area Music Festival is currently preparing to put on a full opera with a performance of Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” on Sunday, August 13 at 2 p.m in Brainerd. More information on the show and other remaining events at this year’s festival can be found on their website.