Mason City, Iowa
Music and more will highlight the annual North Iowa Band Festival Thu.-Memorial Day. Each year thousands of visitors congregate downtown and in the surrounding area to watch the largest high school marching band in the Midwest and enjoy concerts and other live music on the main stage. A memorial run, dance, a petting zoo, a marketplace and concessions will also be offered. (tinyurl.com/yydmzkyu).
Lake City, S.D.
Experience frontier history and more during the annual Fort Sisseton Historical Festival May 31-June 2 at Fort Sisseton State Park, about a four-hour drive from the Twin Cities. History buffs and campers will attend re-enactments of cavalry and infantry drills from the 1800s and watch American Indian cultural demonstrations, including Lakota hoop dancing. Other highlights include period games, dancing and music. Also a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition, "The Way We Worked," a look at how work has shaped American culture, is on display through June 26. (tinyurl.com/y4p838wy).
Grand Marais, Minn.
For nature and birding fans, limited space is still available for workshops and guided field trips during the Northern Landscapes Festival May 31-June 2 at North House Folk School. The annual event highlights the North Shore's geology and wildlife, and will also include free presentations: "A Window to the Wild," highlighting wildlife photography, and "Raptors of the Midwest," a talk by Micaela Brevig of the Raptor Center, both held at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, respectively, and on Sunday a live raptors family program from 10 a.m.-noon. Workshops are $85 to $375. (northhouse.org).
Colleen A. Coles
