Recap: Hotel Minnesnowta 2019
“Does it light up?”
“What?”
“Your hoop! Does it light up?”
“Oh!” I said as I gripped my hoop and turned it on. The flashing pink, blue and orange lights mesmerized this curious woman holding LED poi and staff. I did a few spins and twirls with it, gave her a sticker and we went our separate ways. As the night progressed, I saw her a few times and we did a little hop dance past each other.
That’s the best thing about festivals, running into someone at the beginning of the first night and automatically become friends. Especially at a homegrown festival like the one I met this sweet girl at over the weekend — Hotel Minnesnowta.
MJG productions hosted the fifth annual event on January 4 and 5 at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Kind Country, The Schwag, Carnage (The Executioner), Heatbox, DJ Abilities, Space Monkey Mafia, Dead Larry, Mae Simpson and more performed at the two-day event. There were three stages, live painters, yoga, pool parties, themed rooms and more.
Organizer, promoter and coordinator Mark Joseph has been the man behind the winter themed festival since day one.
“I’ve done many events at Harmony Park in Genova, Minnesota,” Mark said. “I got to know some of the local scene and people that lived down there. I developed a relationship with the general manager at the Ramada in Albert Lea and over the years we threw some ideas around and decided to throw an event. We started by throwing a Useful Jenkins show and it went really well.”
With the success of a few more shows, Mark and his team eventually came up with a new concept. That’s where Hotel Minnesnowta was born.
Hotel Minnesnowta premiered at what use to be the Ramada in Albert Lea. The name changed to America’s Best Value Inn over the years and is now under new ownership — one of the many reasons for the venue change. But it worked out, because this allowed the festival to grow. The vibes of the staff, the beautiful ballrooms and the 1970s ambience of the hotel gave Mark and his team a lot of room to get creative.
An entire wing of the hotel was dedicated to the event. The Regency ballroom served as the mainstage with a number of vendors and live painter, Artguy Chuck. The dance floor met the stage, there wasn’t a barricade separating the musicians from the audience — they were a part of the performance.
Conference Room E played host to artists such as Feed the Dog, Push & Turn, Jillian Rae, Mae Simpson, Black River Revue and the Bluegrass Pick with Vince Herman and guests like Max Graham of Kind Country. It was an intimate space to jam out, as the audience was up close and personal with musicians. You could feel the rhythms vibrate through your fingertips. You could see the sweat and passion on the faces of everyone playing. You could hear the person next to you singing along to their favorite songs. It was truly a one of a kind concert experience.
Dead Larry and the team behind Galactic Get Down Music Festival hosted the Galactic Lounge in Conference Room D. The room was a chill place where festival attendees could go to escape the craziness of the main stages. At any time of day during the fest, attendees could find your friends on a couch watching movies or listening to live music by Smokin’ Joe and Friends or Space Monkey Mafia. To top it off, there was popcorn and live Art By DizZ (Dizzle Arts). It was an out of this world place to blast off into bliss.
It was a weekend we all needed in the middle of this frozen winter. Hotel Minnesnowta was one for the books, we hope to see all of our friends at the sixth annual event next year.
Check out our Facebook for more photos of the event and check out our interview with Hotel Minnesnowta artist, Heatbox.
Photos by Philip Grazulis
