WeFest well underway in Detroit Lakes

One of the biggest country music stages in the country gets bigger.

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. (KVRR) — It’s the second year back after taking a break in 2020.

WE Fest has kicked off at Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes.

“I am a people fan. I love seeing the smiles on their faces and the joy when they’re here and the whoop whoopin’ when the artists are up on stage. It’s just, it’s my. I like to see people get together. A lot of hugs. I do a lot of hugging during WeFest with people I haven’t seen for a long time,” says Mark Bjerke, the General Manager of WeFest.

The stage is completely brand new and stands 80 feet tall.

KVRR was lucky enough to get on stage and check it out. There was mostly stage crew setting up the lighting, sound and screens to make country music accessible to all 50,000 fans.

“The whole we fest experience is very Midwestern. We’ve talked about beer and this is a huge party. There’s also some corn hole going on down here. I know there’s a cornhole tournament going on this weekend. I’m not planning on entering said corn hole tournament but you know like this there’s no one around. No one to compete with, so I’ll throw one.”

WE Fest dates back to 1983. The big event holds a lot of history. It’s preserved with their very own walk of fame that hosts hand prints of all the previous headliners including Miranda Lambert back in 2015. Jason Aldean is also headlining this year and has many handprints on the walk of fame.

“Well we had a big party here last night. My friend Jason came in here early yesterday. He was here at 5:15 when he rolled in. He put on a great show to a full house. It was just it was really amazing,” Bjerke said.