Organizers hope Waseca Lakefest will be bigger, better than ever

Despite the challenges posed by recent flooding and road construction around Clear Lake Park, Waseca Lakefest is back for 2024, and organizers are looking forward to an event they hope will be bigger and better than ever.

Event organizer Tom Sexton said that any changes are likely to be modest when compared to last year’s event, offering a variety of family-friendly activities similar to the slate which drew roughly 400 people to Waseca’s Lakefront last July 4.

Based on feedback received through the event’s Facebook page, Sexton said that the organizing committee has looked for ways to add activities and games for kids, which will run from noon to 4 and include a Bounce House, face painting and more.

Just like last year, a lineup of live bands will play throughout the afternoon, most of them with Waseca roots. The music starts at noon with Waseca singer and keyboardist Melissa Schultz and will carry through until the fireworks, with just a brief interruption for the boat parade.

Waseca Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ann Fitch said that it’s not just the musical acts that have a strictly local flavor. Even with Waseca’s proximity to Mankato, the crowds at Lakefest tend to be strictly local too, making LakeFest something of a Waseca family reunion.

“People really enjoy the camaraderie, they enjoy a nice day at the park,” Fitch said.

Sexton said that particular emphasis will be placed on the parade this year as a key centerpiece of an afternoon of fun. Lakefest Committee member Tom Glaser is charged with organizing the boat parade, which had just five entries last year, including his own.

This year, Glaser said the parade has been promoted and advertised much more aggressively. New awards have been added, not only for winners, but for second- and third-place finishers as well, with the goal of ginning up interest.

Still, Sexton said it’s hard to top the classic Fourth of July feel provided by the fireworks over the lake, which are scheduled to go off between 9:40 and 9:50 p.m. The fireworks display is a favorite of Discover Waseca tourism, which displays a picture of fireworks over Clear Lake prominently on its events page. Fitch said the fireworks are a treat which will be funded by the city and county governments for a cost of roughly $10,000.

“Especially with the sound and the fireworks reflecting off of the lake, it’s really a quite spectacular Fourth of July event,” Sexton said.

Alongside a steady supply of canned beer and seltzers provided by The Mill, a hearty list of food trucks offering everything from hotdogs and burgers to cuisine of Latin America and the Caribbean are sure to draw a steady stream of hungry customers.

An Air Force Veteran and retired construction project engineer, Sexton has spent his retirement as an active community volunteer. Last year, he stepped up to serve as lead organizer of LakeFest and has continued in that role even while also running for the Minnesota Legislature.

Sexton said that planning for this year’s event has been particularly challenging because of construction along 8th Avenue, which like so much else has been significantly affected by the deluge of rain the region has seen throughout the spring.

With an eye towards minimizing the disruption for Lakefest, Sexton worked with city staff, influencing the bid documents in an attempt to ensure that planned construction work on 8th Avenue would be sufficiently complete by July 4 to allow for parking along 8th Avenue from 8th Street eastward toward the lake.

However, the rain made it impossible for the contractor to work for much of the spring, leaving most of 8th Avenue still under construction, significantly limiting parking and restricting access to Clear Lake Park from the west and north.

“I may have to figure out some different plans for how we get people to the park,” Sexton said. “Normally the parking with street parking is pretty easy, but if we don’t have street parking that is going to be very challenging.”

Knowing that the 8th Avenue project would likely have significant impacts on access to the event, Sexton said event organizers decided early on that this would be a good year to avoid confusing the public with a raft of new activities and attractions.

“We didn’t want to change too many things because we knew we’d have the road construction, so we just brought back all of the popular things,” Sexton said.