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Greetings!
Wow, what a week this has been...HOSTFEST
What is Hostfest, you might ask yourself...Hostfest is the country's largest Scandanavian Festival. And wow it is huge. People come from all over the world to celebrate their Scandanavian heritage. Everywhere you look there are people in traditional garb, random accoridan players, wafting aromas of unpronouncible food...And it all takes place on the grounds of the North Dakota State Fair. The main part is in the main building arena, which usually houses rodeos, etc. But surrounding this building are lot sof off-shoots such as cattle barns...yup...that's where we played! They literally set up a stage and seating in a horse barn. This is a stage we shared with ABBAcadabra (ABBA tribute band), Peking Acrobats, and a few other smaller groups. Picture us trying to start our show with the ABBA group packing up their stuff stage left, and the Peking Acrobats warming up and talking full-voice stage right. Not only did we have the other groups to contend with, but lots of food vendors were set up at the back, which led to more noise and chaos.
I think that people didn't really know what to expect with us. We were the only full-length play. Eveything else was a concert or variety act, which you can leave and come back to at any time. And people did just that with us. It was really disconcerting to look up and see people just wandering around the audience. Talking. Getting food. It was quite the experience... And since this wasn't a normal space run in a normal way, were set up in trailers in the back. Yup. Mill got his own, but all the ladies (plus the crew ladies) shared one little trailer in the back as dressing room space. In the mud. Wow it was something else.
The week wasn't all bad. Since we were entertainement we got into all the other concerts fro free...and the first night was Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons!! What an incredible concert. That man still has one of the most phenominal voices ever. And this group could perform. These days, the Four Seasons are 4 guys in their 30's. We ended up at the same bar at the end of the night (as in the 4 Seasons, Frankie Valli, the band AND the production team) and spent the entire night together. What a great group of guys. One of the more surreal and incredible nights I've ever had.
On a closing note, I just have to mention the food. Because, well, it is something else...We tried Lefse (potato flat bread with butter & cinnamon-sugar), krumkake (type of cookie), Rumegrot (pudding with butter, sugar, cream, and more butter on top) and Lutefisk...oh my god Lutefisk... "Dried codfish soaked in lye til it bloats into jelly, boiled on a stove to leech out the poison, and slid onto a plate covered in melted butter" It is absolutely the most revolting thing I have ever had in my entire life. I promised my producer I would try it if he came to visit...and he did...so I did...and I will never be the same again.
Lots and lots of pictures thrown up there. And check out the video of the Lutefisk...
Enjoy!
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