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Hudson Booster Days was great fun? Moving forward, hey, what about Fun Fest in the home of the fun-loving Tigers and River Falls Days, land of another cat that being the Wildcats, as another source of fun and funky tunes. In NR, there twice can be found multiple music acts at once in a single venue, so double your fun. (And how many times can I use ‘fun’ in a headline?)

Last weekend saw the Hudson Booster Days attracting a diverse crowd — except that most were from the Twin Cities rather than being townies. (I did see two longtime local folks while out and about, who stopped me to say hello, and yes I did recognize them after a few moments. That was it). And then late on Friday there were two more.
OK those last couple were wonderful and lovely ladies, not missing a stride although past 30, but you would be hard pressed to compare that night with something like New Years. So I think I will just boycott the local festivals for the month.
Not. As this weekend is the Fun Fest in New Richmond and there will be River Falls Days also.
Local servers, at least in Hudson, said that the Fourth of July was crazy busy, as was the case for taxi drivers in New Richmond, as well. And considering the time of the month, for more than one reason, they added that it was almost nonstop weekend trips to WalMart before The Fourth even arrived — not to speak of Fun Days — starting early and picking up as the day progressed. Picnic goods anyone? And maybe even that nasty looking piece of fireworks that later was setting near my door.
But in New Richmond this weekend …
The Bad Girlfriends have been showing what drives them by performing numerous gigs around western Wisconsin for several years, picking up more and more of a following with each venue they play. Newest on the list is Mallards on Saturday night. That’s outside, and for added fun there is a deejay inside.
At the nextdoor Wild Badger, its three straight deejays nightly throughout the weekend, then changing it up with Sunday’s Regret, which will wrap up its sets on … very early Sunday a.m. But this is no a sunrise service. Not to mention, there are $12 fish bowl drinks and $3 of their specialty Blackout concoctions. One could conceivably lead to the other …
There also is Champ’s on the other side of Mallards, and as well, the downtown stage has bands on three straight nights. Come Saturday, the biggest festival day of course, if you are still un-groggy enough to be up and about after the Mallards’ hot dog eating contest, the headliner band is Pasian and the Family Brass, following up on an act that’s one of two billed as New Richmond’s own, True Blue.
And due south in River Falls, the remaining bands are — and gee, am I begging off? — still too numerous to mention, both in Heritage Park and the various nightspots.
What, a New Richmond bartender said, why do we have roadblock wooded horses up already Wednesday night onto side streets? Come Thursday night there would be carnival rides. I could recognize an age-old staple, the Tilt-a-whirl, when glancing over from the main drag. And city crews, being proactive, were out late Wednesday doing some striping at a lighted intersection, as not to disrupt the traffic that would soon be heavier, both day and night.
River Falls has bolstered its festivals, this weekend among them, as they obtained a $30,000 tourism grant from the state to promote music and such all though 2022. Part of the result was an early sellout on tickets for its April bluegrass fest. Another was the executive director and others on the Chamber of Commerce staff being out hoofing it to distribute flyers often in the last couple of weeks, rather than being chained to their desks. Multiple bands over multiple places.
A few more tidbits in the post below.

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