Lumberstock is a one-day summer music festival featuring younger bands. No one over 21 on the stages. All ages welcome in the audience. I love it. This is the second annual and I definitely plan to be there on May 22nd at 5pm in downtown Stillwater by the pedestrian lift bridge on Chestnut Plaza.
How did you get involved?
This event started because my son, Cason, who is in the bands, Foon and 11 minutes late, performed at Stillwater Area High School’s Battle of the Bands in February of 2025 to compete with his band Foon. He was a freshman and the band was made up of 14- and 15-year-olds that lacked stage presence and confidence when playing. We got to thinking of the difference in the bands that were seniors versus freshman and how do they gain the experience to build confidence on stage. Cason had talked to his guitar teacher, and he told him to start his own gig. I started to do some digging and reached out to the Stillwater Mayor, Ted Kozlowski, who has been an advocate for outside the box thinking and ideas, and he said to move forward with the music festival. The original plan was to have it at a local park band shell and invite all the bands that competed at the Stillwater Battle of the Bands and the other band that Cason was a part of. Luckily, the band shell was getting a makeover, and the City of Stillwater gave us an upgrade to play the Chestnut Plaza, by the pedestrian bridge, using the stage from Lift Bridge Brewery. It was all coordinated by Chad Rogness, the Parks Supervisor.
This is the second annual Lumberstock, what did you learn after last year?
After last year, we learned that we needed more involvement, better marketing, backup rain plans, more volunteers and that we had to be ready to go with the flow no matter what happened. The threat of rain and the smoke from the wildfires almost made Lumberstock 2025 not happen. The rain stopped at 4pm and Alchemy Sound and Vision set up quickly. The bands did not get a sound check, there was gear laying everywhere and they went on to put more energy into a show than I have ever seen. This year we had time on our side and got to plan more and have contingency plans in place. I have another parent, Kady Long, and her son Gavin Ainsbury (in Farewell and 11 minutes late) that have also put so much thought and time into making gorgeous marketing materials and strengthening our instagram (@lumberstockmusicfest) presence with the youth.
How many bands applied? What’s the process? What has been their reaction?
We had an overwhelming number of bands apply from as far away as St Cloud. We requested that they send an audition via our website: www.lumberstock.org, that listed band members names, ages and one video of a song. We have some updates to make to the audition process for next year, as it was hard to gather from just one song what these bands could do. We do know there is a ton of talented bands in our state, and our 6 judges had a difficult time evaluating the bands. Music is so personal, I think each judge has a different taste on what they preferred to hear. The bands that were chosen, all accepted and seem to be really excited for this year. We only were able to accept 5 new bands this year as I did give the option to all of the bands from last year to return without auditioning. I feel like a proud parent of 24 teenagers (that is the number from last year) as they were on the wild ride with me as I tried to figure out how to put on a music festival. They were so energetic, professional, and incredibly talented. I originally started this to get my son more play time on stage, but it is now my mission to get all these bands seen and additional gigs. They write their own songs, they are recording for Apple Music and Spotify, they do covers and original songs and they are in their teens. It is wild to me how much talent they all have. Our chosen bands range in age from 13-19 years old and they are only getting better with every opportunity given to them. This year we have 11 bands performing and 40 kids that are set to hit the Lift Bridge Brewery Stage!
And how about the audience? Any hot tips for those of us planning to go?
Get right up to the stage and be prepared to be blown away! These teens will give you everything they have and have such a wide variety of music. We feel that there is something for everyone so if you are not into a certain genre of music, grab a bite to eat at one of Stillwater’s amazing restaurants and come back, and check out the next band. The majority of the bands have at least one original song, but there are covers that span decades. Give them the cheers and applause they deserve. They want the crowd to jump up and down, to cheer, to dance and sing along when they can! The future of rock is very much alive, and they are the perfect solution to getting the summer started on the right foot.
As a bonus, here are some quotes from folks involved last year:
- Mayor TED: Lumberstock is an event that truly highlights the best of our community. Seeing young people take ownership of planning and executing this festival is inspiring; when they step onto that stage, they aren’t just performing-they are discovering their potential and building the confidence to shape their futures.
- Returning Musician Lily Berg: Lumberstock was such an amazing experience last year! It really helped connect and inspire young musicians who may not have known how to get into the music scene. Having that gateway is such an amazing avenue for everyone.
Playing for a crowd is always fun, but having the ability to play for the whole community, rather than just your peers, was a really amazing way for us to gain experience and feedback. - New Musician Houston Rowe: Getting to play at Lumberstock means giving back to the community that made me a musician. To see the circle come full round and to share our hard work with people is such an amazing experience I wish to continue throughout my whole life.
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