BEMIDJI -- Heroes Rise Coffee Company and myBemidji have joined forces to bring a new and original festival to the downtown area this summer -- one that will be filled with a huge cornhole tournament, sidewalk sales, and plenty of food, drinks and prizes.
Scheduled amid the Bemidji Jaycees Water Carnival , the free and family friendly 3rd Street Festival is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 3, and will be held along Third Street in downtown Bemidji.
Throughout the event, up to 100 teams will compete for glory in the cornhole tournament for the chance to take home hundreds of dollars worth of prizes.
Interested teams can pre-register online at no cost on the Heroes Rise website. Same-day registration is also available as long as the 100 team limit has not been reached.
“We’re going to have five sets of cornhole boards on each end of the street and we’re going to be doing a double elimination, so people will be playing all day,” said Kevin Johnson, owner of myBemidji and co-organizer of the festival.
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While teams compete, other festival-goers can enjoy sweet sidewalk sales in what Johnson calls a “mini Crazy Days.” He said businesses that folks can expect to see in the event are 218 Clothing and Gift, Patterson’s Clothing, Books and More, and Compass Rose, among others.
“Everyone always wants Crazy Days to come back, so we did go around and talk to all the stores on Third Street, and I think many of them will be open and have sidewalk sales,” Johnson said. “So I think that will be very exciting.”
There will also be music and prize drawings throughout the day, which will be announced by the KZY music van. And for those who get hungry, Heroes Rise will be grilling items from Downtown Meats for purchase.
“It’ll be like a cookout: burgers, brats and soda. It’s family friendly so we’re not going to have a beer cart,” Johnson said with a laugh. “People will have to go across the street to Bar 209 if they want beer.”
Johnson said he and Heroes Rise hope to make the 3rd Street Festival an annual event for the downtown area, with plans to add on each year by bringing more community organizations into the mix. He said he could envision Bemidji Parks and Recreation adding in other activities, such as pickleball matches.
“We want to do this again next year and make this a tradition,” Johnson said. “We want to make it bigger and better, so this is our test run year.”
For more information and updates, visit the 3rd Street Festival Facebook event page or myBemidji’s Facebook page .
If you go:
What: 3rd Street Festival
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When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 3
Where: Along Third Street in downtown Bemidji
Pre-register cornhole teams online
