The recent flooding of the St. Croix River has meant a stressful few weeks for the organizers of Lumberjack Days, which will be held Friday through Sunday in downtown Stillwater.

High water means that the popular annual summer music festival will move to South Lowell Park, south of the Stillwater Lift Bridge. When flooding isn’t an issue, the festival is held north of the bridge.

“Everything north of the park is still under water, and the stuff that isn’t under water is just really muddy, so we’re not able to use all of that area,” said Brian Asmus, an Afton resident who is leading a new group of festival organizers called LJD Events. “We had to change our layout a lot to accommodate for a much smaller land space.”

An updated map for Stillwater Lumberjack Days was released on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Event organizers had to move events around as parts of Lowell Park in downtown Stillwater are not yet ready after recent flooding of the St. Croix River. (Courtesy of Lumberjack Days)

The high water also forced the cancellation of the 2024 Minnesota Wakesurf Championship — where riders surf a boat’s wake, rather than being pulled — which was set to be held for the first time in Stillwater.

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of the on-water wakesurf competition for this season,” organizer Jeremy Wahlberg wrote in a post on the Minnesota Wakesurf Championship’s Facebook page. “Unprecedented flooding this late in the season in Minnesota has created a situation that, unfortunately, will not be resolved in time to hold a world-class competition.”

Among the issues: the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol unit couldn’t issue a permit until the river level was below the no-wake threshold, and the watershed district has raised concerns about shoreline conditions due to the prolonged flooding, according to Wahlberg.

A kids’ obstacle course and bingo also had to be cut because of the change in location, Asmus said. “We just don’t have the space for it anymore because we had to condense and cut down our tent sizes,” he said.

But other festival favorites will be back, including the Lumberjack Days Derby car race, the parade, lumberjack demonstrations, medallion hunt, games, rides, log rolling, a pancake breakfast, BMX bicycle jumping and yoga, Asmus said.

Musical lineup

This weekend’s music lineup is heavy on country-leaning singer/songwriters and a few national acts with record deals, including Love and Theft (6:30 p.m. Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday), Jerrod Niemann (7:45 p.m. Friday), Craig Campbell (8:45 p.m. Saturday).

Local Prince tribute band Chase and Ovation closes out Friday with a performance at 9:15 p.m., while country artist Canaan Smith is the Saturday headliner, taking the stage at 10 p.m.

Smith is known for his song “Love You Like That,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

Some of Smith’s fans called Mayor Ted Kozlowski on Wednesday morning to confirm that the country star was headlining Lumberjack Days, he said.

“They were basically screaming over the phone because they were excited that he was coming to Stillwater,” Kozlowski said. “They apparently saw on his Spotify channel that he was playing here on Saturday. They couldn’t believe it was a free show, so they wanted to call the mayor to confirm.”

Robin Anthony, the executive director of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, said the musical lineup this year is “epic.”

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“I’m a country freak and a Nashville girl, so I’m very excited about this new direction — bringing new country here to the Valley,” she said. “This is just the beginning of future enhancements of this event which we are very excited about.”

Asmus, who grew up in Stillwater, is part of Minneapolis-based After Midnight Group, the group that owns Hotel Crosby and Matchstick Restaurant & Spirits in downtown Stillwater. He also is part owner of Brian’s Bar in downtown Stillwater.

Asmus, 53, said his country-music connections came from his Cowboy Jack’s days; After Midnight Group owned the five Cowboy Jack’s locations until earlier this year when they were purchased by Jeff Crivello’s Ciao Hospitality Group.

“We have a lot of direct involvement with country music, and we’ve just got a lot of contacts in that genre,” he said. “It’s kind of fitting for the area, and it works. It works really well. We were able to get these great, super-talented artists.”

Frank E. is back

Crews in Stillwater have been busy getting the Frank E. barge restored in time for Lumberjack Days. The barge will serve as the “floating stage” for the musical acts performing in the festival, which runs Friday, July 19, 2024, through Sunday, July 21, 2024, in downtown Stillwater. The last time the Frank E. was used for Lumberjack Days was in 2010 when Chicago was the headliner. (Courtesy of Dave Junker)

The highlight of the festival for some might be the return of the original floating stage — a 30-by-60-foot barge named the Frank E.

City crews recently restored the barge and painted it brown to make its re-appearance at Lumberjack Days, said Stillwater City Council member Dave Junker. “It’s looking fantastic,” Junker said.

Frank E. last appeared at Lumberjack Days 2010. The headliner that year was Chicago, Junker said.

“Fourteen years later, it’s now returning,” he said. “Brian wanted to bring it back, and so did the city. It is so unique to perform on a floating stage. It’s a game-changer.”

The “floating stage” is a selling point when it comes to attracting talent, Anthony said. “These bands are really pumped about playing on this floating stage,” she said. “It’s really different. It sets Stillwater apart.”

Said Kozlowski: “It’s always been magical, and I think the artists love it as well. Where’s a better place to play than on the St. Croix River?”

Asmus and LJD Events signed a one-year contract with the city to take over Lumberjack Days after The Locals, the group of volunteers who revived Lumberjack Days and produced eight summer festivals in downtown Stillwater over the past 10 years, announced they were stepping down.

“I thought it was something that’s got a long tradition, a long history of being done, and it would have been sad to not see it go off,” he said. “It’s just a cool thing for downtown Stillwater, I think, and it’s got room to grow a little bit.”

Lumberjack Days

Lumberjack Days will be held Friday-Sunday in downtown Stillwater.

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Live music will be performed throughout the festival; headliners include Chase and Ovation on Friday night and Canaan Smith on Saturday night.

Other highlights include the Ice Cream Social, 5 p.m. Thursday at the Washington County Historic Courthouse; Lumberjack Days Derby, 2 p.m. Friday down the Second Street Hill near Pioneer Park; and lumberjack demonstrations, medallion hunt, games, rides, log rolling and a pancake breakfast.

The Lumberjack Days Parade is 11 a.m. Sunday; retiring Washington County Commissioner Gary Kriesel will be the grand marshal.

For more information, go to lumberjackdays.com.