FARGO — With concert promoter Jade Nielsen’s new events space, UP District Festival Field at 1329 5th Ave. N., Fargo, close to opening, his company, Jade Presents, announced Monday, May 13, it was moving all remaining shows scheduled for outdoors at Fargo Brewing to the new space.
Nielsen said it wasn’t likely there would be any more outdoor shows at Fargo Brewing this season, which just opened on May 11 with a sold-out show by Violent Femmes.
The Portugal The Man concert scheduled for May 20 was moved to the Fargo Theatre.
Events in The Hall at Fargo Brewing will remain on schedule.
The change of venue for the lineups was sparked by the need for a space with more programming options. Fargo Brewing is zoned as a residential area, allowing for one outdoor event there every 30 days.
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“We want to do more than that,” Nielsen told The Forum.
He said Jade Presents never had a noise complaint at Fargo Brewing.
While UP District Festival Field is just to the south of the train tracks that run between it and Fargo Brewing, it is zoned as downtown mixed-use to allow for more outdoor events.
Festival Field will open with Jo Dee Messina on June 29. There are seven shows booked for July, two for August and one in September. Nielsen said he would likely add more events in August and September.
“The market will only support so much live music,” he said.
Festival Field will have the same attendance capacity as Fargo Brewing at 2,000. A larger footprint with more green space will allow for guests to bring in blankets and lawn chairs for a more family-friendly atmosphere than the paved lot at Fargo Brewing. Nielsen said that a section with assigned seats may be a possibility going forward, but this year all events would be general admission.
Fargo Brewing Company, of which Nielsen is a part-owner, is not a partner in Festival Field, but he said the brewery would be one of a variety of beverage options, along with spirits and wine, and that there would be more food options than were previously available at Fargo Brewing outdoor concerts.
Fargo Brewing filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in April while it works to reorganize its debt.
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After plans for Festival Field went public in early April, some residents at The Edge Artist Flats Apartments, directly east of Festival Field expressed frustration that they hadn’t been notified that the neighboring property would host concerts.
Nielsen told The Forum that he’d worked with the apartment complex’s managers, Metro Plains Property Management, but that company didn’t fully communicate the plan to its residents.
“We met with management prior to moving forward with anything,” he said, adding that Jade Presents representatives later met with residents.
“We shared our vision and worked through everything,” he said.
When Nielsen met with the Fargo Planning Commission about Festival Field in early April, he stated that about 460 parking spaces would be available in surrounding lots, including at Fargo Brewing and neighboring Family Fare. About 500 more spaces would be available via shuttle buses from the Fargo Holiday Inn, as well as Legends Bar and Murphy’s Pub, both in south Moorhead. On Monday he told The Forum that he was working on more options south of 7th Avenue North.
Monday’s announcement included that an Aug. 8 show with the Minneapolis rapper Atmosphere would be held at Festival Field. The show was announced via social media late last week, with a location listed as to be determined.
Nielsen added that he expected two more concert announcements for Bluestem Amphitheater in Moorhead.
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