Relief sessions summer concert series to offer 12 days of shows in Burnsville 2020

Article: by Ross Railhala St. Paul Pioneer Press - August 3, 2020.
Photos by the Burnsville Historical Society


Music is one of many draws to the Minnesota State Fair each summer. The pandemic forced officials to cancel this year’s Fair, but the new Relief Sessions Summer Concert Series aims to replicate – on a much smaller scale – the musical aspects of the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Each day from Aug. 27 through Labor Day, a series of 48 musical acts will perform in the Burnsville Civic Center parking lot. Most concerts before 5 p.m. each day are free, with tickets for later shows running from $30-$10. VIP options start at $150 and offer access to the spaces closest to the stage. Tickets are available online via ticketworks.com.

Performers include GB Leighton (Aug. 30), Patty Peterson’s Jazz Women All Stars (Sept. 3), the International Reggae All-Stars (Sept. 2), the Flaming Oh’s (Sept. 6) and a series of tribute acts playing the music of Aretha Franklin (Aug. 27), Frank Sinatra (Aug. 29), Johnny Cash (Aug. 31), Bob Dylan (Sept. 1), Steely Dan (Sept. 3) and Prince (Sept. 4).

The concerts will be staged drive-in movie style, with empty spaces between cars to allow for social distancing. Concertgoers can watch the show from inside their vehicle or outside of it. The ticket price is good for up to six people, whether they are in a vehicle together, on motorcycles or bikes or no transportation method at all. There will also be five food trucks on site that will deliver directly to the concertgoers.

A total of 80 parking spaces will be available and organizers expect the shows to sell out quickly.

“There’s no event like this in the summer of 2020,” said organizer and performing artist Mick Sterling in a news release. “For many of these artists performing, this is the only chance they have had to perform since early March … your ticket purchase may well be the only check this band has received from performing in months.”