FARGO — Courtney Ficek, the “Boss of Chaos” for Jade Presents, has a great sense of humor — one that has come in handy. In just over two months, the staff at Jade Presents turned a former rail yard in North Fargo into a grassy venue for the community to gather and enjoy live music. “Literally, I was shoveling piles of rocks today, because as we keep walking on (the field), it unearths a little bit more,” said Ficek during a recent concert by Band of Horses.
The UP District Festival Field sits on just four inches of topsoil, and below that, it’s hard packed rock that functioned great for railroad purposes — not so much for a grassy events venue. “It's been the office joke that we're going to have lush grass here,” said Ficek, who made up some signs to place around the venue: “Lush grass in progress.” “We're always improving something a little bit more.
We're learning as we go.” UP District Festival Field is the area’s newest outdoor venue, located at 1329 5th Ave. N.
The venue encompasses just under 1.4 acres with a capacity for 2,000 ticket holders and opened for business on June 29 with a sold-out performance by country artist Jo Dee Messina . Since then, nearly a dozen concerts have taken place, including the return of Grace Potter, Band of Horses, Shakey Graves, and a packed performance by Prof (who brought his own inflatable raft for crowd surfing).
Members of O-Town, *NSYNC, and LFO also came through town, thrilling fans of 2000s boy bands. .
