As days grow longer, the weather becomes warmer, and the moods of Midwesterners start to be more positive, you can feel the aroma of summer creeping up upon us!

With long summer days at the lake approaching us, a common theme associates itself with warm weather and good vibes, country music.

As country music becomes more influenced by pop music, the genre has gained a more diverse background in popularity among a much wider audience.

Because of this growing popularity, country summer concerts have become not only a hot topic between residents of North Dakota and Minnesota, but around the country, thanks to one festival: WE-Fest.

WE-Fest is a 3-day country music festival located in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota during the early weeks of August each year. It is one of the largest country music festivals in the United States, averaging about 120,000 attendees across its 3 days each year!

Founded in 1983 by Jeff Krueger, the festival began as a country and camping event at the Soo Pass Ranch. Krueger named the country music festival “we,” as a tie to the already “us” rock festival.

Starting with around 9,000 attendees in its first year, the festival had its highest attendance rate recorded in 2016, with 150,000 attendees that year.

Annually, WE-Fest brings the Detroit Lakes area approximately 60 million dollars each season and generates the event a total of around 10.1 million in revenue across the 3-day festival each year as well.

By attracting some of the biggest stars in country music each year, fans are not the only ones eager to get a spot at these concerts, so are the artists.

With We-Fest having such high attendance, high energy, and high vibes, country music stars have been on record speaking highly of this festival, and how greatly it is talked about among the world of twangy hits.

This year’s lineup contains a huge list of top-hit country music stars including headliners Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson, and Brooks & Dunn as well as a total of 26 associating and opening artists!

With a total of 23 sponsors for the festival, the categories very from alcohol brands, local media partners, and local sponsors around the area like casinos, law firms, and recreational stores.

Despite the festival’s popularity, there are also several safety concerns associated with the 3-day bender event.

During the festival, there is an extremely high rate of alcohol consumption across the area including minor alcohol consumption, alcohol poisoning, and recorded assault and fights relating to alcohol consumption.

With the alcohol consumption there has also been records of drug use and arrests from possession of drugs in the venue/campgrounds as well.
Although the law enforcement presence has significantly increased during the festival, managing such large crowds is a very difficult task to tackle as the cops try their best to keep everyone safe.

Last year (WE-Fest 2025) alone recorded 85 minor citations, with 17 fraud reports related to fake IDs, and a total of 14 minors were cited by the State Patrol.

When choosing between the different sections of the venue, guests should be mindful of the environment of people they wish to surround themselves with. For those attending the festival, make smart decisions, stay safe, and have the time of your life at We-Fest 2026!