The celebration began with the roll out of the artificial turf on Minnesota Street between 1st North and Center. Then, a stage and dance floor were placed in the middle of the street between B&L Bar and Lola’s. The Misfits were the first to take the stage, followed by the Bockfest Boys.

Among the first to hit the dance floor in front of the stage were Paul Wieneke and his young granddaughter Cecilia Wech. The two danced the polka to several Misfit tunes. Wech said she loved dance the polka. Wieneke confirmed his granddaughter knew more about the music than he did.

Behind the Crazy Days stage, multiple food trucks served food. The most colorful of the food vendors were Alicia and Juan Lazaro of Albert Lea. The couple had returned to Crazy Days with the Sugar Shack stand.

Juan Lazaro said they have attended several New Ulm festivals, and this was their second time attending Crazy Days. The couple served a variety of crazy sweet treats including with cotton candy being the most popular. Lazaro said the blue raspberry flavor was the most popular, followed by watermelon and bubblegum.

The Misfits kick off New Ulm's 2025 Crazy Days Friday night.

The Crazy Days weekend is most known for the discount sales offered at most participating stores. Most of the big sales were scheduled to begin on Saturday, but a few started things early. Wunderberg Collective, located only a few feet from the polka stage held a sidewalk sale, with multiple clothing racks. Customers were able to shop while listening to live bands.

Wunderberg owners, Jackie and Jen Berg said this was the first Crazy Days they had celebrated since taking over the store 10 months ago and they had benefit from sales the entire day, even before the street dance began.

“It is super helpful to have an event downtown in front of the store,” Jackie said.

All week, Wunderberg had offered surprise discounts. Friday, they had a buy one, get one half off sale that proved popular.

“We were selling a bit of everything,” Jen Berg said. “There was one lady who bought nine pairs of shoes.”

Crazy Days opened with a performance from The Misfits. The band played several polkas that helped get the audience on their feet and dancing.

Jackie Berg said all the clothing was selling fast. In fact, many of the customers were choosing to wear their new purchases right out of the store.

The Berg sisters confirmed they will have another special sale Saturday, but are keeping the details a secret until then.

Crazy Days continues Saturday with the annual Ping Pong Ball Drop at 9 a.m. Hundreds of ping pong balls labeled with discounts and some with Chamber dollars are dropped from Lola’s Rooftop.

The food trucks will return from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. including Jersey’s Food Truck, Sleepy Bison Grill and Pronto Pups.

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the MarktStrasse vendor market will be held on Minnesota Street, featuring many local handcrafted items. The New Ulm Farmer’s Market will also be happening from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the A to Zinnia Parking lot. From 10 am to 3 p.m. there is a Shop the Lot with dozens of crafters & vendors in the City Hall Parking Lot.

Paul Wieneke and his granddaughter Cecilia Wech dance the polka on the Crazy Days stage. Wech said she liked to polka and her grandfather confirm she knew the music better than him, but he was more than happy to dance along.

The music will also continue downtown. Polka Palooza will run from noon. to 11 p.m. For those who do not know how to polka, a dance instructor with Flō Dance Company will be giving beginner lessons from noon to 12:45 p.m.

The Street dance starts at 1 pm, with the Bandwagon w/ Shawn Cable & Nate Frederickson Band – filming for TV Show, “Polka dancing.”

Nate Boots will play from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm and the Tanner Stark Band ends the night.

Sippin’ Southern MN will be selling tickets for beer, wine, and distilleries at the Downtown Tasting Expo from 4 pm to 8 pm. It’s $20 a pass on sale at the event.

Alicia and Juan Lazaro operate the Sugar Shack during Friday’s Crazy Day celebration. The couple specialized in cotton candy. Juan said blue raspberry flavor was the most popular, followed by watermelon and bubblegum.

Micah Fisher relaxes on a Minnesota Street bench with a blue raspberry cotton candy he got from a Crazy Days food vendor.

Micah Fisher bites into his blue raspberry cotton candy he recently purchased from the Sugar Shanty.

The Wunderberg Collective kept its clothing rack on the sidewalk as Crazy Days festivities began downtown. Wunderberg owners Jackie and Jen Berg said the extra foot traffic from the Crazy Days street dance had benefited their business.

Wunderberg Collective owners Jackie (left) and Jen Berg (right) said business had been “Crazy” all day Friday. The setup for Crazy Days weekend had led to an uptick in business. The Berg Sisters said this was their first Crazy Days as owners of Wunderberg and it was helpful have community event happen right outside their door. Several of the German themed items they were unable to sell during last weeks Bavarian Blast were going very fast.

Staff photo by Fritz Busch Jeff Anderson of The Misfits strums and sings on Minnesota Street Friday.