Phelps Mill Sing-Off returns with $1,000 prize in Underwood

The Phelps Mill Festival is putting its biggest spotlight on Sunday’s second annual Sing-Off, a solo vocal competition with a $1,000 grand prize that starts at noon at Phelps Mill County Park near Underwood. Set for July 11-12 along County Highway 45, the weekend is built to pull in singers, shoppers and day-trippers to one of Otter Tail County’s most recognizable summer gatherings.

The county says the festival will feature more than 100 artist booths, free kids’ art activities led by Art of the Lakes, a free print-and-paint workshop for children and adults, and Otter Cove Children’s Museum activities for kids. A craft beer and wine tasting is planned for Saturday afternoon, and area nonprofits will serve food throughout the weekend. Admission is $8 for adults, while children 12 and under get in free. Free parking, shuttle service, accessible parking and an on-site ATM are part of the setup, and pets are not allowed in the festival area.

Saturday is set to begin with an opening ceremony at 11:50 a.m., followed by live music from Braedon Wallace, Nathanial Fronning and Blue Red Roses. Sunday will open with a community worship service before the singing competition. Singers interested in competing have until June 20 to apply, and the county says the final lineup of artists will be posted on the festival’s Facebook page before the event.

The event’s draw is not just cultural. Otter Tail County expects as many as 15,000 visitors over the two-day festival, a crowd that should send business to nearby gas stations, restaurants, lodging providers and other local shops as families make a weekend of it in the Underwood area. The festival has run since 1984 and is described by the county as one of the region’s largest fine arts and crafts events, with support in part from a Lake Region Arts Council grant.

Phelps Mill itself gives the weekend its sense of place. The mill was completed in 1889, served as a hub of economic activity for nearly 50 years, and closed in 1939. Otter Tail County bought the property in 1965, and the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Friends of Phelps Mill, formed in 1993 with the Otter Tail County Historical Society, continues to back preservation and interpretation efforts, keeping the landmark at the center of a festival that now blends history, music and tourism dollars in one of the county’s most familiar summer settings.