Bob Dylan’s northern Minnesota heritage is in no doubt, but invariably there are squabbles over who really gets to claim Dylan. He was born in Duluth, where he lived until he was six. The family then moved to his mother’s Iron Range hometown of Hibbing where he was raised and graduated high school. So technically, Dylan is a Duluth “native” whose “hometown” is Hibbing.
There’s no sense in fighting about it, which is the model that these two towns are adopting as they figure out how to celebrate the music and influence of the infinitely most famous person to ever come from these parts. Duluth is holding its third annual Dylan Fest while Hibbing holds its 13th annual Dylan Days. These organizations have synced their schedules so that visitors to northern Minnesota can enjoy 10 solid days of music, arts and Dylan history from May 17-26.
It’s called the North Country Dylan Celebration. I’ve been involved in organizing Dylan Days in Hibbing since 2001 and remain a co-chair and literary journal editor. If this works out we might continue to do it this way for a long time. Duluth has the hotel space and music scene; Hibbing has Zimmy’s and the unique history of Dylan’s musical and lyrical development. It’s a great combo.
Go below the jump for the full schedule of events. Expect new things to be added as the days draw nearer. More…
The May 18 “Duluth Does Dylan” show sounds fantastic and you can’t beat the Singer/Songwriter contest in Hibbing on Dylan’s birthday on May 24. A lot of young guitarslingers come to town to make a name for themselves.
Read more about Duluth’s Dylan Fest and Hibbing’s Dylan Days.
Historical fiction.