Providing the right kind of entertainment for different types of events to make sure that everyone attending has a great experience can be a hard task. Managing and recruiting so many different acts can also be challenging, especially during a pandemic.
Tim Stevens of G.L. Berg Entertainment provides entertainment for all types of business parties, cruises, and conferences, but his favorite to work with is the fair industry. He explains how he got started in the entertainment industry and how his “entertainment that works” philosophy helped him navigate the COVID pandemic.
“My start in the entertainment world was as a performer in a band called The Memories,” says Stevens. “ I put a band together that played at wedding dances and that kept progressing. And a couple of years later, we performed at local fairs up in the Dunn County area.”
Stevens adds that he was aware of his local fair but didn’t know there was a fair convention that represented all of the fairs in the state. In 1978 gentlemen from a production company approached him and took the band to the Wisconsin Association of Fairs Convention and they began performing all over the state.
Being a part of his band is what led Stevens into association with Gary Berg, where G.L. Berg Entertainment comes from. Berg started the agency and as it was growing asked Stevens to be a part of it. He has now been working full time with G.L. Berg for over 25 years.
“We have what we feel is a very strong roster of a big variety of performers,” explains Stevens. “We have everything from variety acts to musical groups of many different genres. We understand that every fair will not have the same needs so we try to make sure we have something for everyone, no matter where you are or how old you are.”
G.L. Berg Entertainment has a working relationship with about 100 performers, with about 25 of those being exclusive. They strive to have performers that are able to work in multiple markets, not just the fair market. Stevens says that they are lucky when it comes to recruiting new entertainment thanks to their reputation and work across the country, that many seek them out.
“Being involved for a lot of years, I’ve seen some different things that have come and gone and then there’s others that have stayed pretty stable. “Back in the late seventies or eighties, a good quality family entertainer was popular and they still are today.”
Some things that he says have changed over the years in popularity are acapella groups. When the agency first started booking, much of their roster were stage acts whereas today it is a healthy mix of stage and strolling or street performers.
When the pandemic hit, his role shifted to being a “cancellation office.” He spent the majority of his time handling cancellations, postponements, and rescheduling. He noted that they canceled the contracts with no cancellation fee and asked the fairs to roll the contract over for the next year.
“Luckily, our leader, Mr. Gary Berg, had put us and the agency itself in a good financial position that we were able to sustain,” says Stevens. “Nobody was making money, but we were able to get through it all, and keep our doors open.”
2022 was a big year for G.L. Berg Entertainment but Stevens says the fair market specifically in 2023 is looking to be a banner year. He encourages community members to support not only their local fair but the industry as a whole as it not only benefits the performers but fairs offer so much in return.
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