The first time I ever experienced this city, it was for the first ever Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues Festival, way back in the 1990s.
I am sure you’ve heard of this amazing rock n roll festival before, which would bring in over 100,000 visitors every year! That was not the case for the first festival, of course, which was much smaller and more intimate, but as a small-town kid, hear the rock n roll being played at the festival blew my mind.
Ever since then I knew that once day I would get out of my small neighborhood and make it to Sioux Falls, where there was culture. There was no culture in my town, but Sioux Falls had dozens of great museums, art galleries, bookstores, and everything else that interested me, but when I turned 18 and was done with high college my best neighbor Max and I packed our few belongings into a van with the intent of starting a new life in Sioux Falls. Until my great friend and I found jobs, my great friend and I lived in that van, but thankfully by the second week Max had landed a great job with a local Heating, Ventilation and A/C supplier. It was just grunt work, carrying tools and moving Heating, Ventilation and A/C device to toil sites, but the pay was decent. The following week I got a job with the same Sioux Falls supplier, and suddenly my great friend and I had enough money to rent an apartment, and since then I have been laboring strenuous to save up money, so I really don’t get to experience the culture of Sioux Falls as much as I would like.