Lakes Jam

What Lakes Jam does

Lakes Jam is an annual outdoor music and entertainment festival founded in 2013 and operated from Brainerd, Minnesota. It serves Midwest-based country and rock music fans through a 4-day event held at the 600-acre Brainerd International Raceway (BIR), averaging approximately 10,000 daily attendees with 4,000 campers on-site. The festival positions itself as "More Than A Music Festival" by combining 30+ bands across 5-6 stages with motorsports entertainment (watercross, drifting, mud trucks), interactive tournaments (poker, bean bag), and curated activities (campsite decorating, costume contest, ATV/UTV parade).

The product portfolio spans General Admission and VIP passes (single-day and 3-day), tiered camping from free general sites to $439+ full-hookup RV sites, Stage View Condos at $5,500+ per package, parking passes, vendor booths, and merchandise. Lakes Jam does not operate a proprietary technology platform; its digital stack relies on third-party providers including SeeTickets and Eventim for ticketing, Shopify for merchandise, Showit for web hosting, and LightFolio for photo delivery. The festival is operated by a small core team with substantial volunteer support.

Revenue is generated through diversified one-time sales across ticketing, camping, parking, lodging, vendor/sponsorship fees, merchandise, and on-site experiences (e.g., $200 drifting entries, $20 bean bag tournaments). Distribution combines digital self-serve ticketing with extensive in-person retail presence through 41 Menards locations, 12 Cash Wise Liquor stores, Kwik Trip, Weichert Realty (military discounts), and Fractional Toys. The go-to-market motion is community-led, leveraging Pre-Jam party events at 15+ regional Minnesota bars, an Ambassador referral program, volunteer recruitment, social media, and email/SMS lists. Customer segments include individual music festival-goers, military personnel (via $79 discounted 3-day passes), premium experience seekers, and B2B vendors and sponsors.

Name

Lakes Jam

Legal name

Lakes Jam

Website

https://lakesjam.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lakes Jam is an annual 4-day outdoor music and motorsports festival held at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota, founded in 2013. It serves Midwest country and rock music fans by combining 30+ bands across 5-6 stages with watercross, drifting, mud trucks, and on-site camping for an average of 10,000 daily attendees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brainerd

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Ticket and Pass Sales: Primary revenue stream from sale of General Admission (GA) and VIP passes for single-day and 3-day festival access. GA and VIP tickets are sold online through SeeTickets and Eventim platforms and at partner retail locations (Menards, Kwik Trip, Cash Wise Liquor). Military discount passes available at $79 + tax in-person. Ambassador discount codes provide $10 savings on 3-day passes.
2. Camping Fees: Revenue from Reserved Campsites ($199-$299 + tax), Full Service Campsites ($439+ tax), camping wristbands, and camping vehicle passes. General camping is free but requires a camping wristband and vehicle pass. Single-night camping is available for 2026.
3. Vendor and Sponsorship Fees: Non-food vendor spaces priced at $850 for 20'x20' with $75 electricity add-on; exclusive vending available for $2,200 subject to approval. Sponsorship tiers include Presenting Partners, VIP Partners, Stage Partners, Partner Bar Partners, Video Screen Partner, Tribute Night Partner, Wheelie Bar Stage, and Official RTD Cocktail Partner. Vendors receive promotion to 20,000+ Facebook followers and 10,000+ email contacts plus 2 daily GA passes.
4. Parking Passes: Revenue from advance 3-day parking passes at $50+ taxes/fees and daily parking at $25 cash per vehicle per day. Premium front row parking near Concert Bowl available at $90+ taxes/fees. Wednesday parking is free.
5. Stage View Condos: Luxury condo lodging packages at $5,500 + Tax for Wed-Sun (4 nights). Each package includes 14 transferable wristbands, 2-bedroom/2-bath condo with full kitchen, living room, fireplace, and wrap-around balcony overlooking the main stage.
6. ATV/UTV/Golf Cart/Bike Passes: Mandatory vehicle passes for ATVs, UTVs, golf carts, pit bikes, and street bikes to operate within the campground and event property, plus required signed waivers and flag requirements.
7. Merchandise: Festival merchandise sold through a dedicated merchandise tent near the Concert Bowl and via the Lakes Jam Shopify store (lakes-jam.myshopify.com).
8. VIP Experiences: VIP pass upgrades providing exclusive VIP area access, free tap beer/soda/water, discounted drinks, complimentary catered dinners (Thursday/Friday/Saturday), VIP eating area, souvenir mug and lanyard, and VIP-only bathrooms. VIP backstage tours (limited to 12 participants) hosted by Smiles for Jake.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Lakes Jam is an annual four-day outdoor music festival held at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, featuring 30+ country and rock artists across 5-6 stages, alongside motorsports entertainment (drifting, watercross, mud trucks), on-site camping across 4,500+ campsites, VIP experiences, and ancillary hospitality and merchandise offerings.

Product overview

Lakes Jam is an annual outdoor music festival held at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota, offering a unified ticketed event experience centered on country and rock music. The core product is the Festival itself with GA and VIP admission passes providing access to 5-6 performance stages with 30+ artists. The product portfolio includes camping accommodations (Full Service, Reserved, and General options across multiple themed campgrounds), parking passes, and luxury Stage View Condos. Add-on experiences include motorsport entertainment (drifting, watercross, mud trucks), poker tournaments, bean bag competitions, Meet & Greets, and VIP Backstage Tours. Supplementary offerings include a podcast series, Pre-Jam Party events at regional venues, and an online merchandise shop. The festival serves approximately 10,000 daily attendees with 4,000 campers across its 600-acre venue.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lakes Jam Festival
• General Admission (GA) Passes
• VIP Passes
• Camping & Campsites
• Parking Passes

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 190 artist performances delivered across 10 years of operation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Confidence Learning CentercoreOthersPrimary philanthropic partner of Lakes Jam. The festival has helped raise over $100,000 for Confidence Learning Center since its inception. Confidence Learning Center embodies the true spirit of giving and is dedicated to serving individuals with developmental disabilities.
• Smiles for Jake MissionminorOthersSuicide prevention movement that spreads positivity through life-affirming actions and listening ears. Lakes Jam supports this mission. Smiles for Jake also hosts the VIP backstage tours at Lakes Jam.
• Jacob's VoiceminorOthersNon-profit organization working to prevent cyberbullying by raising awareness and providing resources to teens, families, and communities. Lakes Jam supports this mission.
• Baia Della Italian KitchenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides the VIP catered dinner menu for Lakes Jam. VIP dinners include Beef Tips (Thursday), Fajita Night (Friday), and Ribs (Saturday) served from 5 PM to 7 PM in the VIP tent. Beer hours Thu/Fri/Sat from 2 PM to 11:45 PM.
• Visit BrainerdcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal tourism organization providing information and lodging coordination for Lakes Jam attendees. Coordinates the complimentary hotel shuttle service from partner hotels to the event venue. More than 10 hotels within 10 minutes of Brainerd International Raceway provide complimentary shuttle service.
• Baymont Inn & Suites (Brainerd)minorOthersPartner hotel offering lodging for Lakes Jam attendees. Located near Brainerd International Raceway. Part of the complimentary hotel shuttle route. Phone: 1-800-337-0550 or 1-218-822-1133.
• Days Inn & Suites (Brainerd)minorOthersPartner hotel offering lodging for Lakes Jam attendees. Part of the complimentary hotel shuttle route. Phone: 1-800-225-3297 or 1-218-829-3080.
• Arrowwood Lodge (Brainerd)minorOthersPartner hotel (formerly The Lodge at Brainerd Lakes) offering lodging for Lakes Jam attendees. Part of the complimentary shuttle route. Phone: 1-218-822-5634.
• Super 8 Baxter/BrainerdminorOthersPartner hotel offering budget lodging for Lakes Jam attendees. Part of the complimentary shuttle route. Phone: 1-800-454-3213 or 1-218-828-4288.
• Country Inn & Suites (Brainerd)minorOthersPartner hotel offering lodging for Lakes Jam attendees. Part of the complimentary shuttle route. Phone: 1-800-830-5222 or 1-218-828-2161.
• AmericInn by Wyndham (Baxter Brainerd)minorOthersPartner hotel offering lodging for Lakes Jam attendees. Part of the complimentary shuttle route. Phone: (888) 312-2398 or +1-218-833-2062.
• Listen Local MNminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPodcast presenting partner for the official Lakes Jam Podcast. Listen Local MN is a local music promotion organization that co-presents the behind-the-scenes festival podcast.
• Rockhouse Productions / Tommy VeecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduction partner for Lakes Jam. Tommy Vee of Rockhouse Productions is featured as the first guest on the Lakes Jam Podcast, sharing stories of working with major artists. Rockhouse Productions provides the production team that sets up the main stage (requiring 20 people, two days to prepare the stage deck and roof from two semis).
• Brainerd International RacewaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue host for Lakes Jam. The 600-acre motorsports facility provides the Concert Bowl, campgrounds, road course, and lake for all festival activities. Lakes Jam is held on the grounds of Brainerd International Raceway at 5523 Birchdale Road, Brainerd, MN 56401.
• Brainerd Lakes Area Poker LeagueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizes and runs the daily poker tournament at Lakes Jam. Open to 36 players per day (Thurs, Fri, Sat) in the VIP Tent. Contact: Shawn Pittman at [email protected].
• JamPack (Hotel Package Partner)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvides integrated hotel package booking widget on the Lakes Jam website for Lakes Jam 2025, allowing attendees to book lodging packages directly through the event site.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Summerfest: Long-running multi-week music festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Comparable genre mix (country, rock, pop) and regional Midwest audience, but operates on a substantially larger urban venue without multi-day camping.

Direct peers

• Country Fest (Cadott, WI): Multi-day country music festival with on-site camping in Cadott, Wisconsin. Comparable in format, regional Midwest footprint, and camping infrastructure.
• Country Thunder: Multi-location country music festival with camping (Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Iowa, Florida). Directly comparable multi-day country festival format with camping, VIP tiers, and motorsports-adjacent entertainment.
• Winstock Country Music Festival: Country music festival with camping in Winsted, Minnesota. Same regional Minnesota audience, same country format with camping — direct head-to-head for local festival-goers.
• Watershed Festival: Annual country music festival with camping at the Gorge in George, Washington. Comparable multi-day country lineup with camping, VIP tiers, and multi-stage programming.
• Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival: Multi-day multi-genre music festival with on-site camping in Manchester, Tennessee. Comparable large-scale camping festival model with diverse programming and VIP/GA tiering, though at substantially larger scale.
• Rock Fest (Cadott, WI): Multi-day rock-oriented music festival with camping in Cadott, Wisconsin — owned by the same operator family as Country Fest. Directly comparable camping-music festival model targeting overlapping Midwest attendees.
• Stagecoach Festival: Country music festival with camping in Indio, California. Comparable premium-tier camping festival format with multi-stage country programming and VIP experiences.
• Faster Horses Festival: Country music festival with camping in Brooklyn, Michigan. Comparable multi-day country format with on-site camping and similar demographic targeting.
• Moondance Jam: Annual multi-day country/rock music festival held in Walker, Minnesota with on-site camping. Most direct comparable — same region, same genres, same camping-festival format, and similar scale of lineup and amenities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lakesjam
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lakesjamofficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/LakesJam
• Instagraminstagram.com/lakesjam
• TikToktiktok.com/@lakesjamofficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lakes-jam

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lakes Jam