The 2023 Bell Tower Festival kicks-off on Thursday with the fundraiser meal.

Bell Tower Festival Chair Philip Heisterkamp says this year’s theme is “Live Your Legacy” and he explains the theme is based on “23’s” with the year being 2023 and NBA legend Michael Jordan’s jersey number of 23.

“And he’s largely recognized as the G.O.A.T. of basketball, the Greatest Of All Time. We’re using Michael Jordan, his number, and the term ‘Live Your Legacy’ as our theme. Last year, we celebrated 150 years of Jefferson’s existence, that was a nod to the past, this year we’re trying to salute the future and saying, ‘Let’s live our legacy, the best life we can live right now, today.’”      

As for Thursday evening, Heisterkamp says “A Night on the Square” will be an outdoor dinner served under the sun shades along Lincoln Way. Heisterkamp points out that not only will people enjoy a nice meal, but there’s an extra incentive for people to win tickets to concerts and games.

“The festival has to be able to give something to someone. And so we’re into being able to give away these A+, grade A experiences such as front row experiences to concerts. So we have tickets to Chris Stapleton when he comes to the Wells Fargo Arena (in Des Moines) here in July. We have tickets to the Iowa/Iowa State football game in Ames this year, very down close to where the action is. We’re doing tickets to a Minnesota Vikings game either when they play the (San Francisco) 49’ers or the (Kansas City) Chiefs in Minneapolis or both, doing that as well.”  

“A Night on the Square” begins with a social hour starting at 5pm, followed by dinner and desserts at 6:15pm. The event will end with musical entertainment and the raffles. Tickets for the dinner are $50 each, $100 for a couple, or a table of eight is $400. You can sign up for a limited seating by clicking here.