City Mouse is the only band on the Rock Bend Folk Festival roster to have played every year since the festival’s inception.

This year, Rock Bend’s Sweet 16 to kick off Saturday in St. Peter, will be no exception. Frontman Billy Steiner is looking forward to playing the Pavilion stage Sunday afternoon like he has every year.

“We always love the festivals,” Steiner said. “They always have a warm atmosphere to them, a communal feeling ... especially the Rock Bend. It’s become my favorite since the demise of People’s Fair.”

Rock Bend takes place in Minnesota Square Park, and the setting is always beautiful, he said. St. Peter, in general, has the right vibe to hold a festival, he said.

Steiner attended Gustavus Adolphus College and started City Mouse in 1971 during his junior year. So he likes going back to the city to play shows.

Apparently, so do a lot of other musicians from across the country. Each year Rock Bend receives a couple of hundred applications from bands who want to perform there.

“We listen to lots of music and we vote,” said John Ganey, president of the Rock Bend committee. “We like to have a variety.”

It’s a common misconception that the Rock Bend “Folk” Festival is all about folk music, Ganey said. “Folk” means people, and festival organizers make that clear each year when they go through the arduous process of selecting the 20 or so acts to fill the festival’s two-day schedule.

They pay close attention to the diversity of the lineup, ensuring new acts are offered every year that represent different genres of music.

Among the new performers this year are the Hmong dancers, bluegrass band Pert’ Near Sandstone of the Sandstone area, and Everett Smithson of the Twin Cities who play swamp rock, blues and rockabilly music.

For a touch of blues, Big George Jackson of the Twin Cities is new this year. Tom Paxton, who has received numerous accolades for his folk music over the years, also is new.

“Pete Seeger says he’s like Woody Guthrie,” Ganey said.

Pat Donahue, called one of the best finger pickers in the world, will make his debut at Rock Bend Saturday.

“As Ron (Arsenault, of City Mouse) says,

‘He makes me want to break my guitar,’”