It seems that summer has returned to Milwaukee and with it, there are a myriad of summer festivals. For the past couple of years, many organizations have been leery of having large gatherings due to the pandemic. Some festivals continued with extra precautions, while others canceled altogether. But this year, most of our favorite, local festivals have returned.
Milwaukee Record recently released its summer festival guide, and cofounder Matt Wild shares more.
Here is a roundup of some of this summer’s many festivals and events:
June
"That for me is kind of like the unofficial beginning of like the big festival season. PrideFest, of course, takes place on the Summerfest grounds, Henry Maier Festival Park, that is June 2-4 and that kind of kicks things off ... and from there, it's just full force every other week," Wild explains.
- Summerfest
July
- Lakefront Fireworks
"Bastille Days is gonna be a little smaller this year than it had been in previous years. It's been off since the beginning of the pandemic. There was no Bastille Days in 2020 or 2021. So they'll be back this year with kind of a smaller budget. They won't have the giant Eiffel Tower that's being repaired, I believe, at this point," says Wild.
- Park Jazz in the Park
- The Milwaukee Air & Water Show
- Riverwest 24
- German Fest
- Milwaukee Brewfest
August
"State Fair is just this wonderful, delightful, weird, wild, great thing where you can get stuff on a stick, see live music, see some lumberjacks and see some dogs jumping in water and you know, also like renew your hunting and fishing license all at the same time," says Wild.
- Black Art Festival MKE
- Center Street Daze Festival
- Irish Fest
- Bloody Mary Festival
- Mexican Fiesta
