It`s not that Milwaukeeans are unaware that Chicago has a lot going on in the summer. They know about events such as Taste of Chicago, the Air and Water Show and even some of the ethnic and neighborhood festivals. And many have fond memories of ChicagoFest.
But considering what Milwaukee itself has to offer, it`s not surprising that the city has become more and more popular as a getaway destination for Chicagoans.
Milwaukeeans, who like to party all year long but especially in the summer, have taken to calling their home the ”City of Festivals.” Each year hundreds of thousands of locals and visitors enjoy a true smorgasbord of fairs and festivals-events that range from ethnic festivals on a grand scale to neighborhood fairs with a more close-knit, intimate feel to them.
And the city is clean, relatively safe and has a variety of affordable hotels and restaurants that add to its allure as an ideal destination for a day or weekend trip. For Chicagoans, it`s an easy 90-mile drive, but for those who would rather not take the car, the train will get you there in about an hour and a half. Amtrak is adding at least one extra run on weekends and holidays to its special weekend festival train schedule through Oct. 27.
ETHNIC FESTIVALS
Milwaukee`s Amtrak station is just a short bus ride from the Henry Maier Festival Park at the lakefront (often called the Summerfest Grounds), the site of many big Milwaukee festivals. If you enjoy Chicago`s ethnic festivals, you will undoubtedly enjoy Milwaukee`s versions as well. This year these celebrations of music, dance, food, games and crafts kick off with Polish Fest, followed by Festa Italiana, German Fest, African World Festival, Irish Fest, Mexican Fiesta and Indian Summer.
The most popular is Festa Italiana, which last year drew nearly 168,000 people of all nationalities, who laughed at nose jokes and stuffed themselves with lasagne, spedini, cannoli and spumoni.
The festival organizers are promising a special treat for this year-a Christmas in July parade on opening day. The parade is a nostalgic re-creation of the Thanksgiving Day parade that was held from the 1930s through the `70s. The lead float will feature Santa Claus, his reindeer and local personalities. Artifacts from the early years of the parade will be displayed in a tent.
Two off-the-lake ethnic festivals worth noting are Annunciation Greek Festival and Bastille Days.
Greek Fest is a big draw because it offers delicious food, good music and the opportunity to tour the impressive Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, one of architect Frank Lloyd Wright`s last major works. Held on the church`s grounds, Greek Fest has grown over the years but still retains the charm and good spirits of a church picnic.
Bastille Days is a three-day downtown festival featuring French cuisine, bicycle races and a musical potpourri, including rock, pop and cajun bands. One unusual event at Bastille Days is the midnight fun run, in which runners and walkers can enjoy both the cool of the evening and the quiet city streets that have been blocked off for the event.
While it is not technically an ethnic event, the Wisconsin State Fair generates the same high spirits as the the ethnic fests. The 10-day celebration of Wisconsin`s best bills itself as ”The Days of Swine and Roses,” and you should allow at least a day to take it all in: exhibitions of prize-winning animals, crops and handicrafts; farming displays, from cow-milking to wool-spinning; demonstrations such as the veterinary surgical operation; racing pigs; strolling jugglers and clowns; a carnival; nationally known entertainment; and more than 200 food and games concessions including the infamous cream-puff stand.
NEIGHBORHOOD FAIRS
If you prefer your celebrations on a smaller scale, you can choose from more than 25 neighborhood fairs and block parties. Because Milwaukee is divided by river valleys, railroad freeway corridors and major streets, many neighborhoods, as in Chicago, have retained a distinctive blend of homes, businesses and cultures, which are celebrated at these events.
Juneteenth Day, for example, celebrates black culture with arts and crafts, dance performances, music and food. The community of Bay View, whose English, Scottish and Irish families settled there generations ago, turns out in force for the South Shore Water Frolics, a community institution since 1948 that features a lavish parade, beauty pageant and elaborate fireworks.
One newer neighborhood fair enjoying a great deal of success is the 5th Annual Best Block Party in the Historic Third Ward. The Third Ward, with eight major art galleries, three theaters and a dance company, likes to describe itself as on the ”cutting edge.” A showcase for new musical and artistic talent, the block party this year includes several hot reggae and R&B bands, a photography competition and an art installation competition, at which artists compete by decorating the windows of Third Ward shops, businesses and homes.
While you`re in the neighborhoods, you may also want to explore further by taking a self-guided walking tour. The Department of City Development has created a series of guides that let visitors sample, at their own pace, neighborhood restaurants, entertainment and attractions. Guides are currently available for Riverwest, Mitchell Street, the West Side and the Near North Side, with more in the works.
MUSIC, ART AND SPECIAL EVENTS
The ethnic festivals, large and small, are not the only parties going on in Milwaukee this summer. The city also offers a variety of arts, sports and entertainment events, from The Great Circus Parade to an outdoor performance of Beethoven`s Ninth Symphony.
Parades of all sorts are popular in Milwaukee, ranging from hundreds of neighborhood Fourth of July parades to the splashy City of Festivals Parade, where elaborate floats and thundering bands wind through downtown Milwaukee to Maier Festival Park. But for many, the best of the bunch is the Great Circus Parade, which last year drew more than 900,000 I-love-a-parade groupies. The parade, which was a popular but short-lived attraction in Chicago a few years ago, features wagons and animals from the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis. It wends its way through the streets of downtown Milwaukee, a colorful procession of 75 carefully restored horse-drawn circus wagons, wild animals, marching bands and flamboyant performers.
An eclectic ”rainbow” of entertainment is offered all summer long at the outdoor pavilion of Rainbow Summer, including country, jazz, bluegrass and classical music plus dance, mime and film.
Leading off Rainbow Summer this year is a special event, the June 8 Bridge Lighting Ceremony. A few years ago Milwaukee inaugurated Landmark Lighting, a project that has not only lit up architecturally interesting buildings and structures-the dome on City Hall and the top of the new 100 East Building, to name two-but has made Milwaukee a warmer and more inviting city after dark.
This year during the Lighting Ceremony, all five downtown bridges across the Milwaukee River will be lit for the first time. Afterward visitors are invited to a free party along the Riverwalk, the new promenade along the Milwaukee River featuring shops, floating restaurants and cabarets. The Riverwalk is also the home port of the luxury touring yachts Edelweiss and Edelweiss II, which offer lunch, brunch, dinner and cocktail cruises down the river and out into the inner harbor of Lake Michigan.
If you enjoy classical music, you will want to take in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, whose SummerNights concerts at the Performing Arts Center and venues throughout the city offer something for every taste-pops, classical, new age and jazz.
If you prefer trendier tunes, you can get your fill at Summerfest, Milwaukee`s 11-day, nationally known celebration of music, dance, comedy, sports exhibitions, water shows and children`s activities.
Today Summerfest is known as one of the premiere outdoor concert facilities in the nation. The 23,000-seat Marcus Ampitheater, for example, has the technical sophistication to accommodate any performing group. This main stage plus nine other stages offer national names in pop, rock, jazz, country, folk, new age, cajun and nostalgic music as well as up-and-coming local and regional performers.
Another important part of the Milwaukee arts scene is its growing visual- arts community. The city is home to an increasing number of galleries as well as the annual Lakefront Festival of the Arts, a three-day juried show presenting approximately 180 artists from around the country. Held on the grounds of the Milwaukee Art Museum, the exhibits represent a variety of media, including metal, fiber, painting, sculpture, wood and glass.
Water sports enthusiasts have not been overlooked in Milwaukee`s summer plans, and two events are especially noteworthy: Miller Maritime Days and the Unlimited Hydroplane Race. This year Miller Maritime Days, held near McKinley Marina on the lakefront, will feature excursion boat rides, tours of Coast Guard ships and a visiting tall ship, maritime exhibits, the Governor`s Cup sailboat regatta and a yacht race. Also on the Maritime grounds is Taste of Wisconsin, where 40 local restaurants serve up their specialties.
This summer the hydroplane racing circuit comes to Milwaukee with the Unlimited Hydroplane Race, the first such event on the Great Lakes. During a race, the three-ton boats roar around a two-mile course, often reaching straightaway speeds of more than 200 mph. The organizers say this is a fast-growing sport, and the Milwaukee race is expected to attract more than 150,000 spectators from around the Midwest.
Two other special groups get their own celebrations: seniors and children. Senior Fest offers events such as nostalgic music performers, a bowling demonstration and a frisbee-throwing contest. At Children`s Fest, kids of all ages can ride on a trolley or little circus train, paint their faces, decorate cookies and shriek on carnival rides.
AND DON`T FORGET…
In addition to taking in Milwaukee`s many summer festivals and fairs, you may also want to sample some of the city`s year-round attractions. The Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, usually called ”The Domes” because of its three seven-story domes, consists of the Tropical Dome, with plants from tropical rain forests; the Arid Dome, a re-creation of desert regions;
and the Show Dome, a showcase of seasonal floral gardens.
The Milwaukee County Zoo is internationally known for its naturalistic exhibits of rare and wild mammals, birds, fish and reptiles; children especially like the children`s zoo and miniature train that circles the grounds.
No visit to Milwaukee would be complete without a look into the city`s
”downtown renaissance.” With map in hand, you can design your own walking tour to see how developers have skillfully integrated new construction with existing buildings, many of which were built in the 19th and early 20th Century Flemish renaissance style.
Among the older buildings worth noting are City Hall, the Iron Block Building, the Grain Exchange Room in the Mackie Building and Old St. Mary`s Church. Some of the new buildings that are part of the city`s multimillion-dollar facelift are the Bradley Center sports and entertainment complex, the Milwaukee Center cultural district and the 100 East Building, a 37-story office tower with a riverfront restaurant.
Whatever you decide to do during your visit to Milwaukee, you will undoubtedly leave with the feeling of contentment and well-being that Milwaukeeans call gemutlichkeit. They take it as a compliment that their city is often called the ”largest small town in America.”
