Looking for things to do the weekend of July 29 through 31 in Milwaukee? You won’t have to look far. Plenty is percolating this hot, humid summer. Visit Milwaukee suggests a quartet of diversions this coming weekend. Beer, brats, and bonhomie – they’re all by the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Here’s what’s happening:
The Brady Street Festival brings live music, food, and even pro wrestling to what passes for the city’s former Hait-Asbury district. Brady Street is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Milwaukee. And Saturday, July 30 it will be rockin’ from 11am until 11pm. There are three stages of entertainment, some of them filled with local talent like Herman Astro, De La Buena, and Kings Go Forth. Browse the booths of a bunch of vendors: cheesemakers (this is Wisconsin), jewelry crafters, and potters. Then there’s the beer. There’s lots of it. Although if it’s hot (it’s late July folks) water is by far your best friend.
German Fest is another place where you’ll want to pack a roll of TUMS. Not that the food and drink aren’t wünderbar. They are. It’s just that you’ll be induced to indulge intensely. Consider the Eat-A-Thon. As many as 25 contestants scarf food over four days or nights. In the end one is left standing. This is billed as North America’s largest annual German festival. While the brew and brats are filling, you don’t have to overeat. Enjoy authentic German brass bands, stroll through the Marktplatz or just drink in the ambience of unbridled gemülichkeit (hospitality). Had enough of beer? Try some German Apple Wine. You’ll find the German Fest at 200 N. Harbor Drive. Fireworks light the summer night Friday and Saturday.
Milwaukee Brew Fest focuses on craft-brewed microbrews, more than 150 of them from across the planet. You’ll find them in the Old Coast Guard Pavilion Park overlooking Lake Michigan. Saturday, July 30 is the date, and $45 is the admission ($40 if you buy in advance).
Gallery Night & Day is for Midwesterners who love art. Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago are usually the magnets, but folks who live around the Great Lakes know that Milwaukee is an artistic enclave unto itself, a place of subtle treasures and muted masterpieces. The best way to see what the city has to offer is perhaps by hopping on the Gallery Night Xpress bus and perusing as many of the event’s 57 venues as you please. Admission is free for this July 29 and 30 array of all things artistic. Park cheap ($2) from 5pm Friday through 5pm Saturday in the Historic Third Ward’s parking structures at 212 N. Milwaukee St. and 225 E. Chicago St. One must-see venue is MIAD – the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. You’ll find it at 273 E. Erie St.
Easing access considerably to Milwaukee is this: the city’s Mitchell International is a focus airport for discount airline AirTran. Search and compare cheap flights to Milwaukee.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Christopher Webb)
