We're sorry, but we couldn’t find any events. Try updating your location and date range, or use more general keywords.
About Summerfest
Summerfest hardly gets its due as one of the foremost summer festivals as it brings together a mind-boggling amount of music, comedy, and entertainment all in one location. The world's largest music festival (officially certified by the Guinness World Records in 1999) descends upon the grounds of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Henry Maier Festival Park every summer to offer more than 1,000 performances for nearly 1 million people.
The annual festival has been going strong since the late 1960s. In fact, the first Summerfest was held in July 1968 and included some 35 different venues, which hosted concerts, puppet shows, a film festival, and even a polka festival. By 1970, the event took over a large swath of land on the shore of Lake Michigan, which has since been named after Milwaukee's then-mayor Henry W. Maier. Summerfest has been held here ever since, and occurs over 11 days in late June and early July.
Even in its early years, the "Big Gig" has attracted some major names, including Dolly Parton in 1969, Sly and the Family Stone in 1970, and George Carlin in 1972, the year the comedian was famously arrested after performing his legendary "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" bit. Since then, the festival has evolved quite a bit, including the addition of 11 permanent stages, like the 23,000-capacity Marcus Amphitheater, which opened in 1987 with a performance by The Beach Boys.
Summerfest continues to host some of the biggest names in music and comedy. Past headliners include The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Prince, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Along with the major acts, several local and emerging artists also get a chance to perform. There's even an "Emerging Artists Series," which pits up-and-coming talents against each other as fans vote for their favorite performance on Twitter. Past winners include Walk the Moon and Nathaniel Rateliff.
One of the best things about Summerfest is that it's not only the world's biggest music festival but one of its most affordable ones, too. It's well worth a trip out to Milwaukee to try some local food and beer, catch some rays, and enjoy some of today's greatest artists.
Had a great time at Summerfest this year, learned TWO things - Heart can still rock out and if you forget to print your ticket before you get to the gate, they can scan the bar code on your smart phone. Also, check out the tiki hut. Its such a great place to chill and listen to hippy music.
Walking around watching all sorts of different bands was really fun but watch Sick Puppies and OAR live was def. worth the price of admission. I would strongly suggest going to this event if you have the opportunity to.
Third eye blind was amazing to watch because I've been wanting to see them for the longest time. But it was absolutely terrible because it was extremely difficult to see them. This is because for some stupid reason they decided to put down benches in the crowd. Yes they were nice to sit on before the show but as soon as it began people would stand on them making it almost impossible to see. I would go back but only of this problem was fixed.
Was very good! We both had a blast. Went there just to see Maroon 5, But enjoyed all sorts of other acts too. Dory Drive was good, great voice, hoping they will go far. Fitz and the tantrums were good to very energetic which was a plus. One down side was that Maroon 5 should have been in the amphitheater There was so many people and so very crowed that a band that big should have had a bigger venue. they put on one great show though and was very pleased.
