Milwaukee: City of Festivals
What’s your favorite cuisine? There might just be a festival for that in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this summer! On tap are: Bastille Days, Festa Italiana, German Fest, African World Fest, Arab World Fest, Irish Fest, Mexican Fiesta and Indian Summer — all take place near the shores of Lake Michigan.
First up is Bastille Days, starting Thursday (July 8, 2010) and running through Sunday (July 11, 2010). Attractions are not only a 43-foot replica of Paris’ Eiffel Tower, but beignets (sort of like a French-fried doughnut). This year, the festival celebrates its 29th anniversary as North America’s largest outdoor French-themed festival. The celebration of the French Independence Day (which is actually July 14) takes place in at Cathedral Square in downtown Milwaukee.
Festa Italiana, the nation’s largest Italian-American festival, celebrates its 30th anniversary at Henry W. Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee. Sample the wide variety of Italian food July 15-18, 2010. In fact, 20 local and national chefs will be demonstrating their favorite Italian recipes and providing tastings. There’s a cannoli-eating contest July 17, and a pizza-making contest for children on July 18.
Grab a stein and cool off with your favorite brew at North America’s largest annual German festival! German Fest celebrates the culture of Germany as well as Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein and other German-speaking communities across the world. Indulge in naschen July 22-25, 2010, in Festival Park. Over the four-day festival more than 20,000 Usinger’s Famous Bratwursts will be consumed. Five tons of potatoes will be made into potato pancakes, and another 10,000 pounds of sauerkraut will be served. No, Road Trips Foodies, NOT the kind you find at the grocery store, but honest-to-goodness original German Fest sauerkraut. (It’s made from a secret old-world recipe of cabbage, apple-wood bacon, fresh cored whole apples, brown sugar, onions and caraway seeds.) And then there are the 35,000 pieces of pastry, tortes, strudel and kuchen for dessert!
The African World Festival is a celebration of heritage and culture held in Festival Park August 1, 2010. Arab World Fest, August 6-8, 2010, is one of the largest Arab-American cultural celebrations in the United States. There’ll be everything from shish kebab and falafel to baba ghanoug on the menu.
Irish Fest, the world’s largest Irish festival, brings the cuisine of the Emerald Isle to Milwaukee’s lakefront. Take a day trip to Ireland August 19-22, 2010, at Festival Park. Explore the sights and sounds of Mexico by taking part in the Mexican Fiesta August 27-29, 2010. Give the jalapeño eating contest a try or visit the Tequila Expo to learn about the drink that made Mexico famous. Indian Summer, the largest Native American festival in the United States, is September 10-12, 2010, in Festival Park.
For more on visiting Wisconsin’s largest city, go online.
