The worlds largest Irish festival every years is held down at the Summerfest grounds on the Lake…read more I highly recommend anyone of Irish heritage to make this event at least one time in their lives. It is hard to believe a town like Milwaukee has a better tradition than Boston, Chicago, New York or Savannah when it comes to a true Irish festival....but they do.....this is why Milwaukee is known as "the City of festivals" and this one is the King. Great drink, great music, fun people and a 4 day party starting usually the 3rd week in August. I hope to see fellow Yelpers out at Irish Fest and some of the other great festivals Milwaukee has to offer............."slainte"

Meat raffles!…read more Sketchy carnival rides! Polka bands! Cudahy! If you didn't grow up in Cudahy, then you've probably never been to Sweet Applewood Fest. This was my first time and it was everything I expected from a festival in Cudahy. It's like a church fest without the religion - you got your brats, the traditional Friday Fish Fry and Sunday Chicken to eat and beer to drink. Music is generally cover bands, there are tents in case of rain and beer is probably more expensive than it should be (but if you bought 4 beer tokens you got one free, so props to that). It all benefits the Cudahy Lions Club which is cool. People watching is absolutely epic. Also, the cleanest Portajohns I've ever experienced as well as a proper hand wash station. Say what you want about Cudahy, but they're clean in the toilet department.

This was the 5th Annual Bloody Mary Festival held at the Aurora pavilion on the Summerfest grounds…read more They had VIp offers which you could enter early but we chose the 11:15 time frame. We got there early which was a plus. The lines got really long later. We brought our own muffin tins to hold the drink. There were many local vendors and you could go back as many times as you wanted. They had photo ops and other vendors such as distilleries. It was pretty fun. The only thing was beer chasers were $10. Other than that, the samples were all free.

I am not sure what happen to this festival, I was highly disappointed in the 2026 Festa Italiana…read more This fest used to be awesome every stage lit up with music filled with people, this is not the case anymore, the assortment of food was very disappointing, we came up from Chicago to spend the weekend and enjoy the fest, but I couldn't even find an Italian Ice stand!!!!! Come on at an Italian fest and no Ice!!! This is nothing like it used to be 10 years ago. I will not be back. I gave it two stars just because the grounds are amazing but the fest needs to a huge improvement or I will never come back.

My first Festa Italiana in over 10 years and it's still an okay fest. I found free street parking…read morenearby- but most parking within easy walking distance is just $8. Buy tix ahead of time online to save a few bucks, or check for deals, like bringing in a red Sendik's bag for free admission. This small fest is nice that it's not that crowded, and has a mix of Italian cultural elements, with normal entertainment options. I enjoyed getting caught up in a parade with the UW marching band, Festa dignitaries in old cars, some Firenze drill team, and oversized puppets. There's lots of wine here, but few good beer options. Food options are limited and fairly pricey. I had a good but small entree of lasagna w/vodka sauce from diCarlo's, and also some excellent roast corn. Of the better non-Italian entertainment, the Heart cover band Dog 'n' Butterfly was excellent, and Gin Blossoms weren't bad, as their set overlapped an excellent fireworks display that could be heard for miles and miles, apparently.

Made my way to Bastille Days once again! There was live music. Drums being played. The French…read morebulldog rescue station was quite the attraction. Tea leaf readings and henna was also present. This visit I munched on "Squid on a Stick" and "Waffle on a Stick". The Squid was NOT a favorite dish. The "Candy Cloud" was my absolute go-to dessert at the festival. Whipped cream, cotton candy, maraschino cherry and an array of confetti crumbles made a delicious bite. The gumbo at Bastille Days is NOT as good as my Grandmother's gumbo but worth a try.

I love when Bastille Days comes to Milwaukee. The Storm the Bastille 5K is one of my favorite runs…read moreof all time. So special and you can just feel the community. Tons of good bites and lots of cute little shops. Always a must on the summer bucket list.

For many years, the Holiday Craft Fair from was held at the State Fairgrounds on 84th St. the…read moreweekend of Thanksgiving from Friday through Sunday. For the past 2 years, the show has moved to the Milwaukee County Sports Complex in Franklin. It is probably close in size to the previous venue, but with free parking and easier getting in and out compared to the fairgrounds. Year to year, the shows can vary - some craftier than others. While it is targeted for the middle-aged types who like to decorate their homes with handmade crafty items, it is pretty diverse. Among the vendors you'll find gutter guards, insurance, basement waterproofing and windows. Then there are vendors offering non-crafty items like candy, nuts, even a homemade ice cream stand. For the record, 2013 was not one of the craftier years. We managed to cover the floor pretty quickly. Some of the vendors we always love to see, like "The Nut Man" who sells bulk nuts and chocolates, were there. Other vendors we liked sold hand-crafted ornaments, pillowcases or decorative magnets made from vintage-looking bottle caps. It's interesting to see, even if you're not in the market for something decorative for the home. Still, we always leave with something, a gift, even if it is small. For us Thanksgiving weekend is craft fair weekend and this is usually one of the better ones out there.

A smaller fest than most, good for trying unique ciders and those that don't get distributed in…read moreMilwaukee. We had free tix (thanks Yelp MKE), enjoyed the fest but felt it could be easily improved. I did enjoy a lot of samples of ciders not distributed in Milwaukee. Loon Cider Co. Honeycrisp, The Cider Farm (Mineral Point). This fest was also advertised as having Nano brews, and sadly there weren't many offerings of those to earn that advertising. The pint glasses should be reduced to 4 or 6 oz sample glasses, since the organizers gave strict instructions to vendors to keep pours small. (The vendor's words). Many of us were not expecting a muddy grass field or for the chill tent to be muddy, lots of fashionable shoes were worn and ruined, so wear you Wellies or old garage cleaning sneakers. There really is enough pavement real estate to have this whole fest on the streets since Schlitz Park is empty on the weekends. We enjoyed a snack of pistachio pudding, but more food trucks would be nice. Bring your own pretzel necklace. It was nice that this fest wasn't so crowded, so waits for pours were minimal. This fest has promise, with improvements.

Came to the inaugural MKE Cider Fest. As a guest. Had a great time talking with some of the brewers…read moreand plenty of volunteers. Shout out to Erick, Ricky R. at tent 1 The VIP package allowed an early admission and premium giveaways. The entertainment was good. Someone even planned for the Badger game. We tried plenty of samples bearing the cold. The walled tent really helped to cut the wind. Three food trucks were placed too far from the tent with tables. I'd guess if your food wasn't warm you didn't run fast enough. I hope they coordinate this for next year especially when it's cold. I'm not a fan of hot spiced cider but this would have been a hit along with Hot cocoa tea and coffee. Extra crispy brass band is a local favorite Milwaukee band. Food 4 good selection from 3 vendors The placement of the food to places you can eat were not very well planned. Ambiance 3 rain or shine event. So dress accordingly. Service 4 Location 4 Value 3 64/2015

I have been to nearly all of Milwaukee's lakefront ethnic festivals, and Mexican Fiesta is by far…read moremy favorite one. The food is superb, the music electic, the crowd diverse, and the atmosphere extremely friendly and accessible. Mexican Fiesta, more so than Milwaukee's other ethnic festivals, is all about authenticity. For instance, you may hear some Italian at Festa Italiana, and some German at German Fest, but Mexican Fiesta is totalmente en espanol. There are dance contests. Mariachi bands with four guitarrists, four violinists, and four trumpeters, for a grand total of 12 band members. Freakin' awesome! Mexican Fiesta is put on by Mexicans for Mexicans. Those of us who aren't Mexican are just visiting. Everyone is welcome, of course, but this is a Mexican party through and through.

Mexican Fiesta. Hmm…read more Well, it was ok. First off, you should probably know Spanish. Mine understanding is so-so, which makes the festival not as fun. Secondly, the food was kinda watered down in my opinion. Nachos? Tacos? Boring? I expected more flava. Also, I don't eat meat so it was SLIM PICKINGS. I ordered something called a banana dumpling expecting a sweet dish only to find it was full of rice and beans. Woulda been helpful if there had been a description. Third, you should have a mullet. Or wear an offensive tee shirt against women. Then you'll totally fit in. We payed 26 dollars for the two of us to enter, then spent 36 dollars on nachos(without meat), Mexican corn (freakin delish), Sil's donuts, a pork shish ka bob, a dumpling I threw away, and soda. It was over priced to say the least. And you have to purchase tickets which is crap. Would I go again? Hell no. I will walk down the street to GTO's and save 35 dollars and probably enjoy the food more.