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Summerfest (also known as "The Big
Gig") is a yearly music festival
held at the 75-acre (300,000 m2)
Henry Maier Festival Park along the
lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
USA. The festival lasts for 11 days,
is made up of 11 stages with
performances from over 700 bands,
and since the mid-1970s has run from
late June through early July,
usually including the 4th of July
holiday. Summerfest attracts between
800,000 and 1,000,000 people each
year, promoting itself as "The
World's Largest Music Festival," a
title certified by the Guinness
World Records in 1999.
Line
Up for Summerfest include:
Aerosmith
Steve miller band
The avett brothers
Rascal flats
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Iron Maiden & Alice Cooper
Common
Tiesto
Paul Oakenfold
Foo Fighters
Kelly Clarkson
Cheap trick
Cake
Scorpions
Lupe fiasco
Gary clark jr.
ZZ Top
Head and the heart
Robyn
Eric benet
Phil vassar
Joss stone
David Gray
Awolnation
Brantley gilbert
Tito rojas
Kool and the Gang
Gavin degraw
Atmosphere
Grace potter & the nocturnals
Halestorm
Mutemath
Fitz & the tantrums
The joy formidable
La india
Anthony Hamilton
All That Remains
Big time rush
Iron maiden
The beach boys
Zac brown band
Neil diamond
Lady antebellum
Joe walsh
Ziggy marley
Kellie pickler
The bodeans
B-52s
Sublime
Hanson
Chevelle
Cowboy mouth
The walman
Jimmy cliff
Gov’t mule
Civil twilight
Mayer hawthorne
Devotchka
Skillet
We came as romans
Motion city soundtrack
Art of dying
Hollywood undead
Tune-yards
Squeeze
Trampled by turtles
Summerfest is run by the non-profit
organization Milwaukee World
Festival, and features both local
and nationally known music talent
from a variety of music genres. The
event also provides the opportunity
to sample a wide variety of food
from many Milwaukee-area
restaurants. Other Summerfest
attractions include comedy acts,
shopping vendors, fireworks
(including "The Big Bang" on opening
night), other special attractions,
family activities and more. Live
musical acts are offered on 11
stages throughout the grounds from
noon to midnight, including the
23,000-capacity Marcus Amphitheater.
All shows are free with an admission
ticket, with the exception of
headlining acts at the Marcus
Amphitheater. Admission is between
$8.00 and $15.00, depending on the
time of day. There are numerous
promotions for discounted or free
tickets.
Summerfest has been most famous for
its music, ever since the first
festival in 1968, when acts such as
Ronnie Dove, The New Colony Six, and
Up With People performed. In 1969,
Led Zeppelin performed (see Midwest
Rock Festival). Since then, musical
acts from Bob Dylan, Tina Turner,
and James Taylor to Christina
Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, and Nine
Inch Nails have graced the
Summerfest stages. Acts with
Milwaukee and Wisconsin connections
have had a prominent history at
Summerfest, most notably the BoDeans,
The Gufs and Violent Femmes.
The
concerts have been mostly civil
events, with two notable exceptions.
In 1970, a performance by the
late-arriving Sly & the Family Stone
nearly resulted in a riot, and in
1973 a performance by Humble Pie &
the Blackberries did result in a
riot, along with a bonfire and about
300 arrests. As a result of the
latter concert, organizers shied
away from rock bands for several
years, and established guidelines
for "family-friendly" acts and a ban
on alcohol brought in by patrons.
Though Summerfest never became the
ethnic festival Henry Maier
envisioned, other ethnic festivals
are held at the festival grounds
throughout the summer and into
autumn. Some of these events include
Polish Fest, Festa Italiana, German
Fest, African World Festival, Irish
Fest, Mexican Fiesta, Indian Summer,
Asian Moon Festival, Arab World
Fest, PrideFest, and several
run/walk charity events.
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