9 Wisconsin Food Festivals You Don’t Want to Miss
No one packs more fun, food and festivals into a few short warm months than Wisconsinites. Of course, they don’t let the cold or snow stop them from a good party, either. Celebrations of their favorite food groups – beer, brats and cheese – seem like a given, but there are plenty of other food festivals to draw you to the Badger State, too. Here are nine great ways to eat, drink and be merry in Wisconsin.
Great Taste of the Midwest
Madison
Stunning Olin Park along the shores of Lake Monona serves as home to Great Taste of the Midwest, a massive beer festival that takes place in early August. The event features 1,400 beers from nearly 200 breweries from all over the Midwest. Local food trucks and community groups also set up shop to keep you full all day. Limited ticket sales, a well-laid out map and plenty of servers keep the lines moving at this enjoyable beer festival, so you won’t spend more time waiting for a fill than sampling great brews at this bucket list festival for beer lovers.
See more: Top 10 Craft Beer Cities Around the U.S.
Cranberry Festival
Warrens
The Warrens Cranberry Festival takes place the last full weekend in September in the epicenter of Wisconsin’s cranberry region. The state grows 60% of the country’s crop of these tart little berries, and this free festival features three days packed full of celebration honoring the Wisconsin state fruit. Don’t miss out on cranberry marsh tours and a massive parade. The festival also includes a huge flea and antique market, an arts and crafts fair, quilting demos, a pancake breakfast, and, of course, the biggest berry contest.
Brat Days
Sheboygan
The German pork sausage known as bratwurst is about as sacred a food as you will find in Wisconsin, and the free Brat Days festival in early August celebrates the cheeseheads’ favorite cased meat. Sure, you can get one boiled in beer and grilled up, but you can also try one on pizza, in an egg roll, in a taco and pretty much any way you never imagined you might enjoy it. This homage to brats also includes a massive parade, live music, a carnival, a 5K Brat Trot, petting zoo and more.
Strawberry Fest
Cedarburg
The streets of this charming, historic town just north of Milwaukee fill to the brim in late June with every iteration of strawberry food and drink you can imagine at the Cedarburg Strawberry Festival. In addition to all the strawberry treats, the event includes craft booths, live music, a rubber duck race down the river through town and a Sunday morning all-you-can-eat strawberry pancake breakfast. If you’re feeling adventurous, try a strawberry brat and wash it down with a beer in the beer garden or a glass of strawberry wine from the local winery. There’s also a Blues Bash, an ice cream sandwich eating contest and the “Nail It or Fail It” cupcake decorating competition. This tasty festival is the highlight of the summer for many.
Uncork Summer Food, Wine & Music Festival
Ellison Bay
Door County, the arm of the state that juts out into Lake Michigan, is a vacationer’s heaven in summer and fall. And the unofficial kick-off of the season in Door County happens at the Uncork Summer Food, Wine & Music Festival each June. The event takes place at an 1872 farmhouse-turned-inn-and-restaurant called Wickman House. Two dozen local restaurants serve up tasty bites while the local craft cidery, breweries and wineries dole out drinks. Live music and a gorgeous, woodsy setting make this a relaxing way to spend a day enjoying all the things that make Door County great.
Burger Fest
Seymour
This small town west of Green Bay claims to be the home of the hamburger. The story is that a local man smashed a meatball between two buns long before the likes of Ray Kroc. And so to commemorate the event, the town celebrates Burger Fest every August. During the festival, locals attempt to cook the world’s biggest burger and slide hundreds of feet down a slippery ketchup slide. There’s also a hot air balloon rally, hamburger eating contests, a parade, live music and an antique car show. It’s the perfect slice of small-town Wisconsin.
Apple Fest
Bayfield
Called one of the best harvest festivals in the nation, Apple Fest in October ushers in fall along the gorgeous shores of Lake Superior with orchard tours, apple picking, a parade, live music, a farmer’s market and more. Join the apple peeling contest or just stroll through the charming streets of this small Wisconsin town. Stick around for the massive fish fry and the mass band with over 400 members playing the state song. More than 60 booths serve up apple delicacies and other treats while 150 vendors sell arts, crafts and more.
River Falls Bacon Bash
River Falls
The River Falls Bacon Bash really does go whole hog with 35 different pork-tacular dishes, bacon trivia, pig calling contests, a bacon dash featuring runners in pig-themed outfits, and even a flying pigs event where plush oinkers go soaring off the rooftops. For two days in mid-September, this town in the western part of the state puts their snouts to the ground and revels in the slop, so to speak. Stuff yourself full of delicious food while listening to fabulous live music and participating in all the festival’s unique activities.
German Fest
Milwaukee
Wisconsin’s largest city is known as the City of Festivals, and the downtown lakefront festival grounds have a different festival cooking nearly every weekend of the summer. But since this is the city that beer built, let’s talk German Fest, where you’ll find plenty of pigs on spits, potato pancakes, bratwurst, schnitzel, sauerkraut and Black Forest Torte to fulfill every one of your German food cravings. Men in lederhosen, ladies in dirndls, lots of polka and, of course, all the beer make this the best German culture celebration outside Oktoberfest. From the large brass band playing their instruments on picnic tables to the live Glockenspiel that performs a few times daily, there’s something for everyone to enjoy at this three-day festival in late July.