One of Milwaukee‘s little nicknames is The City of Festivals. Not a very catchy name, but I certainly didn’t come up with it. Blame someone else. It’s certainly warranted though, because Milwaukee absolutely explodes with celebration during the summer season. The city is buried under snow the rest of the year, so there’s energy to burn once the sun comes out.

I’m trying to make it a point to go see more of the festivals this year, because I never really got out and did that before. I’m looking at the festival schedule for this year and… it’s really obscene. Excluding little church/school festivals, the list of places I want to go is pretty long, especially for someone that lives a fair distance from downtown and doesn’t have a car. Henry Meier is easy to get to, but gallivanting all over the city is harsh. Still, this is my ideal list…

• RiverSplash (June 5-7)
• PrideFest (June 12-14)
• Polish Fest (June 19-21)
• SummerFest (June 25-July 5)
• Bastille Days (July 9-12)
• German Fest (July 23-26)
• Arab World Festival (August 7-9)
• Irish Fest (August 13-16)
• Indian Summer Festival (September 11-13)

To say I need to pare down my list would be a massive understatement. At least BlizzCon doesn’t happen at the same time as any of those, so that’s not a factor in deciding where I go. I do need to fit this Milwaukee Food Tour in there somewhere, though.

I’ll let you know how my decision process goes. If there are any Milwaukee folk in the audience, any suggestions? Are any of those a must-see? Any that aren’t worth the trip? Polish Fest is probably a for-sure on that list. My heritage and all of that. Pretty much everything else is up in the air.