Even though Milwaukee and its surrounding suburbs have no shortage of great summer festivals, it’s always nice to get away from the city for a few days to explore other parts of the state (and beyond).
When hitting up some out-of-town music festivals during your summer travels, you might be happy to learn there are still some ways to get your Milwaukee music fix while attending fests elsewhere. Should you want to enjoy some familiar sights and sounds while festing outside the city, here are five non-local music festivals that are known to have Milwaukee representation each and every year.
Blue Ox Music Festival
Since its 2015 outset, Blue Ox Music Festival has brought an array of world-class artists in the bluegrass, Americana, and roots music realms to a sprawling parcel of land in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Some past performers include Bela Fleck And The Flecktones, Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Sierra Ferrell, Band Of Horses, Margo Price, Greensky Bluegrass, Jason Isbell, The Avett Brothers, Colter Wall, The Sam Bush Band, Drive By Truckers, and more.
Through the years, there’s also been a wealth of Milwaukee-sourced talent in Eau Claire for the three-day affair. Past performers with local relevance include the likes of Chicken Wire Empire, Buffalo Gospel, Valley Fox, Dead Horses, Joseph Huber, and Long Mama. Now approaching its 10th installment—coming to The Pines Music Park from June 26-28—the 2025 Blue Ox will find Milwaukee’s own Ben Mulwana, Ladybird, and the return of Long Mama joining nationally-regarded talent on this year’s lineup.
Green Bay UFO Invasion Fest
When Exclusive Company’s Green Bay location closed in 2022, Titletown’s independent record store needs were quickly filled by Green Bay UFO Museum Gift Shop And Records. The following summer, the inaugural Green Bay UFO Invasion Fest took place, with Milwaukee’s own The Crosses headlining and fellow Milwaukee outfits like Holy Shit!, Tim Schweiger, Toadskin, and Florida Brothers Band also taking part in the first-year undertaking.
The Milwaukee-to-Green Bay pipeline (booked by Wisconsin punk scene great Tom Smith) repeated last year and will continue again in 2025’s edition, scheduled to take place at Badger State Brewing on Friday, July 25 and Riverside Ballroom on Saturday, July 26. Over the course of the weekend, headliners Boris The Sprinkler and Smart Shoppers will get Milwaukee music support from Devils Teeth, Lavish Waste, The DUIs, Combuster, Florida Brothers Band, and Sex Scenes.
HomeGrown Music Festival
Even though people from West Bend probably tell people they’re from Milwaukee when they’re on vacation, the Washington County seat is a full 40 miles away from Milwaukee proper, which is a 45-minute drive on a good day. Still, West Bend is close enough to Milwaukee to draw from the city’s talented pool of musicians for each and every HomeGrown Music Festival. Since 2015, the event that celebrates “all-indie, all-original, and all-Wisco” music has looked to the south when filling its lineup.
This year’s installment—set to take place in Regner Park in West Bend July 12-13—features Milwaukee representation from Zach Pietrini, Valley Fox, and Joseph Huber. Previous HomeGrown fests have featured locals like The Midnight Purchase, Marielle Allschwang & The Visitations, The Nile Club, Chris Haise Band, Brett Newski, Trapper Schoepp, Driveway Thriftdwellers, Nickel & Rose, Chicken Wire Empire, Buffalo Gospel, Listening Party, and Jay Matthes.
Mile Of Music
Since 2013, Mile Of Music has brought hundreds of bands, rappers, and solo artists from all over the country to dozens of spaces in downtown Appleton annually for a completely free festival. For the entirety of its existence, the upstart and musician-focused entertainment experience has made sure to populate a significant portion of its lineup with acts from Milwaukee. We’ve tried to keep tabs on the event’s local ties every year of Milwaukee Record‘s existence.
While the lineup for this year’s Mile Of Music—July 31 through august 3—has yet to be completely revealed, we’ve already seen a great deal of Milwaukee performers announced as participating. Included in the festivities so far are: Listening Party, Ben Harold & The Rising, Chris Haise Band, Modern Joey, Allison Mahal, The MilBillies, NilexNile, Social Cig, Driveway Thriftdwellers, Zach Pietrini, Lost Orange Cat, Devils Teeth, Moonglow, Holy Pinto, Mizzy, Reyna, The Delta Routine, and Valley Fox. As always, we’ll post the full Milwaukee lineup (and the daily schedules of Milwaukee acts) once all the performers have been revealed.
Yoop! Fest
Finally—both alphabetically and because it takes place outside of Wisconsin—we come to Yoop! Fest. The “two-day underground music festival in the heart of the Keweenaw” that’s produced by Kitschy Spirit Records has brought bands from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan to the U.P. town of Calumet every September since 2021. Though we don’t yet know the lineup for Yoop! Fest 5 (or whether it’s even coming back), prior festivals have featured a ton of Milwaukee-based bands, including the likes of Ressurectionists, Delicious Monsters, Robits, The Stinkeyes, Chi Chi’s Restaurant, Chinese Telephones, Gorilla Knifefight, Habitat For Insanity, Holy Shit!, Iron Pizza, Jinksie, and Peroxide.