Earlier this week, we posted our annual summer festival guide. The extensive collection of fests, fairs, music series, block parties, and other in-person happenings is a massive (and regularly updated) list that attempts to round up and capture what’s going on in the “City Of Festivals” between the months of May and September.
This year’s list features many longstanding festival season favorites, a few newcomers to Milwaukee’s summer event calendar, and even a few revived or rebranded entertainment undertakings. Though the 2026 list remains as massive as ever, there were also a few festival casualties since last year’s guide was posted. As we get ready for another summer festival season, we figured it would be a good time to look back at some (a.k.a. not all) former Milwaukee festivals.
African World Festival
Bay View Wine Fest
Verge Music Festival
Arab World Fest
Pabst Street Party
Fantasticon
Dummerfest
Awesome Con
Breadfest
Milwaukee Carnival
Eastside Music Tour
Arte Para Todos
Gloss Weekend
Kramp & Adler Comedy Festival
Milwaukee International Film Festival
Cream City Comedy Festival
Midwest Rock Festival
Riverwest Fest
Milwaukee Midsummer Festival
Nightmare On Center Street
Fromm PetFest
Milwaukee Noise Fest
Triple Eye Industries Fest
Bay View Frolics
M’WOKY Pops Festival
RiverSplash
Indian Summer Festival
Rockesha
Not Just A Phase Fest
Tasty Fest
World Of Beer Festival
River Rhythms
Filth Fest
IndiaFest Milwaukee
Milwaukee Firkin Beer Fest
Winterfest
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