I love Summerfest. I mean I REALLY LOVE Summerfest. Anyone who has had the opportunity to talk to me for more than 15 minutes in any sort of conversational settings knows this, as does nearly anyone who has seen me out on a casual day – darn near every shirt I have heralds my favorite hometown music festival. My eyes light up just writing about it now.
Maybe you don’t know me, or maybe you’ve somehow otherwise escaped my “Summerfest is the greatest thing in the world” rant. Just in case, you can find more at the Wikipedia entry here or the main Summerfest page here. In my own words, however, Summerfest is truly the most awesome event in the world. For nearly two weeks, from noon to midnight, people from all over the country (nay, the world!) come to Milwaukee’s lakefront to listen to musicians on 12 different stages, eat a variety of local cuisines, drink beer, and people watch. The throngs of happy people brought together in their collective love of this great event has brought me to joyous tears more than once, and restores my faith in humanity.
I’ve attended the “Big Gig” every year for the last 31 years (since I was six), missing only one year when I was out of the country for a foreign exchange program. I grew up on the playgrounds that have transformed from wood to plastic over the years, watching David Seebach’s magic show. I worked at the local WKLH t-shirt booth one summer in High School. I always made a point to come back for a few days, if not the whole 12 days, when I was at school in Madison, and now that we live in Las Vegas, we still make the pilgrimage every year. Heck, we even scheduled our wedding around Summerfest (and “honeymooned” there)! Sure, I don’t go on the playground anymore, and my liver can’t handle going to the festival for more than 3 or 4 days (and not more than 2 in a row) but it’s a tradition that I plan on keeping alive until I die.
With less than a week to go, I am getting excited. We’ve arranged a house-sitter, bought the flights, hotels, car rentals, and even prepurchased festival tickets (I bought them in January online). This year, we are planning on seeing a lot of the old mainstays – Styx, REO Speedwagon, and O.A.R. – and with a little luck, we will catch one of the mega-shows at the Marcus Amphitheater, too. I remember when you could get in to the general admission seats there for free, with handstamps that were easily replicated using Tide laundry detergent. Even now that you have to pay for them, $40 for a show like Katy Perry (or even Def Leppard) is a small price to pay compared to Las Vegas or other metropolitan concert venues. I’m sure to get some of Venice Club’s eggplant strips (a tradition almost as old for me as Summerfest itself), and I can guarantee we will drink copious amounts of beer. If you’re down there this year, keep an eye out for me, Summerfest’s number one fan!
