It might surprise you to learn that one of the longest-running music festivals in America takes place every summer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Summerfest has been going on since 1968 at Henry Maier Festival Park near Lake Michigan. It has billed itself as “The World’s Largest Music Festival” by aggregate attendance since 1999 (it was a Guinness World Record!) and even though it was surpassed 15 years later, it remains one of the more popular and wildly diverse festivals in the space to this day.
Case in point: The 2024 lineup includes headliners Lil Uzi Vert, Maroon 5, AJR, Keith Urban, Tyler Childers, Illenium, Mötley Crüe, and Kane Brown (along with one mystery guest), as well as a who’s-who of music stars from country to rock to pop to rap and everything in between. If you want to see Mariah The Scientist and The Wallflowers in the same place, Summerfest is for you. Some other names that jump out in no particular order: Goo Goo Dolls, Brittany Howard, Toosii, Jamila Woods, Ken Carson, Ethel Cain, Bryson Tiller, Cold War Kids, and Living Colour.
Single-day general admission tickets are $28, while three-day tickets are currently $62. Nine-day passes are $130. That’s good value. You can find more information at summerfest.com.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.