In the morning you wake to find crowds bustling around deciding what route to take, the smell of fried food is in the air and you stand there split between Matisyahu, Meat Loaf, or the legendary Buddy Guy. While you decided what show to place you money on as the choice of the night, you catch some of the greatest bands in the hot summer sun with an ice-cold beer in your hand. Are you dreaming? No, this is Summerfest, The World’s Largest Music Festival and millions across the country will spend their summer experiencing cloud nine like this.
Every summer, the Midwest is home to literally hundreds of festivals ranging from the obscure, to a festival strictly for the Bob Dylan fan in all of us.
One of the most obscure festivals is The World Famous Brat Fest right here in Madison.
“Brat Fest has always been about community.” Tim Metcalf said about his long running celebration of everything Bratwurst. “It’s the unofficial mark of the beginning of summer”
Brat Fest started in 1983 as a customer appreciation event. Tim Metcalf’s late father started the event, which was simply titled Brat Tent in the parking lot of their family grocery store. It quickly grew to take over the entire lot and in 2005 moved to the Alliant Energy Center.
From the beginning, the Metcalf family wanted to give back with their original event and do so in employing different charities and organizations to help execute this huge feat of feeding thousands of customers. To date, Brat Fest has raised $957,439 and will easily break the $1 million mark this year.
Along with the brats and beer, Brat Fest serves up the best of the best of Madison’s music scene. With multiple stages, there has been a band for everyone.
Just over the border the well-known Lollapalooza will be celebrating its twentieth year of rocking the masses in Chicago. Starting as a farewell tour for popular rock band Jane’s Addiction, Lollapalooza was to be the touring version of Woodstock. The original lineup included Siouxsie and the Banshees, Ice-T, and Nine Inch Nails.
The festival has seen its fair share of unfortunate events that questioned its future.
In 1994, Nirvana was set to headline the tour. Shortly before the tour was to begin, Nirvana abruptly canceled. The next day, lead singer Kurt Cobain was found dead from a gun shot to the head.
After having troubled times, Lollapalooza found itself at home in Chicago where it has attracted several music pioneers the their stage. The line-up for this year is still being assembled but is sure to be a huge celebration for its twentieth birthday.
The summer is known for good times with friends enjoying the hot summer sunshine. Festivals across the Midwest are highly conducive to the ideal summer lifestyle. Many of the biggest and best festivals this side of the Atlantic, are easily within a tank’s worth of gas and tickets are available at incredibly low prices. Support music this summer and experience music the way it was made for, the experience and enjoyment of live show.