Decades of festival highlights: Summerfest celebrates 50th edition with series of historical exhibits

MILWAUKEE -- In honor of Summerfest’s 50th edition, Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. is excited to announce Summerfest 50, a retrospective of Summerfest’s history presented in partnership with the Milwaukee County Historical Society.

After 50 years of bringing the Milwaukee community and beyond together, Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance has a proud story to tell. The astonishing line-up of artists and musicians is a huge part of it, but the festival’s history also embodies community tradition and a strong passion for bringing people together to celebrate summer.

The exhibit will illustrate decades of festival highlights through large graphic panels, interactive components and displays of original posters, banners, and vintage memorabilia. Visitors can expect to dig deep into Summerfest’s history, from its “founding fathers” to the world-class musicians that make it the festival it is today.

In an effort to best share this historical celebration with the community, there will be three components to the exhibit:

April 26 – May 8: Racine Public Library
May 10 – May 22: Brown County Library
May 24 – June 5: Sheboygan County Library
June 7 – June 17: Wisconsin Historical Society
June 20 – June 26: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries

Because the best storytellers are the fans themselves, Summerfest and Milwaukee County Historical Society invite the public to help curate the exhibit in the months leading up to the opening. Visit Summerfest.com or milwaukeehistory.net, to fill out a submission form if interested in donating artifacts, documents, or photographs that may be appropriate for the Summerfest 50 collection.

To build extra excitement for this year’s festival, a special open house happy hour event will be hosted on June 14 at the Milwaukee County Historical Society from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. as part of the kick-off to River Rhythms Summer Concert Series in Pere Marquette Park. To learn more about Summerfest’s history highlights, view our timeline through the decades at Summerfest.com.

Sponsors of the series include Pick ‘n Save, American Family Insurance, Derse, and Johnson Controls, Inc.