"I made it:" Man dubbed 'King of Summerfest' attends festival for 200 consecutive days



MILWAUKEE -- His friends know him as the "King of Summerfest," and for good reason.

Michael Webb



He blends in with the crowd, but don't let that fool you: Michael Webb just may be the crowned king of Summerfest attendance.

"Eventually I'll probably be in a wheelchair or cane and I'll still be coming down here," said Webb.

Back in the mid to late 90s, Webb says he was making it to Summerfest eight or nine times each year. He decided it was time for a challenge.



"I thought I'm going to try and do the whole entire year without missing a day," Webb said.



For those keeping score at home, the music festival runs for 11 days each summer.

"So I made it like 10 days in a row and I was tired and broke on the 11th day and never made it," Webb said.

Despire falling short, Webb redoubled his efforts and gave the challenge another run the following year.

"I made it all 11 days and I thought this isn't so bad. So after that I thought I'm going to try a five-year plan -- see if I can do five years in a row," said Webb.

Pretty soon that milestone was in the rear-view mirror, and Webb still didn't miss a day.

Michael Webb



"We did a 100 party about 10 years ago," said Connie Craig, friend.

The streak is now in its 19th year -- Webb hit his 200th consecutive day of Summerfest attendance on Thursday.

"I probably could have bought a house for what I spent here, maybe not a good house, but...," said Webb.

As for why he keeps the streak going, Webb says he simply loves music.



"I even bought a brick about four or five years ago and it's over right in front of the piano there and so even after I'm gone, I'll still be here," said Webb.



Webb's retired now, but you may be wondering how he used to make the streak fit in with work. He says he would pair his vacation time up with his days off to make sure he could get to Summerfest every day -- and he says he's never spent less than three hours on any one day.