Summerfest (also known as "The Big Gig") is a yearly music festival held at the 75-acre (300,000 m2) Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The festival lasts for 11 days, is made up of 11 stages with performances from over 700 bands, and since the mid-1970s has run from late June through early July, usually including the 4th of July holiday. Summerfest attracts between 800,000 and 1,000,000 people each year, promoting itself as "The World's Largest Music Festival," a title certified by the Guinness World Records in 1999.
Line Up for Summerfest 2012 include:
Aerosmith
Steve miller band
The avett brothers
Rascal flats
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Iron Maiden & Alice Cooper
Common
Tiesto
Paul Oakenfold
Foo Fighters
Kelly Clarkson
Cheap trick
Cake
Scorpions
Lupe fiasco
Gary clark jr.
ZZ Top
Head and the heart
Robyn
Eric benet
Phil vassar
Joss stone
David Gray
Awolnation
Brantley gilbert
Tito rojas
Kool and the Gang
Gavin degraw
Atmosphere
Grace potter & the nocturnals
Halestorm
Mutemath
Fitz & the tantrums
The joy formidable
La india
Anthony Hamilton
All That Remains
Big time rush
Iron maiden
The beach boys
Zac brown band
Neil diamond
Lady antebellum
Joe walsh
Ziggy marley
Kellie pickler
The bodeans
B-52s
Sublime
Hanson
Chevelle
Cowboy mouth
The walman
Jimmy cliff
Gov’t mule
Civil twilight
Mayer hawthorne
Devotchka
Skillet
We came as romans
Motion city soundtrack
Art of dying
Hollywood undead
Tune-yards
Squeeze
Trampled by turtles
Summerfest is run by the non-profit organization Milwaukee World Festival, and features both local and nationally known music talent from a variety of music genres. The event also provides the opportunity to sample a wide variety of food from many Milwaukee-area restaurants. Other Summerfest attractions include comedy acts, shopping vendors, fireworks (including "The Big Bang" on opening night), other special attractions, family activities and more. Live musical acts are offered on 11 stages throughout the grounds from noon to midnight, including the 23,000-capacity Marcus Amphitheater. All shows are free with an admission ticket, with the exception of headlining acts at the Marcus Amphitheater. Admission is between $8.00 and $15.00, depending on the time of day. There are numerous promotions for discounted or free tickets.
Summerfest has been most famous for its music, ever since the first festival in 1968, when acts such as Ronnie Dove, The New Colony Six, and Up With People performed. In 1969, Led Zeppelin performed (see Midwest Rock Festival). Since then, musical acts from Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, and James Taylor to Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, and Nine Inch Nails have graced the Summerfest stages. Acts with Milwaukee and Wisconsin connections have had a prominent history at Summerfest, most notably the BoDeans, The Gufs and Violent Femmes.
The concerts have been mostly civil events, with two notable exceptions. In 1970, a performance by the late-arriving Sly & the Family Stone nearly resulted in a riot, and in 1973 a performance by Humble Pie & the Blackberries did result in a riot, along with a bonfire and about 300 arrests. As a result of the latter concert, organizers shied away from rock bands for several years, and established guidelines for "family-friendly" acts and a ban on alcohol brought in by patrons. Though Summerfest never became the ethnic festival Henry Maier envisioned, other ethnic festivals are held at the festival grounds throughout the summer and into autumn. Some of these events include Polish Fest, Festa Italiana, German Fest, African World Festival, Irish Fest, Mexican Fiesta, Indian Summer, Asian Moon Festival, Arab World Fest, PrideFest, and several run/walk charity events.
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