Fall is so beautiful in Wisconsin; the colors pop, making our city come alive! And guess what? Here in Milwaukee, we don’t let the cooler temps keep us from throwing a party or two, so the festivals don’t stop just because summer ends!
September
Taste of Mequon
Mequon – September 9
A fun family festival that’s full of music, games, and fun for the whole family. The annual TosaFest includes a village of local food vendors and a kids’ area with bounce houses, a petting farm, a climbing wall, and games! The festival also includes a music lineup of local bands for entertainment.
Frank Mots Int’l Kite Festival
Milwaukee (Veteran’s Park): September 9-10
Fly your kites high with the rest of Milwaukee on a special day by the lakefront!
Glendale Oktoberfest
Glendale (Heidelberg Park): EVERY WEEKEND IN SEPTEMBER AND FIRST TWO WEEKENDS IN OCTOBER
This event is the oldest and most authentic Bavarian Oktoberfest in the Midwest…just north of Milwaukee in Glendale, Wisconsin. Oktoberfest, modeled just like the one held in Munich, Germany. Continuous entertainment includes traditional German brass bands, Schuhplatter folk dancing, singing, yodeling, sing-alongs, traditional German eats such as spanferkel and rollbraten, German beer, and dancing for everyone. This is a kid-friendly festival with children’s carnival games. Heldweekends in the Fall! Free admission!
Harvest Fair
Milwaukee (Wisconsin State Fair Grounds): September 29-October 1
A bounty of fun for everyone. Free Admission. Fun activities for kids of all ages include pumpkin bowling, scarecrow making, decorate your own cookie, Great Lakes Timber Show, amusement rides, the famous State Fair giant slide, and more! Come hungry and ready to shop! Many of your favorite State Fair vendors are open during Harvest Fair. Grab your kiddos and pick out your family pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch, and don’t forget your Elegant Farmer pies!
Apple Harvest Festival
Waukesha (Retzer Nature Center): September 23
Come for apple pies, apple crisp, and caramel apples; stay for nature and the family memories. Add in arts and crafts, children’s activities, scarecrow lane with a scavenger hunt, passport expeditions on the Discovery Trail, a craft fair, planetarium shows, self-guided nature hikes, and you’ve got a real winner.
Bay View Bash
Bay View, (KK between Potter and Clement): September 16
A community festival of food, art, music, crafts, books, and community organizations. Striving to be a zero-waste festival!
Wine & Harvest Festival
Cedarburg (Festivals of Cedarburg): September 16-17
Spend a sweet, end-of-summer weekend in the country in Historic Cedarburg during the Annual Wine & Harvest Festival. Both the abundance of Wisconsin’s homegrown produce and artisan food products plus the award-winning wines of Cedar Creek Winery are what initiated this free, family-oriented arts and crafts event.
October
Oktoberfest
Cedarburg (Festivals of Cedarburg): October 7-9
A perfect weekend in October at Oktoberfest includes authentic German music, German cuisine, beer, polka dancing, glockenspiel shows, fun contests, art, and more!
November
Trainfest
They will not be holding a 2023 Trainfest
Join the Fun at Trainfest, America’s largest operating model railroad show. Find the adventure this year when kids from 5 to 99 can run the trains at many of the railroads. There are so many opportunities for both kids and adults to be more hands-on than ever before!
