MILWAUKEE — Bastille Days, Milwaukee’s popular French festival and one of the nation’s largest French-themed celebrations, is back in Milwaukee’s Cathedral Square Park.
The free four-day festival attracts more than 250,000 visitors annually who enjoy live music, an international marketplace, chef and wine demos, French and Cajun cuisine, roaming street performers and a signature 43-foot Eiffel Tower replica offering hourly light shows.
"We love coming to Milwaukee," said Wendy Middleton, the leader of Madame Gigi's Outrageous French Cancan Dancers. "This is the largest Bastille Day Festival in the U.S. It's exciting to be part of it. Especially for more than a decade now. Milwaukee is very welcoming to us," she said.
"I love the performers, wire walkers and magicians," said Amanda Gierach. "And the French bread I'm eating is so good! It's really cool to see everyone coming together and enjoying themselves."
"There's this real feeling of being in Paris," said Jayne Schmerling. "I love it."
The newest feature of this festival is The Hop. Milwaukee's street car pulls up right beside the mock Eiffel Tower.
"There's this real feeling of being in Paris. I love it." — Jayne Schmerling
"I love that now I can take The Hop," said Natalie Frankel. "We parked far away and took the streetcar. It was busy. A lot of people had the same idea."
