MILWAUKEE — Whether people went for the music or the food, many said that Summerfest this year was a hit.
Following the same three-weekend format as the past three summers, this year’s festival included a Fourth of July date.
“I try to come every year and I love it,” Jessie Watkins smiled. “It just brings culture together. Black, White, Asian, Hispanic. Everyone gravitates towards Summerfest.”
According to Milwaukee World Festival Inc., more than 624,000 people attended last year's festival, which is a 40% increase from 2022.
While attendance numbers have not yet been recorded for 2024, many local businesses felt the festival’s impact.
“It really picked up from Thursday to Saturday. Consistently for those days in a row this past month, it’s been an obscene amount of money,” Angela Heglund, the assistant manager at Broadway Paper said.
Down the block, on Water Street, City Social said the festival has been huge for getting people in their door as a new business.
“With the Summerfest crowd, we’ve had a lot of people coming in and new faces. Business has doubled,” Victoria Alvarez, a server at City Social, explained.
Along with new businesses, there was also a new Hop route this year that brought festival-goers closer to the gate.
The “Festivals Line” replaced The Hop’s existing operations from Sunday, June 16 through Saturday, July 6.
“I take it every day to take my mom to work. It was packed. There were a couple of days it was just packed full of people,” Alexis Boyers said.
Many attending the festival told TMJ4 they didn’t have complaints and were already looking forward to next year.
As for the businesses in the area, Summerfest is just the start of a very busy summer ahead.
“There’s a lot of room for us to grow and promote ourselves. We have the RNC, Jazz in the Park, and the Milwaukee Night Market. This is the hot spot to be,” Alvarez smiled.
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