Summer is always a busy season in Milwaukee as we try to squeeze in as many activities as possible during the best time of the year in the Midwest. But summer of 2024 was different, with the Republican National Convention and the now-annual Harley Homecoming Festival crammed into a full Milwaukee summer calendar.
Now that the kids are back in school, let’s take a look back on a few of the large-scale events that highlighted this crazy Milwaukee summer.
The RNC will go down as the most significant event in Milwaukee in 2024, but it was a mixed bag. Many downtown restaurants that were expecting a surge in business during the convention were extremely disappointed. The tight security perimeter around the area near Fiserv Forum inhibited RNC attendees from exploring the rest of the city. Others were bused in and out of the city from hotels in outlying areas. Much of downtown Milwaukee felt dead during the RNC as many locals stayed away to avoid the craziness.
But many businesses did benefit from the RNC. The area’s hotels were packed while charging high rates. Additional flights were added at the airport. Numerous event venues were booked. Other service providers like caterers, florists and dry cleaners did well.
Few if any other events would require such tight security, but if Milwaukee ever hosts an event like the RNC again, greater effort must be taken to get attendees out and about.
As an annual event, the Harley Homecoming festival didn’t attract nearly as many Harley riders as it had every five years. But huge crowds, including many locals, attended the Jelly Roll and Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts at Veterans Park. It will take time to establish Milwaukee as an annual must-visit destination for Harley riders. But if the event can become anything like the annual Harley rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, it will have a tremendous impact on the region’s economy.
Wisconsin State Fair and Summerfest, Milwaukee’s biggest annual events, are trending in opposite directions.
The State Fair set a new attendance record of 1,136,805, up 9% from the 2023 State Fair.
But Summerfest attendance this year was down 11% to 555,925. Attendance at Summerfest remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Summerfest attendance peaked at more than 1 million in 2001 and 2002 when Elizabeth “Bo” Black was executive director. She aggressively promoted Summerfest to maximize attendance. Her successor, Don Smiley, took a different approach, de-emphasizing attendance and seeking to improve the overall Summerfest experience with numerous facility improvements and other upgrades, but also a more expensive event for attendees.
Now led by Sarah Pancheri, Summerfest should consider some changes to increase attendance. A good start would be bringing back the traditional 11-day run rather than the three-weekend format of recent years, and scheduled for 2025.
