Food fests
The best events all across the state.
Wisconsin produces a lip-smacking feast of foods, everything from apples to wild rice, with cranberries, cherries, corn, morels, watermelon, brats and maple syrup just a few others on that list.
And every single one of them is the focus of at least one festival somewhere in the state.
But if you’ve been to even a few food fests, you know they’re not all created equal. Sometimes the namesake food is, well, mostly an excuse to throw a big town party.
But the rare exception — the fest that celebrates its title food in a big way— is worth adding to your summer bucket list. Not only can you get your fix of a favorite food, you can also tuck into a colorful slice of Wisconsin culture.
All six food fests profiled here live up to this billing. One is coming up soon; the others are in August and September.
So pick one, or more, grab the family or a carload of party-loving friends, and plan a seriously delicious road trip.
CEDARBURG STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL
When & where: June 23-24, downtown Cedarburg
If you love fresh Wisconsin strawberries — and who doesn’t? — this is the fest for you. Fest manager Elizabeth Albers said an estimated 100,000 people descend on this city of 12,000 every year.
Get your berry fix: So many ways! Strawberry shortcake (a fest favorite), strawberry lemonade, strawberry brats (a fest original), strawberry chicken wraps, strawberry milk, strawberry beer, strawberry pie, slushies, crepes and chocolate-covered strawberries. New this year: strawberry kringle, strawberry brat corn dogs and — making a return appearance — schaum torte with strawberries.
You can also buy fresh strawberries to take home, and there’s a Sunday morning strawberry pancake breakfast.
Take up the challenge: Strawberry shortcake eating contest, anyone? There’s also a bubble gum blowing contest, a strawberry ice cream licking contest, a cupcake decorating contest (new) and a 5K Berry Big Walk/Run.
Kids’ stuff: The kids’ area in Cedar Creek Park has pony rides, a petting zoo, bounce houses, clowns and rubber ducky races in the creek.
Other draws: Live music, more than 300 artist vendors, a beer garden.
Fun fact: The festival was started in 1986, with strawberries as the theme largely because the Cedar Creek Winery made a strawberry blush wine. It still does, and it’s sold throughout the festival.
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday (live music until 8:30), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Tickets & more: Admission is free. Shuttles are available from Fireman’s Park and Cedarburg High School.
BURGER FEST
When & where: Aug. 10-11, Seymour (in Outagamie County, 18 miles west of Green Bay)
Seymour started this festival 30 years ago to honor its claim as the birthplace of the hamburger. According to the story, in 1885 one Charlie Nagreen (known now as Hamburger Charlie) smashed the meatballs he was selling at the Seymour Fair between two pieces of bread to make them easier for fairgoers to eat, thus “inventing” the hamburger.
Get your burger fix: Every year a 200-pound burger is prepared on a specially built grill. The giant burger takes about four hours to cook before it’s flipped, slid onto a bun, cut into wedges and served. Regular-size burgers can be purchased throughout the grounds.
Whenever the town’s record for world’s largest hamburger is broken, the fest organizers press their giant 24-by-24-foot grill into action. (That won’t happen this year — Seymour’s record 8,000-plus-pound burger holds.)
Take up the challenge: Check out the Giant Ketchup Slide, a 200-foot Slip-n-Slide-style run coated with watered-down ketchup. Steel your stomach for the hamburger eating contest. Or sign up for the 5K Bun Run. Fest president Steve Kemp said he’s also hoping to bring back the giant bun toss contest (hurl like a discus) and grill toss this year. (The latter employs a Weber grill welded together.)
Get in the know: Check out the Seymour Community Museum featuring hamburger memorabilia.
Kids’ stuff: There’s a children’s area with games, inflatables and other activities. Strolling the grounds will be a magician, as well as a local citizen dressed up as Hamburger Charlie, who hands out candy hamburgers to kids.
Other draws: The fest runs concurrently with the annual hot-air balloon rally in nearby Rock Lodge Park. There are also a World’s Largest Hamburger Parade and a car show.
Fun fact: Other towns in the U.S. claim to have originated the hamburger, but according to Kemp, Seymour is the only one with supporting documentation dating back to 1885.
Hours: 4-9 p.m. Friday, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: Admission is $5. Kids 12 and younger get in free.
BRAT DAYS
When & where: Aug. 3-4, Kiwanis Park in Sheboygan
Of course, there’s a festival devoted to Wisconsin’s favorite sausage, dating back to 1953. And naturally, it’s in Sheboygan, home of Johnsonville, which happens to be the fest’s title sponsor.
Get your bratwurst fix: Thousands of basic grilled brats are sold at the festival every year. But why stop there? Food vendors are required to make bratwurst the main ingredient in dishes they sell. As a result, fest-goers can sample the likes of brat pizza, brat eggrolls, brat tacos, brat corndogs, brat on a stick and brat jambalaya, to name a few.
Take up the challenge: Get your name in early to be one of 20 fest-goers over 18 to participate in the annual Brat Eating Contest. Top prize: $500 and a year’s supply of bratwurst. Or sign up for the cake eating contest or the 4-mile Brat Trot.
Kids’ stuff: The family area has a new rock climbing wall this year, a bigger petting zoo and more bounce houses.
Other draws: Live music, carnival, a Brat Days parade.
Fun fact: The record for the brat eating contest was set in in 2006 when a professional eater downed 58 full-size brats in 10 minutes.
Hours: 4-11:30 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Saturday
Tickets & more: Admission is free. Besides parking at the park, shuttles are available from a nearby Festival Foods parking lot.
SWEET CORN FESTIVAL
When & where: Aug. 16-19, Sun Prairie
What this food fest lacks in breadth of corn-themed features, it makes up for in sheer numbers. Every year, the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the 65-year-old festival, cooks up 80 tons of sweet corn to sell to about 100,000 fest-goers. That’s somewhere between 64,000 and 96,000 ears.
Get your corn fix: Ears of corn, steamed in the husk and served with butter and salt, cost $2. You can also buy fresh ears to take home.The corn comes from central Wisconsin and is harvested fresh each morning.
Take up the challenge: Alas, the corn eating contest was discontinued some time back over liability concerns (like someone choking on a corn kernel). However, nothing is stopping you from seeing how many ears of corn you can eat throughout your visit.
Kids’ stuff: Various family activities, petting zoo, carnival, mini-golf.
Other draws: Live music, craft fair, collector car show, bingo, corn-themed parade on Thursday night, midget car races on Sunday.
Fun fact: Until 1997, Stokely had a processing plant nearby and would cook all the corn for the festival. When the plant closed, the Chamber bought the equipment and built a building to house it. The process is similar to a rice cooker, according to the fest website, with the two-story boiler producing enough BTUs to heat 125 homes.
Hours: 6 p.m. Thursday for the parade downtown; 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets: A parking fee of $5 covers admission. Walkins are charged $1.
WARRENS CRANBERRY FESTIVAL
When & where: Sept. 28-30, Warrens (in Monroe County, north of Tomah)
Started in 1973, this festival offers a total immersion into the culture behind Wisconsin’s state fruit. Each year about 145,000 people descend on this town of about 360.
Get your cranberry fix: Take your tart-sweet pick! Operators of the 90 food booths are encouraged to incorporate cranberries into their menu, and they do, offering everything from cranberry fritters to cranberry doughnuts, cranberry slaw topping on pulled pork, and cranberry cream puffs (a longtime fest favorite). Vendors also sell everything from cranberry cheese to cranberry sausage, cranberry candies, fudge and taffy, dried cranberries and cranberry jams.
Cranberries jubilee is cooked up in a 4-foot skillet and served over ice cream. And the Catholic church serves a breakfast all three mornings featuring pancakes with cranberry syrup.
Sign up for the cranberry chiffon pie eating contest — first to consume the entire pie wins. There’s also a costume contest, longest beard contest (in honor of Warrens’ 150th anniversary), a biggest berry contest and more.
Get in the know: Learn firsthand how cranberries are grown — sign up for a one-hour marsh tour Friday or Saturday (buses leave every 10 or 15 minutes). Learn even more at the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center in Warrens (admission free with a tour ticket).
Kids’ stuff: Stop the cranberry queen or one of her two princesses as they stroll the grounds for a picture with royalty.
Other draws: Cranfest parade at 1 p.m. on Sunday, a craft fair and flea market with 1,300 booths.
Fun fact: For more than 20 years, Wisconsin has led the nation for total cranberry production, growing more than 60% of the country’s crop. Contrary to popular belief, cranberries do not grow in water; they grow on vines. Because cranberries float, the marshes are flooded when the fruit is ready for harvesting.
Hours: 7 am.-5 p.m. daily
Tickets: Admission is free; parking costs $5.