Milwaukee celebrates French culture at Bastille Days festival
If some of the warm glow you felt after watching the Women’s World Cup came from seeing glorious France in the background, keep the party going with Bastille Days, Milwaukee’s French-themed street festival in the East Town neighborhood around Cathedral Square Park.
The festival’s familiar Eiffel Tower replica will loom over East Town Thursday through Sunday. But it won’t be the only visual symbol that evokes Paris.
Artists Reggie Baylor and Melissa Courtney have teamed up with Bradley Tech High School students under welding instructor Mark Hoedel to create three love locks sculptures. They’re inspired by the tradition of attaching padlocks to Paris bridges (a controversial subject in France due to possible architectural damage).
Visitors can buy padlocks at Bastille Days for $5, inscribe their declaration of love, and then fasten them to the sculptures. Bastille Days and Master Lock are donating padlock sale proceeds to Habitat for Humanity.
Also, people can now ride The Hop, the Milwaukee streetcar, to the festival’s Cathedral Square stop. Admission is free. Get info on The Hop at thehopmke.com.
The nocturnal runners’ delight, the Associated Bank Storm the Bastille Run/Walk, begins at 9 p.m. Thursday. Register in person Thursday for this 5K event at the Deloitte booth at North Jackson and East Wells streets. Raceday registration costs $30, which includes a long-sleeved T-shirt.
Bastille Days celebrates FrenchAmerican as well as French culture, hence Mardi Gras parades at 8, 9 and 10 p.m. Friday throughout the festival grounds.
Scheduled bands include French funksters CQMD
Musical headliners include French funk band Ceux Qui Marchent Debout (CQMD) at 5:30 and 9:15 p.m. Friday; Cajun-style performers Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at 11:45 a.m. and 7:15 p.m. Friday; zydeco masters Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie at 4 and 9:15 p.m. Saturday; and WAMI winners Extra Crispy Brass Band at 9:45 p.m. Thursday and 9 p.m. Saturday.
Robin Pluer, the festival’s all-butofficial chanteuse, sings at 7 p.m. Thursday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Kenosha rocker Betsy Ade, a strong contestant on NBC’s “The Voice” this year, performs with her band The Well Known Strangers at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The annual Waiters-Waitresses Race at 3 p.m. Sunday will feature servers competing in a test of speed and savoir-faire.
A French-language Mass begins at 5:15 p.m. Saturday at the Cathedral of St. John.
Info: easttown.com
Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans will dance several times daily Thursday through Saturday.
While this is a free street festival, Bastille Days urges people to leave Fifi and other dogs home, for safety reasons.