On Friday and Saturday, the Malibu Open Waterski Championship and Summer Festival returns to Veterans Park Lagoon for the fourth year in a row. Many of the best professional and junior water-skiers will compete in a variety of events that will award more than $64,000 in prize money. You’ll see the athletes break speeds of more than 70 mph on the water and jump distances of more than 200 feet!

On-site activities include an athlete meet-and-greet where fans can get autographs, a mechanical bull, rock climbing wall, kids’ activities, food, music, and “The Flying Sausage,” where you’ll see the Milwaukee Brewers very own Famous Racing Sausages take to the water!

Learn more about all the Malibu Open activities.

Next, head a little further south, where art will come to life at the Lakefront Festival of Art, held Friday-Sunday at the Milwaukee Art Museum. This year more than 170 jury-selected artists from across the country will have their artwork on exhibit, with much of it for sale. You’ll see a broad spectrum of art media such as painting, sculpture, photography, jewelry, ceramics and much more. Make sure to keep an eye on the “wings” of the Milwaukee Art Museum – the Burke Brise Soleil – which open and close throughout the day!

After you’ve had your fill of art and athletics, make your way to Bradford Beach for some relaxation in the sun. Grab a cocktail under the shade of a cabana bar, enjoy a massage or organize a game of volleyball on one of the dozens of beach volleyball courts. Looking for a snack? I highly recommend a visit to the Bartolotta Restaurant Group’s Northpoint Custard for some of the best burgers and frozen custard you’ll find anywhere in the city.

I’ve just got one more piece of advice – don’t forget your sunscreen! It’s going to be a terrific weekend on Milwaukee’s lakefront.

Who needs beer and brats when you can have vodka and pierogis? That is the question and Polish Fest is the answer! The ethnic festivals kick off with three days of celebrating Polish culture at Henry Maier Festival Park, this Friday through Sunday, June 14-16.

Head down to the festival for everything from music to crafts, Polish delicacies to vodka tastings. The Buffalo Concertina All-Stars will brag about their own Polish Fest – which they claim to be the largest – but we know better. Our own Polish Fest has increased attendance every year, and this year it’s on track to set another record.

Adults can chill out on the Harley Deck and sample Sobieski Vodka drinks while colorful Polish folk dance groups perform on the stage below. Polka bands from around the country and Canada will have you dancing the night away and Milwaukee’s own Mount Olive will be rocking it on Saturday night after the fireworks. Come on now…who wouldn’t want to watch “The Big Boomski” on a gorgeous Saturday night on the lakefront?

Bring the kids for lively entertainment at the Children’s Stage, where balloon artists, musicians, Kohl’s Wild Theater and the reptiles and amphibians of the Schlitz Audubon Society are sure to bring smiles. And Poland’s Highland (Tatra) Sheepdogs will be wagging their tails to greet you.

The cultural area features traditional Polish crafts, including wycinanki (paper-cutting), pisanki (decorated eggs) and more, and Milwaukee’s pre-eminent historian, John Gurda, joins other experts in discussing various topics of Polish immigrant history.

And of course the FOOD…pierogis and paczki and chrusciki, oh my! Mouthwatering traditional Polish specialties including sausages, pancakes, soups and pastries are sure to win you over. Cooking demos will even show you how to prepare Polish dishes at home.

Check the Polish Fest website for ticket info and many special deals: www.polishfest.org. Gate Tickets $12.00, Advance Tickets $10.00, Senior (55 +) Gate Tickets $10.00, Children (15 & Under) FREE with paying Adult.

Baw się dobrze…(Have Fun) at Polish Fest! 

Details:
Polish Fest
June 14-16
Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest Grounds)

The fest will feature two days of exciting race action from the IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires cars Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15. Fans will also have the opportunity to watch Firestone Indy Lights and Pro Mazda Championship test for free on Thursday as an added bonus to this year's IndyFest.

In addition to the racing, IndyFest will also include a long list of activities and attractions throughout the two-day festival. Race fans will love getting up close with drivers as they work on their cars pre-race, families will enjoy the free ferris wheel and game area and the beer garden with local bands will rock the grounds after the checkered flag is waved.

The Milwaukee IndyFest infield will be packed with even more activities for race fans, families and festival-goers. There will be a number of unique sections inside the confines of the historic one-mile oval to rev up race fans all weekend long, including: The Coors Light Music & Beer Garden, Family Fun Zone, Vintage Car Corral and the IZOD IndyCar Fan Village.

So, while you celebrate Father’s Day weekend in one of the most unique cities in the world with the best dad in the world, there’s no better place to start summer’s engines than Milwaukee IndyFest at the Milwaukee Mile. 

Details:
Milwaukee IndyFest
June 13-15
Various Locations

Previously a Best Western property, Marriott gobbled up adjacent space from long-time businesses Johnnie Walkers and Powers Jewelers to create a surprisingly-stunning footprint in the historic Straus Building. The newest hotel in downtown Milwaukee, this is an atypical Fairfield Inn & Suites, complete with industrial chic design and urban spaces (a garage door opens to make the lobby and Old World Third Street one and the same), yet all the amenities you’d expect like a business center, clean spacious rooms (103 total), free high-speed internet and complimentary daily breakfast buffet.

The spaciousness continues with a 1,000-square-foot, lobby-level meeting room equipped to handle 75 guests with on-site catering services for breakfast and lunch, a rare find in a Fairfield Inn & Suites. Even more impressive is a fantastic fitness center set against the backdrop of cream city brick, smartly preserved during renovation so it feels like you’re working out in a New York loft.

The lofty endeavor took some time to complete, but the Fairfield Inn & Suites, set in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, is open for business and it’s a hit. It’s got location (just a block from the Delta Center and a five-minute walk to Milwaukee’s lakefront) and everything else business and leisure travelers will need and, most importantly, enjoy.

Details:
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Milwaukee Downtown
710 N. Old World Third Street
 

Milwaukee was just named one of the Top 10 Destinations for Gay Travelers by TravelNerd. One of the main reasons we achieved this designation was because of PrideFest.

Kicking off Milwaukee’s lakefront festival season is PrideFest. As the largest LGBT pride festival in the country, PrideFest attracts thousands of people to the city every year. I think attendees will find PrideFest to be one of the most diverse festivals in Milwaukee – gay, straight, families, couples, singles, all races and ages – all are welcome!

The Basics

Milwaukee PrideFest

June 7-9, 2013 at the Henry Maier Festival Park

Tickets are $16 for a single day admission

While there are many highlights to PrideFest, I’ve chosen a few below, just to get you thinking. For a full line-up, check out PrideFest’s website.

Big Gay 5K

The fun actually starts a day early, with the 2nd Annual “Big Gay 5K” presented by the Cream City Foundation, Milwaukee Gay Sports Network, and PrideFest. This year’s run/walk will take place on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 6:30pm with a special celebration and awards ceremony inside the PrideFest grounds. This is a fun (and healthy) way to participate in the festival! Each participant will receive a t-shirt and a single-day PrideFest admission ticket. The Run/Walk is $32 in advance and $40 the day of the race. All proceeds benefit AIDS Walk Wisconsin and the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin.

The organizers of PrideFest (all volunteers, by the way) do a great job with the festival, but do a particularly nice job on the entertainment lineup. Over the past several years, PrideFest’s headliners have read like a who’s-who of the entertainment world.Here are this year’s headliners:

Friday, June 7 – Sophie B Hawkins – 9:15pm at the Miller Lite Mainstage; followed by Andy Bell at 11pm (also on the Miller Lite Mainstage)

Saturday, June 8 – The Indigo Girls – 10:30pm at the Miller Lite Mainstage

Sunday, June 9 – Dangerous Muse at 7:30pm at the Miller Lite Mainstage; followed by Amanda Palmer at 8:45pm (also on the Miller Lite Mainstage)

In addition, the Dance Pavilion has become a destination in its own right. National and local DJs spin for the audience, while roving performance artists hype up the crowd.

The Health & Wellness Area demonstrates the festival’s commitment to the community’s health and well-being. Over 30 organizations take part in the area, which includes HIV & AIDS testing, interactive performances on a dedicated stage, and prize opportunities for those who visit.

Milwaukee Pride Parade

Though not technically part of PrideFest, the Milwaukee Pride Parade is a fun and colorful procession through Milwaukee’s main “gayborhood” – Walker’s Point. The parade begins at 2pm on Sunday at 2nd Street and Lapham. It travels north on 2nd Street to 2nd & Seeboth. This year’s Grand Marshal is Sue Black, President of the Milwaukee Wave Professional Indoor Soccer Team, and former Milwaukee County Parks Director.

Milwaukee’s summer festival season is here and I can’t think of a better way to kick it off than with the colorful pageantry, fantastic entertainment and pride-full festivities of PrideFest. See you there!

Details:
PrideFest
June 7-9
Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest Grounds)

While the list of fun things to do in Milwaukee during the summer is probably endless, here are the things that I am already looking forward to.

• Summerfest
• Food on a stick – a.k.a. the Wisconsin State Fair
• Grilling out
• Running along the lakefront
• Brewers games with the roof open at Miller Park
• The Harley-Davidson 110^th Anniversary
• The Milwaukee Air & Water Show
• Sitting on Brady Street, people watching with a cold beverage or two
• Ice cream, custard AND frozen yogurt
• Golfing in the County Parks
• Being able to walk almost anywhere I want to go
• Bradford Beach
• Eating brunch and dinner on patios and sidewalks
• Fishing
• 4^th of July festivities
• Taking a stroll to the Public Market for lunch
• Milwaukee boat rides

What are YOU looking forward to most this summer in Milwaukee?

For those who haven’t heard, we’re giving one lucky person the chance to visit Milwaukee with a guest during Summerfest, the World’s Largest Music Festival. We’re pulling out all the stops to give you experiences usually reserved for rock stars and celebrities.

What experiences, you wonder? Here are just a few:

• Tickets to see John Mayer perform live at Summerfest on July 6, plus other perks from Summerfest
• Round-trip airfare to Milwaukee from Southwest Airlines
• Deluxe hotel suites for you and your entourage at the luxury boutique hotel, Hotel Metro, right in the heart of downtown Milwaukee
• Leather jackets, courtesy of Harley-Davidson, to complete your rock star look, plus a VIP tour of the Harley-Davidson Museum
• A private yacht cruise on Lake Michigan from Sea Dog Sailing
• Culinary experiences at Dream Dance Steak and the Harbor House 

And that’s just the start! The entire prize package is worth more than $4,000! See the full prize list, details and official rules.

How can you win the Party Like a Rock Star sweepstakes? It’s easy. Simply visit www.visitmilwaukee.org/rockstar2013 to enter the sweepstakes. You can also enter one additional time on our Facebook page.

Even better, you can earn additional entries in the contest by sharing with your friends and family. After you enter, send the sweepstakes to everyone you know who would be interested in entering themselves. Tell them to list you as their “Referral Name” when entering their information. When they do, you will BOTH get an extra entry in the sweepstakes! There is no limit to how many extra entries you can earn by being listed as a referral name, so don’t hold back from telling everyone you know!

Well, what are you waiting for? Enter now and get ready to Party Like a Rock Star in Milwaukee!

Milwaukee director, Frankie Latina, and cinematographer, Vinnie Besasie, spent an evening riding with Rory. Along the way, they discovered just how passionate he is about live music. He’s the kind of guy who’s kept every ticket stub to every concert he’s ever been to in Milwaukee and no matter what kind of music you like, he’ll know just the place to catch a live set. Although his “office” is a little different than that of most people, Rory wouldn’t have it any other way. He likes the freedom of being his own boss, meeting new people every night and sharing the wisdom earned from almost two decades behind the wheel.

The film is the fifth in the acclaimed Dear MKE series, and features music by local musicians Eugene Rueter, Kyle Feerick, and the band Collections of Colonies of Bees.

To see an additional 300+ video clips, stories and photos of Milwaukeeans sharing their love, pride and stories about Milwaukee, go to www.DearMKE.com.

Let us know what you think of the film on Dear MKE’s Facebook and Twitter!

As I walked through “BASEBALL– Innovations That Changed the Game,” a limited-time exhibit at Discovery World on Milwaukee’s lakefront, more and more memories popped up, so to speak. The life-sized Paul Molitor and Ben Ogilvie bobbleheads instantly took me back to 1982 and the excitement of game one of the World Series when Molitor tallied an amazing five hits in six at-bats. Seeing the evolution of the base ball (the proper spelling was two words back in the day) bat from inception to present day made me long for the many bats I’ve loved and, unfortunately, discarded. Same goes for gloves. Man, I wish I had every glove I’ve ever used, every favorite ball I’ve ever owned and every baseball card I’ve ever collected (well, I still have most of those).

Gloves to hats, equipment to jerseys, “BASEBALL– Innovations That Changed the Game” is a fun look back on not only Milwaukee’s major-league history, but the game itself. And, there’s no better time to visit the Discovery World exhibit (and all of the other incredible offerings at the one-of-a-kind attraction) now that spring has finally sprung and the Brewers are battling to get to first place. But, you better hurry, the exhibit ends May 19.  

I hurried as fast as my little 7-year-old legs would take me toward my idol, the Brewers shortstop. Robin spotted me about half way down the aisle and grinned (in my memory anyway), watching as I desperately tried to take just one leap between those giant, stadium-sized steps. As he signed my scrap of paper and his lips spoke some seemingly-foreign language, all was quiet for me. I could smell the fresh-cut grass, feel the sunlight on my face, see him place his autograph in my hand. I was in my happy place - a blur I’ll never grow too old to forget.

Details:
BASEBALL– Innovations That Changed the Game
Through May 19
Discovery World
500 N. Harbor Dr.
 

What do you get when you cross high-tech gadgets, a giant game of hide and seek and Milwaukee’s historic buildings, best attractions, beautiful outdoors and more? An opportunity to enjoy a great time discovering the city, one neighborhood at a time! 

VISIT Milwaukee is getting in on the action of geocaching, the popular real-world, outdoor game where participants navigate to a location using GPS coordinates to find a hidden container. To date, more than 5 million people are in on the fun, searching for more than 1.4 million geocaches hidden around the world. In recognition of National Tourism Week, a week designated to celebrate the impact of the travel and tourism industry, we’re officially launching our program!  

Our geocaches are part of an official GeoTour called “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” that takes participants on a trek from the stunning shore of Lake Michigan to a historic village, through green space galore in our award-winning Milwaukee County Parks, past downtown skyscrapers and character-filled streets, to our best attractions and more!

If that sounds like fun to you, here’s a quick how-to guide on getting started!

1. Watch this quick video on geocaching or check out this 101 section for more details on the activity.
    
2. Grab your smartphone and download the Geocaching app or grab a GPS enabled device.
    
3. Go to visitmilwaukee.org/geocache and read about the 15 neighborhoods you’ll meet along your way. Don’t miss the fun facts at the bottom of each description!
    
4. Click here to see the complete “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” GeoTour and download the list to your device.
    
5. GET GOING! Head to the neighborhood nearest you to meet Milwaukee!
    
6. Complete all 15 geocaches and fill out the Official Milwaukee Neighborhood Expert passport to receive a custom, limited-edition “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” GeoCoin (details here).
    

PRIZES: On Tuesday, May 7, the first five people to discover each geocache will be able to exchange a token found in each container for an official “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” t-shirt and tickets or a gift certificate to explore the area (while supplies last).

What are you waiting for? Go meet Milwaukee’s neighborhoods! Share your experiences with us on Facebook and Twitter – we’d love to know what you think of the program.