For much of its 56-year history, Summerfest has been Milwaukee's biggest gig.
For many years, during the massive music festival's run, it was the only gig — many Milwaukee bars and live-music venues went dark rather than compete with it. (Not so this year: In its first weekend, Summerfest 2024 had to compete with a big country concert at American Family Field as well as the Tacos and Tequila Festival.)
But in its first decade, Summerfest faced competition from an array of music festivals loaded with as much star power as the Big Gig. Here's a look at some of Summerfest's biggest rivals and what happened to them.
Midwest Rock Festival
When: July 25-27, 1969
Where: Wisconsin State Fair Park
Performers: Led Zeppelin; Blind Faith, with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood; Joe Cocker; Johnny Winter; the First Edition with Kenny Rogers; Buffy Sainte-Marie; SRC; Pacific Gas & Electric; Sweetwater; The Bob Seger System; Delaney & Bonnie; John Mayall; the MC5.
How it happened: Inspired by the buzz building for Woodstock — which took place barely three weeks later — 22-year-old promoter Peter Knapp managed to put together a Woodstock-worthy lineup for the three-day Milwaukee festival. Heavy rain on the last two days of the festival kept some big-name performers from taking the stage, including Jethro Tull and Jeff Beck. Despite the bad weather, the festival came off without any major incidents.
How it ended: The festival lost money (thanks in part to the same problem with gatecrashers that plagued Woodstock), and so did a second concert: Midwest Rock Festival — Phase II, held Aug. 30, 1969, at County Stadium with Chuck Berry, Taj Mahal and Howlin' Wolf. Organizers said they planned to repeat the rock festival in 1970, but it didn't come together.
M'WOKY Pops Festival
When: June 22, 1969; June 14, 1970; June 13, 1971
Where: County Stadium
Performers: The Monkees, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, the Buckinghams, Andy Kim, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Floyd, the Guess Who, the Bar-Kays (1969); Tommy Roe, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, the Ides of March, Frankie Avalon, Andy Kim (1970); Sugarloaf; Bread; Honey Cone; Hamilton, Joe, Frank & Reynolds; Lobo; Rare Earth; Andy Kim (1971).
How it happened: Sponsored by Top 40 radio station WOKY-AM (920), the M'WOKY Pops Festival debuted in 1969, two months before the Midwest Rock Festival, with a lineup that echoed the station's playlist. The first festival drew more than 29,000 people to County Stadium — not bad, considering it rained throughout the six-hour concert. By its third year, attendance had dropped in half, to about 14,000.
How it ended: Other than a mention in a 1975 advertisement for the radio station, there's no word about another M'WOKY Pops Festival in the Journal Sentinel archives after 1971.
Alewives Festival
When: Weekslong festival that ran from 1975 to 1985
Where: Marcus Performing Arts Center
Performers: Chuck Mangione, Gary Burton, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Montgomery Quartet, Phil Woods Quartet, Gap Mangione, Lionel Hampton, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Bobby Short, Billy Taylor.
What happened: Launched in 1975 by the Marcus Center, the festival got its name from the little silver fish that suffered mass die-offs in Milwaukee's waterways in the late 1960s and early '70s. After its inaugural year, the festival shifted its focus and rebranded as the Alewives Jazz Festival. Boosted by a number of free performances, the festival was drawing 60,000 people a summer by 1978.
Why did it end: In 1981, the cash-strapped City of Milwaukee, the festival's biggest benefactor, gave the festival less than half the $15,000 it was seeking. The next year, Milwaukee County, another supporter, cut its share of funding altogether. At that time, The Milwaukee Journal stepped in as a sponsor for Rainbow Summer, the umbrella for summer activities at the Marcus Center, including the jazz festival. The Alewives Jazz Festival continued until 1985, when the concerts were lumped into Rainbow Summer. (Rainbow Summer lasted until 2003.)
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