Try over 50 different kinds of macaroni and cheese at Appleton's first Mac & Cheese Fest

APPLETON - What's better than one bowl of macaroni and cheese? A festival that features over 50 different flavors of macaroni and cheese, and this year that festival is coming to Appleton.

Outlier Events, a national event and festival creator, announced that the Mac & Cheese Festival will be debuting in Appleton for the first time on July 27. The Fox Cities Stadium, home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, will host the event.

Oconomowoc hosted the festival for the past two years. The event has also been hosted in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

"We were looking to expand in Wisconsin and bring this event to more cities," said Kendall Soto, general manager of Outlier Events.

Soto said after reviewing numerous locations, the organization decided Fox Cities Stadium was the best location for Mac & Cheese Fest.

Attendees can expect entertainment including live music from local artists, face painters, caricature artists, balloon twisters and stilt walkers. The more than 50 different kinds of macaroni and cheese will come from different vendors attending the festival.

"We worked with our vendors to make sure that they were able to make some creative options," Soto said. "Attendees will get to see something that restaurants may not have on their daily menu."

Alongside the macaroni and cheese, there will be a selection of over 150 beers, ciders, seltzers and other beverages.

Ticket purchases come with food and drink sampling tokens, a drink sampling cup and a branded lanyard. VIP tickets grant 90-minute early access to the festival and a special VIP gift.

Ticket prices range from $39 to $65. Early access tickets go on sale starting May 23. To secure early access tickets, visit the website and join the priority list, wisconsinmacandcheesefest.com

Reach Jelissa Burns at 920-453-5107 or jburns1@gannett.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @burns_jelissa or on Instagram at burns_jelissa.