31. Mounds Dog Fest
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 825-9800
Description: This fest is as much for the dogs as the owners themselves. Formerly held at the Alliant Energy Center, the event moved to nearby Sun Prairie. Expect demonstrations for the owners and contests for the dogs. The local K-9 police dogs are often in attendance. Entry and parking are free.
32. Prairie State Classic Horse Show
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 267-3976
Address: 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way
Description: The annual equestrian event brings Morgans and several other breeds for judged competition. The three-day event in early June is open to the public.
33. Rhythm And Booms
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
34. Wedding Planner & Guide Summer Bridal Show
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 233-7001
Address: 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way
Description: A bit more relaxed than its Jan counterpart, the event nevertheless offers the same: exhibitions from formal wear stores, bakeries, jewelers, florists, travel agents, music providers, and more. The two-day event is in mid-June. Tickets are around $10 and can be bought at the door or in advance for a discount.
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
36. Atwood Summerfest
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 241-1574
Description: Atwood Avenue’s local street fair features a couple of stages (a blues stage and a rock stage) for live performances during the Sat event. The street along the 2000 and 2100 blocks is closed off and vendors line the edges. The event is free. Food and beverages are for sale from several local vendors. Many other local items are for sale (or resale) and the event is typically well attended with people ready to dance a bit. This is a fund-raiser for the Goodman Community Center.
37. Dane County Fair
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 267-3976
Address: 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way
Description: The first agricultural fair was held in 1851 in Madison. Today, the county version is the fourth largest of its kind in the state. Along with carnival rides and food, the fair also offers live music, entertainers, and commercial exhibitors, and displays the accomplishments of youth involved with 4-H Club, Future Farmers of America, and other organizations. Tickets for the five-day event in July are around $7 and a pass good for all five days is just about double that. Parking is free.
38. La Fete De Marquette
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: This annual neighborhood festival coincides with Bastille Day (July 14) and brings four days of food, drink, games, and music to the near-east side’s Central Park (or nearby). The styles of the live music come from French-speaking or French-influenced parts of the world, from North Africa and Haiti to Quebec and New Orleans. The event is free and carry-ins are not allowed. Central Park is under development and will be located along the railway corridor near East Main Street. Until it is complete, this fest location may float around a bit.
39. Maxwell Street Days
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: From 1871 to 1994, Chicago’s Maxwell Street was home to an outdoor bazaar. In 1975, Maxwell Street Days was started as a way to put downtown Madison businesses in the spotlight. Now an annual shopper’s delight, the weekend sale brings over 80 downtown stores out on the sidewalks with bargains. Food vendors and musicians join the mix. The three-day event is typically the weekend after Art Fair on the Square around mid-July.
40. Olbrich Home Garden Tour
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 246-4550
Description: Private gardens on Madison’s north side become public for one weekend each year. Tickets run between $12 and $15 and can be purchased in advance. The tour around the Maple Bluff community is self-guided but the owners/gardeners and landscapers are on hand to talk about what they’ve created and how.
41. Opera In The Park
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 238-8085
Description: Since 2002, the Madison Opera has offered a free summer evening performance. Opera fans or the opera curious, be sure to bring lawn chairs or a blanket. Attendance is often up around 13,000.
42. Paddle And Portage
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 226-4780
Description: This is what you get when you put together two lakes, an isthmus, and a competitive spirit in an outdoors kind of town. Held on a Sat in mid-July often coinciding with Maxwell Street Days, this canoe and kayak race starts from James Madison Park on Gorham Street with a loop into Lake Mendota, passes overland via the Capitol Square, and then ends at Olin Park on John Nolen Drive after crossing Lake Monona. Registration is possible on-site. Paddlers must complete the course in less than 1 hour and 40 minutes to be listed in the results. The registration fee is around $30–35.
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
44. Willy Street Festival
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 257-4576
Description: Live music is played on as many as seven stages, various performers wander the street, and food, games, beer, arts and crafts, and a parade on Sun are all part of this neighborhood fair first celebrated in 1978. A community raffle offers a ton of prizes. The festival is celebrated in the 800 to 1000 blocks of Williamson Street. Bring a costume and join the parade. Some acts from the concurrent Madison World Music Fest perform here as well. The event benefits Common Wealth Development and the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center.
45. Africa Fest
City: Madison, WI
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (608) 258-0261
Address: 2930 North Sherman Ave.
Description: Music, dancing, food, and other vendors representing the diverse cultures of Africa meet at the park for this free event in mid-Aug.