Lakefront’s Maifest Festival Returns
May 21 event will include gluten-free food, beverages and cocktails.
Maifest graphic, courtesy of Lakefront Brewery.
Lakefront Brewery will embrace all things spring for the second installment of Maifest, scheduled for Sunday, May 21.
The outdoor event will take place on the brewery’s newly-renovated riverwalk patio, 1872 N. Commerce St., featuring plenty of food, beer and cocktails, as well as more than 20 artisan vendors, music and entertainment.
Lakefront will be pouring from 13 different taps, featuring both gluten-free and regular beers including the event’s namesake Maibock, a German-style lager. Other offerings will include gluten-free cask beers and bloody marys made with potato-based vodka, as well as non-alcoholic beers, canned soda and bottled root beer.
Maifest-branded tasting glasses will be available for purchase while supplies last.
A lineup of nine food trucks, including Lakefront’s own CurdWagon, will offer fully gluten-free menus. Other vendors include EZ Tiki, Fork N Fry, Greek Street Eats, Old Country Style Nuts, Pedro’s South American Cuisine, Pina Mexican Eats, Tots on the Street and Troublemakers’ Cocina.
In addition to food and drink, Maifest will include a makers market featuring pottery, gluten-free snacks, clothing, bodycare products and more from 24 local vendors.
Lakefront Brewery will also man a booth, offering discounted merchandise, decor and more from the brewery’s warehouse.
New this year, S.V.E.V. D’Oberlandler, a traditional German dance group, will be performing throughout the day, and will raise the Maypole at noon. The group, founded in 1928, aims to preserve the dances, music, garments, and customs of Bavaria.
Other entertainment will include a set from Pete McDermott of Ladybird and Josh Quinn’s “From Sinatra to the 60’s.”
While the event isn’t pet-centric, according to Lakefront, well-behaved dogs are more than welcome in the outdoor spaces, and can stop by the CurdWagon for fro-yo “pup poppers” and dog “woofles.”
The fest is also family-friendly.
Maifest will be one of the first events held on Lakefront’s newly-renovated patio space, beer garden and overlook deck, which boasts views of the city skyline and Milwaukee River. The updates, which began last summer, have been years in the making, according to Urban Milwaukee’s previous reporting.
The event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free to attend.
