Summerfest Unveils More Than Two Dozen New Food & Drink Options For 2025
Plus: Six new small businesses will participate in BMO marketplace.
Chicken in a Waffle Cone for Summerfest 2025. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
With 28 days until the gates open, Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. is nearly ready to welcome hundreds of thousands of patrons back to Summerfest for three weekends of live music and entertainment
And the organization is banking on the fact that it won’t be just your favorite band that draws you to the lakefront. At a preview event Wednesday, MWF and its partners debuted more than two dozen new food and drink items.
The new options have a little something for everyone, especially those that love cheese. Pina Cocina & Catina will serve birria eggrolls, Ian’s Pizza is offering Chicken Penne Alfredo pizza and Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que will offer a funnel cake pork sandwich.
Three vendors will make their Summerfest debut in 2025: Beats & Eats, Jamba Juice and Nino’s Southern Sides.
“We’re so proud that we’ve been part of the fabric of this community for six decades,” said Sarah Pancheri in remarks delivered on the stage at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. “And we’re really proud to continue to be an independent musical festival and one of the most accessible festivals in the world, offering 12 stages as well as 12 ways to get into this festival for free.”
The newly-created Lasso Lounge, a partnership with auto dealer Kunes, will offer a series of mixed drinks. It will offer a mechanical bull for patrons to ride. The new lounge will replace the South Party Pavilion, long known as JoJo’s Martini Lounge. “We’re going to break a little country to the lakefront,” said Pancheri of the music programming.
Molson Coors will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miller Lite, which Pancheri joked is somehow younger than the festival itself, by offering a buy-one-get-one happy hour deal every day from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Six small businesses will also make their through BMO’s Small Business Spotlight program in the “Shop Local Market” at the festival.
Those participating are Historic Third Ward retailer Unfinished Legacy, vintage apparel brand Bandit MKE, handmade dog retailer Dog Goods for Good Dogs, customizable hat company Howdy Hat Bar, skincare company Mae’Rose Naturally Rooted and dog lover apparel company Talk Dog To Me.
On Thursday morning, Summerfest, Johnsonville and Leinenkugel’s also announced that the partners will unveil the “Official Drink of Midwest Summer” on June 21 at the festival.
“The quintessential summer sip features a souvenir mason jar of Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, topped with a Johnsonville Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy Brat in a Pretzilla Sausage Bun, combined with a pickle, pickled cherry pepper, and charred lemon wheel,” says a press release. It will be sold, while supplies last, for $24.90 on June 21.
The 2025 festival takes place from June 19-21, June 26-28 and July 3-5.
Photos
New Food and Drink List
- Angelo’s Pizza – Sicilian Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks
- Beats & Eats – Lumpia City Mac ‘n Cheese Rolls, Lumpia City Apple Crisp Rolls
- Charcoal Grill & Rotisserie – 1/4 Rotisserie Chicken with Fries
- Cousins Subs – Italian Stallion, Big Bang Shake
- El Hefe Mexican Grill – Cheese Quesadilla
- Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que – Funnel Cake Pork Sandwich, Smokestack Burger, Smoked Texas Brisket Egg Rolls
- Fazio’s Popping Bubbles – Pink Cloud Refresher, Cold Brew Coffee
- Ian’s Pizza – Chicken Penne Alfredo Slice
- Jamba Juice – Strawberry Surfrider, Mango A Go Go
- La Masa Empanada Bar – Deconstructed Smores Empanada
- Mader’s Restaurant – Guinness BBQ Chicken Sandwich
- Nashville North – Beer Battered Cheese Bites
- Nino’s Southern Sides – Mac & Cheese, Dressing
- Pina Cocina & Cantina – Birria Eggrolls, Trio of Dips and Chips
- Saz’s Express (North Gate Location) -Tossed Tenders
- Select American Family Insurance Amphitheater Concession Areas – Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Spicy Ranch Chicken Sandwich , Chicken Avocado Club Sandwich , Italian Sausage Link with Peppers and Onion, Spicy Ranch Burger, Chicken in a Waffle Cone, BFF (Bucket For Friends – with Chicken Tenders and Fried Appetizers), Walking Taco Cart, Salsa Verde Walking Taco, Cheese Curds, Fried Pickles , Onion Rings, Funnel Cake Fries , Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks.
- Summerfest Lasso Lounge presented by Kunes Auto & RV Group – Whiskey Sour, Tennessee Mule, Tennessee Lemonade, Dirty Shirley, and more.
- Select Summerfest Bar Locations –Leinenkugel’s Hazy IPA and Lodge Lime, Blue Moon EXTRA, Simply Spiked Tropical and BOLD Lemonade, Topo Chico Margarita MAX, Happy Thursday Pineapple and Dragonfruit, Zombie, Bahama Mama, and others.
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