Harbor Fest Celebrates New Waterfront Plaza

Milwaukee, WI On September 8th, Harbor Fest will transform our industrial waterfront to a play space for families and welcome people to the city’s newest waterfront plaza. From 11:00 – 4:00, this street fair on the eastern end of Greenfield Avenue will offer activities and entertainment including a boat parade, live music, food, fishing lessons, boat tours, a climbing wall, and much more.

The festival will take place in and around Harbor View Plaza, a new public space opened just this summer. Located on the inner harbor in front of the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences, the plaza includes a lookout tower, a handicapped-accessible kayak/canoe launch, and seating areas to watch the ships at Port Milwaukee and the unique view of the Milwaukee skyline. A water circulation and filtration system in the plaza captures stormwater, and also provides a unique children’s play area with shallow water and pumps.

The full list of Harbor Fest activities, as well as parking, directions, and other festival information, is available at https://harbordistrict.org/events/harborfest/. All Harbor Fest activities are free of charge.

“So many things happen in the Harbor District that the public never gets to see,” said Harbor District, Inc. executive director Lilith Fowler. “Harbor Fest is our chance to introduce people to the ships and boats, the fish, the science, and many other great aspects of this area. It’s a fascinating place to explore.”

Major sponsors of Harbor Fest are V. Marchese Produce, Komatsu Mining, Federal Marine Terminals, Michels Corporation, BID 51, and Rockwell Automation.

Harbor View Plaza was planned with extensive neighborhood input and a public design competition over the course of 2016. It responds to the lack of public access to the waterfront in this industrial area at the heart of Milwaukee, and to the lack of park space on the near south side. The plaza was funded through major gifts from Rockwell Automation, the City of Milwaukee, the Brico Fund, and contributions from many other foundations, businesses, and individuals.

Harbor District, Inc. is a non-profit organization created in 2014 to achieve a world-class redevelopment of Milwaukee’s harbor that sets the standard for how waterfronts work – environmentally, economically, and socially – for the next century. More information about the plaza and Harbor District can be found at www.harbordistrict.org.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.