With so many small communities that make up the Fox Valley, we have the opportunity to take advantage of all the great summer festivals and celebrations spanning across our area. It seems like each year, the festivals get bigger and better. Get ready because the 4-month long kick-off starts this weekend. Go Valley Kids brings you your summer festival guide, categorized by month.
All of these events will also be located on our calendar. Please see individual events for full schedules.
May
Celebrate De Pere: East De Pere
Saturday, May 26 – Monday, May 28, 2018
Kick off summer with live music, car show, fireworks, fishing tournament, food, kid stuff, marketplace, redneck regatta, veteran’s salute, parade and more.
June
Cheese Fest: Little Chute, Doyle Park
Friday, June 1 – Saturday, June 3, 2018
Join Little Chute in celebrating the annual Cheese Fest at Doyle Park. This wonderful family event includes music, food, amusement rides, children’s entertainment, walk/run, parade, animal petting zoo, cheese carving demonstrations, cheese tasting, cheese curd eating contest, cheese breakfast, and MORE!
Admission pass required to enter grounds on Friday and Saturday. Admission is FREE on Sunday. Discounted passes are available if you purchase ahead of time.
Hortonville Homecoming: Hortonville, Alanzo Park
Friday, June 1 – Saturday, June 2, 2018
This free family event celebrates chocolate and everything delicious about it! Friday kicks off with a fish fry in the pavilion 5 to 8pm and live music from 6 to 10pm. The Saturday day-long event includes kids runs, live music, artisan and vendor village, chocolate bake-off, chocolate eating contest, fireworks, and more!
http://www.foxcities.org/event/detail/10606/Chocolate-Fest
Electric City Experience: Downtown Kaukauna
Wednesday, June 6 – Sunday, June 10, 2018
Bring the whole family for a fun-filled days of live music, food, vendor market, raffle prizes, kid’s games and activities, and featuring fireworks over the Fox River on June 9th from Downtown Kaukauna!
www.facebook.com/electriccityexperience
Brillionfest: Brillion, Peters Park
Saturday, June 9, 2018
A day of fun for the whole family including carnival rides, petting zoo, pony rides, blind man volleyball, softball tourney, food, and music.
www.facebook.com/pages/Brillion-Area-Jaycees
IrishFest: Oshkosh, Leach Amphitheater
Friday, June 15 – Sunday 17, 2018
Come and enjoy the music, the food, the dancers, the presentations, the vendors, the Irish Marathon, the raffle, and, of course, THE FUN! Bring the wee little ones any enjoy the many fun things offered for children.
Chilton Summer Festival: Downtown Chilton
Thursday, June 14 – Sunday, June 17, 2018
The Chilton Summer Festival begins with city wide rummage sales and a band concert at 7 pm on Thursday at Hobart Park. Friday evening includes a parking lot party and fireworks. Saturday includes a fishing contest, activities all day, and the street dance featuring live bands starting around 6 pm Sunday is the Father’s Day Parade beginning at 11 am.
chiltonchamber.com/summer-festival
Mackville Truck and Tractor Pull: Mackville
Friday, June 15 – Sunday, June 17, 2018
Souped up trucks and tractors promise smoke-filled action on Friday and Saturday nights. Kids Dash for Cash offers more fun for the family. Food, beverages, and free live entertainment are available. Saturday afternoon – Free car show. Sunday -Family Day (free admission) includes a polka mass, farm pull at noon, chicken dinner, kids and adult pedal pull, live entertainment, and games.
** Admission into pulls are Adult: $18, Kids (11-14) $10, Kids (under 10): FREE **
Strawberry Fest: Downtown Waupaca
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Family festival with strawberry-themed food and activities, model railroad show, farmers market, kids activities, petting, water ski show, costume contest and more. Live music throughout the day.
www.waupacaareachamber.org/event/strawberry-fest/
July
Sawdust Days: Oshkosh, Menominee Park
Sunday, July 3 – Thursday, July 7, 2018
A multi-cultural, multi-event, mostly happening in Menominee Park, right next to Lake Winnebago. The area is rich with Native American Historical significance. Go back in time to the 1870’s when Oshkosh had 24 sawmills, 15 shingle mills, and 7 sash and door factories and was known as the “Sawdust City”! Experience these times when you visit the annual “Sawdust Days” festival, which features five days of music, food, fun, parades and the largest 4th of July fireworks display in the Fox Valley on the shores of Lake Winnebago.
CommunityFest: Neenah, Riverside Park and Jefferson Park, Menasha
Tuesday, July 3 – Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Parade of Lights is July 3 starting at Riverside Park at 9:15pm traveling to Menasha. July 4 Community fest includes children’s activities, live entertainment, Webfooters water ski show, Venetian Boat Parade, food and fireworks around 9:30 pm.
July 4th Celebration: Appleton, Memorial Park
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Memorial Park will have their annual fireworks sponsored by the Appleton Area Jaycees and a festival from 4-11pm with bands, food, and a play area for the kids.
Oneida Pow-Wow: Norbert Hill Center, 5 miles west of Green Bay
Friday, June 29 – Sunday, July 1, 2018
A 3-day family friendly event with over 400 dancers, traditional music, and dance, Native American food, crafts and jewelry.
http://www.travelwisconsin.com/events/native-culture/oneida-pow-wow-41286
Catfish Races and Community Night: Greenville, Lions Park
Friday, July 6, 2018
Join Greenville for their Catfish Races. Children’s games, rides, and attractions, business displays and demos, music entertainment, fireworks and more.
www.greenvillelions.org/catfishraces
Gold Ribbin’ BBQ Fest of Green Bay
Friday, July 13 – Sunday, July 15, 2018
Paperfest: Kimberly, Sunset Park
Friday, July 19 – Sunday, July 22, 2018
Paperfest is a fun, family-oriented festival that raises money for non-profit and civic organizations in the Fox Valley. Spanning three days, it offers fun for all ages through games, sports, music, and food. Paperfest strengthens our community by utilizing the expertise and generosity of volunteers and sponsors.
Fond du Lac County Fair: Fond du Lac
Wednesday, July 18 – Sunday, July 22, 2018
Carnival, live music exhibits, animals, entertainment and more. “The purpose of a fair is to educate; to help people learn about life and what is good; to find out what is new and how to improve; to understand about our heritage and agriculture; to find out what is profitable and what is enjoyable; and to learn how to adjust better to change, how to be better people, how to be responsible and better citizens, and how to be more self-sufficient.”
Pulaski Polka Days: Pulaski
Thursday, July 19 – Sunday, July 22, 2018
Pulaski Polka Days is an annual polka festival that lasts four days. Includes fireworks, polish food and souvenirs, arts and crafts, dance contest, pancakes, parade and more.
EAA Air Venture: Oshkosh, EAA Grounds
Sunday, July 22 – Sunday, July 29, 2018
EAA AirVenture is a family-friendly event with a week’s worth of unique fun that takes the spirit of aviation and adventure to new heights! Family-friendly updates to the grounds will make this year’s festivities even more enjoyable.
Opening night concerts and educational programs throughout the week. And every night the Ford Fly-In Theater offers an outdoor movie experience on a five-story screen. All this entertainment and more is included in admission price.
Spectacular Warbirds demonstrations and the world’s greatest aerobatic performers are offered throughout the week as well as the opportunity to see hundreds of homebuilt aircraft from around the world.
https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure
Outagamie County Fair: Seymour, Fairgrounds
Tuesday, July 24 – Sunday, July 29, 2018
Check out the carnival, big-name entertainment, junior fair exhibits, commercial exhibits, and midway entertainment at the Outagamie County Fair in Seymour.
August
Mile of Music: Downtown Appleton
Thursday, August 2 – Sunday, August 5, 2018
Mile of Music is a cover-free zone all about original, hand-crafted artistry, singer-songwriters, combos and multi-piece bands showcasing Americana music at its very best — from roots and indie rock to country, soul, r&b, jazz and folk. Most events will be FREE. Plus, there will be plenty of free, hands-on Music Education events throughout the festival for all ages.
Wisconsin State Fair: Milwaukee
Thursday, August 2- Sunday, August 12, 2018
Food, music, entertainment, carnival rides and competitions for the whole family.
Hamburger Fest: Downtown Seymour
Friday, August 10 – Sunday, August 11, 2018
The Hamburger Festival in Seymour offers 3 days of hot air balloon ascensions (dusk and dawn) and activities including car show, kites, live music, food, free bouncy houses, magic show, ketchup slide and more.
Brown County Fair: De Pere
Wednesday, August 15 – Sunday, August 19, 2018
Demolition Derby, Truck and Tractor Pull, Lumberjack Show, live music, carnival, kids activities and more.
Lakeshore Balloon Glow: Manitowoc
Friday, August 17, 2018
Balloon glow at dusk, kids games including bounce house/slide, mini-golf, pony rides, facepainting, and music.
https://www.travelwisconsin.com
September
Calumet County Fair: Chilton, Fairgrounds
Friday, August 31- Monday, September 3, 2018
Carnival rides, exhibits, stock car racing, demolition derby, live music, and grandstand entertainment. The Biggest Little Fair in Wisconsin!
Kites Over Lake Michigan: Two Rivers, Neshotah Beach
Saturday, September 1 – Sunday, September 2, 2018
Seafood Fest, Menasha, Jefferson Park
Friday, September 7- Saturday, September 8, 2018
Seafood Fest is a community event sponsored by 3 local Rotary clubs, Menasha Rotary Club, Neenah Rotary Club, and Fox Cities Morning Rotary Club. This 2-evening event is filled with over 70 different food and beverage items. To top off that we provide great live music, Absolutely FREE! Also a no alcohol Family Zone.
Crafty Apple Fest: Chilton, Downtown
Saturday, September 8, 2018
The annual festival is a day filled with apple items–apple dishes, apple desserts, even an apple/pumpkin brew! Over 100 craft and food booths, pumpkin bowling, live music, kids events, and car show. Truly an “applicious” day of fun!
chiltonchamber.com/crafty-apple-fest
World Championship Cabbage Chuck: Shiocton, Shiocton Lake Park
Date TBA
Cabbage chucking contest, kids games, fly-over, live music and more.
Octoberfest: Appleton, Downtown
Friday, September 28 – Saturday, September 29, 2018
Octoberfest weekend kicks off with License to Cruise, a classic car show on Friday night at 6 p.m. Complete with about 400 classic cars, live music and great food, you won’t want to miss one of Appleton’s largest car shows. Octoberfest is the area’s largest community events. 5 stages of music, 100 food booths, Arts & Crafts, Family Fun Area. This wraps up the season of festivals!
What festivals have you attended? Whats your not-to-miss suggestion? We would love you to share your feedback below! Thanks!
DISCLAIMER: We do our best at Go Valley Kids to provide accurate, useful information about events and activities. This information (such as times and locations) is gathered from user submissions, press releases, local newspapers, signs around town and word of mouth. We do our best to confirm details before they are posted here. Sometimes details change or we are given inaccurate information. Whenever possible, we link our write-ups to the source in which our information came from and strongly urge you to confirm details before you go. Go Valley Kids is in no way responsible for any problems that occur while participating in activities listed on the site or on Facebook.
You forgot walley weekend in fond du lac. I’m not sure the exact date though. I just thought I would let you know.