Milwaukee Special Events

     The regular sports calendar includes the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel Sports Show, which draws crowds to the Wisconsin State Fair Park in mid-March.
     State Fair Park in the suburb of West Allis hosts several automobile races throughout the year, including the NASCAR/Busch Series in late June. The US Bank Championship Golf Tournament takes place in mid-July at Brown Door County Park.
     Two of Milwaukee's top cultural events are the Lakefront Festival of the Arts in June and Summerfest, held from late June to early July. RiverSplash!, in late May-early June, offers 10 city blocks of music, food and fireworks along the Milwaukee River. Ethnic festivals include the Polish Fest and the Asian Moon Festival in June and the Fiesta Italiana, Bastille Days and German Fest in July.
     Big-name entertainment is a given during August's Wisconsin State Fair. Also in August are the African World Festival, Arab World Festival, the Irish Fest and Mexican Fiesta. Indian Summer and Oktoberfest take place in September.
     More than 50 ethnic groups gather in mid-November for the Holiday Folk Fair, which salutes Old World culture. Colorful floats and other displays launch yuletide festivities at the Christmas Parade, traditionally held in late November.
     Each season of the year is celebrated with a spectacular flower show at Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory--"The Domes." Waves of color and fragrance delight the senses during the Spring Flower Show, late March to mid-May, and the Summer Flower Show, held from June to mid-September. The Fall Flower Show takes place from late September to mid-November. The Christmas Flower Show is held from Thanksgiving to early January, and the Winter Flower Show, held mid-January to mid-March, closes the season.

Performing Arts
     Milwaukee boasts several nationally acclaimed performing arts companies. The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St., is home to many of these, including the Florentine Opera Company, Milwaukee Ballet Company and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's regular season is early September through June; phone (800) 291-7605 or (888) 612-3500.
     Free Rainbow Summer concerts and other cultural offerings are presented at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts' riverfront tent stage on summer afternoons. The county parks department also sponsors less well-known groups in free concerts at various parks during the summer.
     The Milwaukee Repertory Theater performs a variety of dramatic productions at The Milwaukee Center at 108 E. Wells St. from early September to mid-May; phone (414) 224-9490. Since the restoration of the late 19th-century Pabst Theater at 144 E. Wells St., the grand old theater presents theatrical and musical productions ranging from Broadway shows to chamber music. Tours of the theater are offered Saturday at noon; phone (414) 286-3663. The Ko-Thi Dance Co. is among the groups performing at the Pabst Theater.
     The Helfaer Theater, (414) 288-7504, at 13th and Clybourn on the Marquette University campus, presents quality theater and concert offerings. The Milwaukee Riverside Theater, (414) 224-3000, at 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., presents touring Broadway shows and musical artists. Marcus Amphitheater on the Summerfest Grounds at 200 N. Harbor Dr. features concerts; phone (414) 273-2600.
     Musicals and operettas are staged by the Skylight Opera Theater, which performs at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway in the Historic Third World; phone (414) 291-7800. The Broadway Theatre Center also is home to the Chamber Theatre, which stages both classical and contemporary works, phone (414) 291-7800; and Bialystock & Bloom production company, (414) 223-0479, whose productions range from Albee to Shakespeare.