By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Feb 02, 2024 at 9:56 AM

Are you or someone you know a fastidiously persnickety speller? If so, this buzz is for you.

The third annual OnMilwaukee Spelling Bee takes place on Friday, Feb. 23 at The Cooperage, 822 N. Water St., from 7 to 10 p.m. Doors open at 6. (Note that when we say "Adult" we mean the competitive spelling slam is open to anyone 21 years or older, not that it will include profane words.)

The OnMilwaukee Adult Spelling Bee will feature 25 pre-registered spellers attempting to spell a wide selection of words with varying degrees of difficulty. Non-spelling audience members are invited to attend to cheer (at appropriate times), drink (at all times), participate in warm-up rounds (only if they want to) and marvel at the contestants' mad spelling skills.

Tickets cost $30 and include a free Vizzy Hard Seltzer beverage courtesy of MolsonCoors, $20 in Potawatomi Casino & Hotel Match Play and a Milwaukee Admirals ticket voucher ($16 value). Plus, the Bee is a benefit for SHARP Literacy.

Now's the time to sign up to paticipate as a speller and / or buy tickets to the event so you can cheer on your favorite orthographer.

  • To sign up as a speller, go here. The first 25 people to sign-up are in and will get free admission to the Bee.
  • To buy spectator tickets to the event, go here

This event sold out the previous two years, so don't snoozzzzzzzzze on tickets. Questions? Email molly@onmilwaukee.com


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.