Milwaukee Downtown has announced its Summer in the City summer campaign – which aims to welcome workers back to the office with great daytime entertainment – and those plans include a new live music series at Red Arrow Park.
Summer in the City includes a range of free events, including the music series – which runs every Wednesday at noon, from June 1 to July 27 – as well as a staycation giveaway and a new online listing of summer events all around the Downtown area.
Heart(beats) in the City is the concert series and it includes performances on Red Arrow Park's upper terrace by Chicken Wire Empire (June 1), “V” Funk (June 8), Rob Knapp & the Soul Patrol (June 15), Donna Woodall Group (June 22), The Rumskis (June 29), Extra Crispy Brass Band (July 6), Rhythm Kings (July 13), Hopper’s Luck (July 20), and KOJO (July 27).
A varied mix of food trucks will be onsite for the lunchtime entertaiment series, too.
A social media photo contest for Downtown workers has a grand prize staycation at Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel. It runs June 1- July 17, during which time folks who post a photo of themselves at one of Downtown's free summer events along with #MKEItBack and tagging @MKEDowntown on Instagram and @MilwDowntown on Twitter. One lucky winner will get a $500 St. Kate gift card.
There are tons of great summer events in the center of town and you can find info on them all at the Summer in the City webpage, found at milwaukeedowntown.com/bid-events.
It will include everything from Pridefest, July 3 fireworks to Bucks playoff games at the Deer District, Rainbow Summer Reimagined! at the Marcus Center's Peck Pavilion, the Milwaukee Night Market in Westown, Sculpture Milwaukee, Bastille Days in East Town, Downtown Employee Appreciation Week and more.
“With more downtown employees returning to the office, we wanted to welcome them back in a big way,” said Beth Weirick, CEO of Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21, in a statement on Thursday.
“We’re celebrating their return, the return of summer and this amazing city all season long.”
Beyond concerts, festivals and events, public art continues to flourish. Two new Milwaukee Downtown-supported murals were recently begin in the neighborhood, too, including one depicting Giannis Antetokounmpo by Mauricio Ramirez on 600 EAST building at 600 E. Wisconsin Ave., and another by Sid Ylagan celebrating 414 Day behind the Plankinton Arcade, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave.
These were recently completed Downtown, too.
Should be an exciting summer to get back Downtown during the day!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
