Summerfest sets 2026 dates. Will the Milwaukee music festival keep its 3-weekend format?
Milwaukee's Summerfest has announced the dates for its 2026 festival — and yes, it again will be nine days over three weekends.
The 2026 Big Gig will take over Maier Festival Park June 18-20, June 25-27 and July 2-4, the Milwaukee music festival's operator, Milwaukee World Festival Inc., announced July 15.
For decades, Summerfest ran for 11 consecutive days — some years, taking off the Monday in the middle. But in 2020, trying to outrun the COVID-19 pandemic, the Milwaukee music festival was moved to fall, with a three-day, three-weekend format.
Concert attendees getting prepared before Offset comes out on stage during Summerfest at the Henry Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee on June 27, 2025.
That year's festival eventually was canceled, but the fall dates — and three-weekend format — were revived for 2021.
The festival shifted back to its midsummer time frame in 2022 and kept the three-weekend format, over the objections of some Summerfest traditionalists.
