About Milwaukee

On the shore of Lake Michigan, just two hours north of Chicago, lies Milwaukee, the largest city in the state of Wisconsin. Milwaukee is home to over half a million people, and in recent years, has taken steps to rehabilitate its image as a northern center of industry. As a result, Milwaukee's downtown has undergone a revitalization, and several new attractions – like Riverwalk, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Midwest Airlines Center – were built over the course of the last few years.

Milwaukee is primarily known as a beer lover's paradise – hence the nickname “Brew City”. At one point, four of the major beer brewers made their home within Milwaukee's city limits: Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst and Miller. Despite the long association between Milwaukee and beer, only Miller continues to make its home in Brew City.

Live music and outdoor entertainment is another major part of life in Milwaukee. With dozens of festivals taking place in the city each year, it's no surprise that another of Milwaukee's nicknames is “City of Festivals”. Ethnic festivals are popular, with Polish, Greek, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Native American and German heritages each commanding a city-wide celebration once per year, with the LGBT-sponsored PrideFest in early June inaugurating each festival season. The biggest and most famous festival of them all is SummerFest, which attracts nearly a million people to its twelve stages each year.

Milwaukee's cultural heritage includes a long history of music. Every genre of music – from hip-hop to ska to rock to electronica to country – can be found in Milwaukee's music scenes. Artists as disparate as Al Jarreau, Liberace, the Violent Femmes and LTJ Bukem represents just a tiny sampling of the diversity of music to be found in Milwaukee.