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70-572: The event, along with Summerfest and the many ethnic and cultural festivals held throughout the city, are what give Milwaukee the nickname "City of Festivals." Festivities began with opening ceremonies and a Great Paddle-Off between politicians and civic leaders at Pere Marquette Park, a central location along the river which hosts the Miller Genuine Draft Park Stage and other key events. New pieces of public art called RiverSculpture! were also unveiled at points along

140-581: A 76–47–3 (.615) regular season record at County Stadium over 42 seasons. It hosted at least one pre-season game annually during this time as well (except 1983 ), including the Upper Midwest Shrine Game. Financial considerations prompted the Packers to move some of their games to Milwaukee starting with the 1933 season, with one game played at Borchert Field . By 1995 , multiple renovations to Lambeau Field made it more lucrative for

210-467: A CD out to be paid $ 700 at Summerfest. If they want you to have CDs, they should pay you like they pay the professional people." Summerfest celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007. The event's history was the subject of "Summerfest Stories", a documentary that aired in June 2007 on Milwaukee Public Television . In 2015, Milwaukee World Festival, Inc and ReverbNation announced a three-year agreement to use

280-588: A chance to play at the new stadium. Even before it was completed, the new "Milwaukee County Municipal Stadium" drew the interest of major league clubs. The St. Louis Browns , who had played in Milwaukee in 1901, the inaugural season of the American League , applied for permission to relocate back to the city they had left half a century before. The Boston Braves , the parent club of the Brewers, blocked

350-567: A frequent performer at Summerfest. Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin . Opened in 1953 , it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball 's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers . It was also used for Green Bay Packers football games, ice skating, religious services, concerts, and other large events. Its final season

420-492: A game that the Brewers would win 6–2. Before the Kansas City Royals were to play a game on June 12, 1977 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Milwaukee County Stadium, thieves stole gloves and uniforms belonging to Royals players. Due to this, all but seven Royals players had to wear Milwaukee road uniforms for the game played that day. The Brewers won their first and only American League Championship by defeating

490-538: A regular-season game in Milwaukee, defeating the Bears 20–3 in 1974. (The Packers and Bears played preseason games at County Stadium every year from 1959 to 1973, and again in 1975 and 1984; current NFL rules prohibit division rivals from playing each other during the preseason.) On November 26, 1989, a County Stadium record crowd of 55,892 saw the Packers beat the Vikings, 20–19. The Packers' final game at County Stadium

560-552: A replacement for City Stadium. It could not be expanded, and its amenities for fans and players had long since fallen below NFL standards. With a growing number of teams letting it be known that they would not play at City Stadium, the NFL told the Packers to build a bigger stadium or move to Milwaukee full-time. Green Bay responded with a referendum that resulted in a new City Stadium, which opened in September 1957 . After eight seasons,

630-582: A riot, a bonfire, and about 300 arrests. As a result of the latter concert, organizers shied away from rock bands for several years, and established guidelines for "family-friendly" acts and a ban on alcohol brought in by patrons. This was properly managed when Henry Jordan found the experienced managers, Joel Gast and Lou Volpano, to manage entertainment in-house, eliminating Cleveland's Jules Belkin Promotions, who were hired by Board Members Bernie Samson and Steve Marcus. Also at that time local manager Volpano

700-427: A success; the second event in 1969, was less successful, as it was plagued by additional venues, inclement weather, and severe financial debt. In 1970, a permanent central location was decided upon, and Summerfest moved to a former Nike missile site on the lakefront , where it continues to be held to this day. Also that year, Summerfest introduced its red "smiley face" logo, an insignia that has become synonymous with

770-746: A time. They later opted to utilize an "Assembly Hall", which is constructed for the same purpose as the Stadium. Billy Graham 's 1979 Wisconsin Crusade was also held at the Stadium. Portions of the last three seasons (1995–1997) of the American television series Coach were filmed at County Stadium. The series starred Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, coach of the Orlando Breakers (a fictional NFL expansion team), from whose office window County Stadium can be recognized. The movie Major League

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840-506: A title certified by Guinness World Records in 1999, but has been surpassed in attendance by Donauinselfest with over three million in 2015. While Summerfest has one of the highest aggregate attendances in the world, the daily attendance of Summerfest is lower than other major American music festivals. In 2022, the daily attendance of Summerfest was 49,500. During Summerfest, the 75 acre (30 ha) park would usually host performances over 11 days, from late June until early July (including

910-449: A wide variety of food from many Milwaukee-area restaurants. Other Summerfest attractions include shopping vendors, fireworks (including "The Big Bang" on opening night), family activities, and more. Summerfest is operated by Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. a non-profit organization, which is governed by a volunteer board of directors. In its 50+ year history, Summerfest has hosted a variety of well-known artists, including Paul McCartney ,

980-418: Is referred to as the "Gold package". County Stadium was partly responsible for Lambeau Field's existence. When it was originally built, it was not only intended to lure an MLB team to Milwaukee, but also to lure the Packers to Milwaukee full-time. As originally constructed, County Stadium was double the size of the Packers' then-home, City Stadium . By the 1950s, the Packers were under growing pressure to find

1050-686: The 22nd All-Star Game . The National League won, 6–5, on a 12th-inning home run by Stan Musial . It hosted the first two editions of the Global World Series , an international baseball tournament, in 1955 and 1956; both editions were won by the United States . The Braves hosted back-to-back World Series in 1957 and 1958 , both against the New York Yankees . The Braves defeated the Yankees in seven games in 1957, but

1120-705: The AFL–NFL merger effectively quashed any chances of Milwaukee landing its own team. In late 1994, Marvin Fishman purchased a stake in the corporation that owned the Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Football League , with intent of moving the Posse to County Stadium, which would have required compromises in playing dimensions in order to be playable under CFL rules. Initially hoping to be held to

1190-485: The Dallas Cowboys . Unlike most publicly funded stadiums built in the 20th century, County Stadium was built primarily for baseball, creating issues for hosting football. The playing surface was just barely large enough to fit a football field, which ran parallel with the first base line. The south end zone spilled onto the warning track in right field, while the north end zone spilled into foul territory on

1260-582: The Detroit Tigers . In Chicago that season, the Sox drew 539,478 fans to their remaining 72 home dates. In just a handful of games, the Milwaukee crowds accounted for nearly one-third of the total attendance at White Sox games. In light of this success, Selig and Allyn agreed that County Stadium would host Sox home games again the next season. In 1969 , the Sox schedule in Milwaukee was expanded to include 11 home games (one against every other franchise in

1330-489: The Kansas City Royals . Selig was unable to attract an expansion team among the franchises awarded for the 1969 expansion . However, one of the teams founded in that expansion would later work in Selig's favor. Not discouraged by the setback, Selig instead bought the troubled Seattle Pilots out of bankruptcy court. The Pilots had been a 1969 expansion team. The Seattle franchise had serious stadium and financial issues. In

1400-460: The Korean War , was completed in 1953. Construction cost was $ 5.9 million, with the bonds paid off in 1964. The city of Milwaukee also hoped to use the new facility to attract a Major League Baseball franchise (the city had been considered a potential relocation target for years), and in this respect their efforts were immediately successful. In fact, the minor league Brewers would never get

1470-587: The Milwaukee Riverwalk . Over 30 food vendors and restaurants were located throughout the event area. Notable are the store fronts of the historic Old World Third Street such as Usinger's Famous Sausage , Third Street Pier and Mader's German Restaurant. Firework displays were held on Friday and Saturday nights. On a December 22nd, 2009 press release, board member Marsha Sehler of the Milwaukee Riverwalk District stated that

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1540-640: The National League Braves played host (and won 6–5 in 12 innings), and in 1975 , when the then American League Brewers played host, and lost, 6–3. It also hosted the World Series in 1957 , 1958 and 1982 , as well as league playoffs in 1981, and a Green Bay Packers playoff game in 1967. On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates set a record as he pitched 12 perfect innings only to lose 1–0 to

1610-518: The Sausage Race , during which several anthropomorphized sausages participate in an initially fictional race to home plate between the sixth and seventh innings. Whoever finished first was the "wiener" and whoever finished last was the "wurst". Brats with Secret Stadium Sauce , invented and served at County Stadium, were the favorite ballpark food of sportscaster Bob Costas . County Stadium has hosted two Baseball All-Star Games , in 1955, when

1680-654: The Western Conference championship game, avenging a 27-24 loss two weeks earlier at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . It was the first year that the NFL playoffs expanded to four teams, and Green Bay had home field advantage for both rounds, then awarded by rotation. Each subsequent playoff game has been played at Lambeau Field, starting with the Ice Bowl the following week against

1750-717: The 1965 season when new owners, seeking a larger television market, moved the team to Atlanta . In an effort to return Major League Baseball to Milwaukee after the departure of the Braves, local businessman and minority Braves owner Bud Selig brought other teams to play at County Stadium, beginning with a 1967 exhibition game between the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins . The exhibition game attracted more than 51,000 spectators, so Selig's group contracted with Sox owner Arthur Allyn to host nine Chicago White Sox home games at County Stadium in 1968 . Selig's experiment

1820-418: The 1972 event and was subsequently arrested for violating obscenity laws. Prior to his arrest, he discarded a bag of cocaine to avoid further imprisonment. Since 1975, comedy acts ranging from David Brenner and Henny Youngman to Jay Leno and Jon Stewart have performed at the event. Sandra Bernhard did TV and radio promos for its 1986 season when she was a performer there. Lewis Black has also become

1890-463: The 1994 season. In the meantime, a demonstration luxury box was built in the stadium in order to demonstrate the viability of one to local politicians and the city's larger corporations. In addition, the stadium was the only one in MLB that lacked some sort of color videoboard (it used a monochrome Omega scoreboard built in 1980). The new stadium funding plan proved to be extremely controversial, and it

1960-575: The 2009 season was to be the last RiverSplash. “RiverSplash has had a successful 20-year run, but festivals are costly ventures and have their life cycles. It’s time for us to redirect our energies.” Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee , Wisconsin . First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park , adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's central business district. Summerfest attracts approximately 800,000 people each year, promoting itself as "The World's Largest Music Festival",

2030-575: The American League at the time). Although those games were attended by slightly fewer fans (198,211 fans, for an average of 18,019) they represented a greater percentage of the total White Sox attendance than the previous year – over one-third of the fans who went to Sox home games in 1969 did so at County Stadium (in the remaining 70 home dates in Chicago, the Sox drew 391,335 for an average of 5,591 per game). Those games took place on April 23 vs.

2100-537: The California Angels in five games in 1982, and hosted Games 3, 4 and 5 of the 1982 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. By the 1990s, County Stadium was considered outdated, lacking the amenities (most notably luxury boxes ) that generated additional revenue for teams. On July 11, 1992, Selig announced plans for a publicly financed replacement to be built adjacent to County Stadium, opening in time for

2170-994: The California Angels, May 22 vs. the Detroit Tigers, May 28 vs. the New York Yankees, June 11 vs. the Cleveland Indians, June 16 vs. the Seattle Pilots (who eventually became the Brewers the next season), July 2 vs. the Minnesota Twins, July 7 vs. the Oakland A's, August 6 vs. the Washington Senators, August 13 vs. the Boston Red Sox, September 1 vs. the Baltimore Orioles, and September 26 vs.

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2240-465: The Cincinnati Reds 8-1 in that game. After the game, there was a closing ceremony, where first home plate and the pitching rubber of County Stadium were removed, to be placed at Miller Park. Then, former Braves, Brewers, and Packers legends who had played at County Stadium during its history were introduced by broadcasters Earl Gillespie , Merle Harmon , and Bob Uecker , with Uecker delivering

2310-547: The Drells , Frankie Avalon , the Hollywood Argyles , Johnny and The Hurricanes , James Brown , The Famous Flames , Lobo , Bread , Andy Kim , Gary Puckett , Rare Earth & The Honeycombs . Jehovah's Witnesses held an annual convention (including well known annual themes such as: "Good News for all Nations" and 'Peace on Earth") in the Stadium during the 1960s and 1970s, drawing as many as 57,000 people at

2380-703: The English teams the Wigan Warriors and the Warrington Wolves at County Stadium. Wigan would win 12-5, in front of a crowd of 17,773. The World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) held WrestleFest 1988 at County Stadium on July 31, 1988. The event was headlined by Hulk Hogan defeating André the Giant in a steel cage match . Due to the large seating capacity, in July 1953

2450-624: The Fourth of July ). It was announced recently that the festival would move to a three weekend schedule to allow for more Friday and Saturday event days. The performers include local and nationally known music talent from various genres, performing throughout the grounds from noon to midnight, including the 23,000-capacity American Family Insurance Amphitheater . Since 2004, nearly $ 150 million has been invested into Henry Maier Festival Park, including permanent stages, bars, production space, VIP amenities and other infrastructure. Summerfest also showcases

2520-480: The National League beat the American League, this time 6–3. With an attendance of 51,480, it was the largest crowd at the stadium at that time. The Brewers were represented by George Scott and Hank Aaron , who had recently returned to Milwaukee in a trade with the Braves. Aaron spent the last two years of his career in Milwaukee and in the American League (where the Brewers played then; they would move to

2590-421: The National League in 1998), where the designated hitter position allowed him to extend his playing career. Aaron hit his final home run at County Stadium, giving him a career total of 755, establishing at the time the career home run record he first took from Babe Ruth in 1974. Aaron's final home run took place in the 7th inning with a solo shot off California Angels right-hander Dick Drago on July 20, 1976,

2660-471: The Packers to play their full home slate in Green Bay again for the first time since 1932 ; according to Packers president Bob Harlan, the overall cost of hosting games at County Stadium was costing the team over $ 2 million a year. Former Milwaukee ticket holders were offered tickets at Lambeau to one pre-season game and games 3 and 6 of the regular season schedule (later changed to games 2 and 5), in what

2730-489: The Pilots insignia off the pre-existing uniforms, and the Brewers adopted the Pilots' blue, white, and yellow instead of the red and navy blue (the Braves' colors) that Selig originally wanted; these remain the team colors to this day, despite changes to the shades over the years (and the brief addition of green as a tertiary color from 1994 to 1996). On July 15, 1975, County Stadium hosted its second All-Star Game . As in 1955,

2800-844: The Posse shifted its efforts to Jackson, Mississippi , CFL Commissioner Larry Smith continued to support a team for Milwaukee and County Stadium, a proposal that eventually ended after the CFL withdrew from the American market following the 1995 season. Most of the home games of the Marquette University football team (7 of 9) in 1957 and 1958 were moved from Marquette Stadium to the larger County Stadium. The final home game on November 9, 1957 against Penn State drew less than 4,800 to County Stadium. Marquette football returned to Marquette Stadium in 1959 for its final two seasons. The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee football team played home games at County Stadium 1968–1971. It

2870-526: The Rolling Stones , Tina Turner , Metallica , Whitney Houston , Stevie Wonder , Kenny Chesney , Aerosmith , Bruno Mars , Arctic Monkeys , Lady Gaga , Usher , Dave Matthews Band , and Lil Uzi Vert . Don Smiley served as president and chief executive officer of Summerfest from 2004 until his retirement in December 2023. He was succeeded in both roles by Sarah Smith Pancheri. Summerfest

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2940-609: The Summerfest stages. Acts with Milwaukee and Wisconsin connections have had a prominent history at Summerfest, most notably the BoDeans , The Gufs , Danny Gokey , and Violent Femmes . The concerts have been mostly civil events, with two notable exceptions. In 1970, a performance by the late-arriving Sly & the Family Stone nearly resulted in a riot. In 1973, a performance by Humble Pie & Jo Jo Gunne resulted in

3010-455: The Yankees returned the favor the next year. The stadium continued to be the National League's top draw until 1959 when the Dodgers , who had moved to Los Angeles two years before, overtook the Braves (both in the stands and on the field). In the early 1960s attendance fell, along with the Braves' standings, amid an unstable ownership situation. The Milwaukee Braves used the stadium through

3080-427: The closing speech, as each of the stadium's light towers were symbolically turned off. The stadium was demolished on February 21, 2001. Although most of the stadium site is now covered with parking for Miller Park, the site of the old infield was converted into a Little League park, and is now called Helfaer Field . On a picnic concourse next to the playing field of Helfaer Field, there is an outline of where home plate

3150-614: The day's shooting, and capacity crowds turned out for the shooting of the final scenes, which involved the Indians in the final games of a pennant race. Also, in the film, fans in the stands are visible donning T-shirts bearing the name and logo of a local Milwaukee-area corporation, Quad Graphics (located in Sussex ). On July 28, 1990, the United States men's national soccer team hosted an international friendly vs. East Germany , losing 2-1. On June 10, 1989, an exhibition game between

3220-519: The end of the 2000 season. There was some talk of having the Brewers move into Miller Park in the middle of 2000, but it was determined that too many corners would have to be cut in order for it to be ready at that time. The final major league game at County Stadium was on September 28, 2000; Warren Spahn threw out the first pitch to Del Crandall , and also in attendance were Willie Davis , Hank Aaron , and Robin Yount . The Brewers were defeated by

3290-410: The event. The logo was designed by local graphic artists Noel Spangler and Richard D. Grant. It was also in 1970 that Henry Jordan , former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle, became executive director of Summerfest, a title he held during the event's early years until his death in 1977. After a few other businessmen were hired by the board for the executive director's job, Elizabeth "Bo" Black, who

3360-554: The final season in County Stadium. The Brewers opened the 1999 season intending to bid farewell to their old park. On July 14, three construction workers at the Miller Park site were killed in the collapse of the site's "Big Blue" crane while attempting to install a 400-ton roof panel. A good part of the construction site was also damaged as a result. Cleanup and an investigation delayed the closing of County Stadium to

3430-577: The first football season in 1953 were $ 5.00, $ 3.80, and $ 2.50. The average price in the final year of 1994 was $ 25.61 per game. Following the unsuccessful effort to lure the Packers to Milwaukee full-time, in 1965 city officials tried to lure an American Football League expansion team to play at County Stadium, but Packers head coach Vince Lombardi invoked the team's exclusive lease as well as sign an extension to keep some home games in Milwaukee until 1976. Nonetheless, city officials still pursued an AFL franchise, possibly to play at Marquette Stadium, but

3500-907: The interchange with the Stadium Freeway and Interstate 94 . Several locations around the city, including the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis were considered before the city settled on the defunct site of the Story Quarry , on the west side of Milwaukee near the Story Hill neighborhood. County Stadium was the first ballpark in the United States financed with public funds. Construction began in October 1950 and, hampered by steel shortages during

3570-460: The new stadium hosted the Ice Capades for nine consecutive nights. There was a chalet and giant beer mug, originally at right-center field and later at left, where mascot Bernie Brewer would "dunk" himself whenever a Brewers player hit a home run. The chalet is now stored at Lakefront Brewery , a Milwaukee microbrewery , and can be seen on brewery tours. County Stadium also gave rise to

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3640-514: The online service as an audition to give musicians a chance to perform. Summerfest wanted to provide an opportunity for performers to get a chance to be one of the 800+ acts and allow new talent to be seen by over 900,000 people that attend. 2020 saw the COVID-19 pandemic as grounds for scrapping the concert part & moving others online. Summerfest Attendance Since 1995 Summerfest attendance peaked in 2001 at 1,000,563 attendees. Summerfest

3710-548: The proposed move. The Braves had long been struggling at the gate in Boston, and rumors of them relocating had been floating for some time. The move to keep Milwaukee available as a new home indicated to many observers that the Braves would move to Milwaukee themselves. Three weeks before the beginning of the 1953 season, and right before the new stadium was ready to open, the Braves made it official, applying for permission to relocate. The other National League owners agreed, with

3780-424: The same revenue-sharing plan as the Packers had during their Milwaukee games, the Brewers unexpectedly objected, reasoning that unlike the Packers' two games that were usually outside of baseball season, the CFL played much of its schedule in the summer, meaning that several home games would cause scheduling conflicts with the Brewers and potentially damage the playing surface. Even after Fishman's bid fell through and

3850-475: The spring of 1970 , Milwaukee had baseball again, and County Stadium had a new tenant. The new Milwaukee Brewers , named for the American Association club for which County Stadium was originally built over 20 years earlier, called it home from 1970 to 2000 . The sale occurred during spring training for 1970, and happened so fast that Selig could not get new uniforms made. Instead, they ripped

3920-724: The team becoming the Milwaukee Braves. The Braves' first regular season home game was on April 14 against the St. Louis Cardinals . Bill Bruton hit a 10th inning home run to win the game (3-2) in dramatic style. In their first season in Milwaukee, the Braves set the National League attendance record of 1.8 million. The first published issue of Sports Illustrated on August 16, 1954, featured County Stadium with Braves batter Eddie Mathews on its cover, along with New York Giants catcher Wes Westrum and home plate umpire Augie Donatelli . On July 12, 1955, County Stadium hosted

3990-444: The third-base side. Both teams shared the east sideline on the outfield side, separated by a piece of tape. At its height, it seated less than 56,000 for football—just over the NFL's post-AFL merger minimum seating capacity—and many seats had obstructed views or were far from the field. Over the years, upgrades and seat expansions almost exclusively benefited the Braves and later the Brewers. Season ticket prices (three games) for

4060-530: The venue was renamed "Lambeau Field" shortly after the death of team founder Curly Lambeau in 1965 . The Minnesota Vikings (15 times) were the Packers' most frequent foe at County Stadium, as the Packers would traditionally host at least one divisional rival from the NFC Central in Milwaukee each season. Only once, however, did the Packers play their ancient arch-rivals , the Chicago Bears , in

4130-608: Was a 21–17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on December 18, 1994; with fourteen seconds left, the winning 9-yard touchdown run was scored by quarterback Brett Favre , who was drafted by the Falcons in 1991 but traded the next year due to then-Atlanta coach Jerry Glanville 's intense dislike of Favre. The Packers hosted one NFL playoff game at County Stadium, in 1967 , defeating the Los Angeles Rams 28–7 in

4200-708: Was at County Stadium and also a bronze marker in the nearby parking lot marking where Hank Aaron's 755th and final career home run landed. Despite the stadium no longer existing, an abstract design of County Stadium is retained within Milwaukee's city flag (along with a former Braves logo which has changed to represent Native American origins), whose replacement has been debated for the last two decades. The National Football League 's Green Bay Packers played two to four home games per year at Milwaukee County Stadium from 1953 to 1994 , after using Wisconsin State Fair Park in nearby West Allis from 1934 through 1951 and Marquette Stadium in 1952 . The Packers compiled

4270-413: Was changed briefly in 1966 to "Juli Spaß" (German for "July Fun") and then to "Summerfest". The inaugural Summerfest was held in July 1968 at 35 different locations throughout the city (including Milwaukee County Stadium and Milwaukee Arena ), and its events ranged from concerts to a film festival, an air show, and even a pageant. The first Summerfest, produced by Dee Robb and Con Merten was regarded as

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4340-1066: Was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the event was only 9 days instead of 11, and it occurred in September rather than during the summer months. The Summerfest grounds include seven permanent stages and two pavilions that can be converted to stages (Johnson Controls World Sound Stage and the South Pavilion). Summerfest has been most famous for its music since the first festival in 1968, when acts such as Ronnie Dove , The New Colony Six , The Robbs and Up With People performed. Since then, musical acts from Bob Dylan , The Jackson 5 , Frank Sinatra , Prince , Whitney Houston , Janet Jackson , The Jonas Brothers , Fleetwood Mac , Maroon 5 , Fun , Britney Spears , Stevie Ray Vaughan , Cher , Tina Turner , and James Taylor to Christina Aguilera , Diana Ross , Roy Orbison , Liza Minnelli , Kanye West , Kid Cudi , Stevie Wonder , Mary J. Blige , Wiz Khalifa , Imagine Dragons , Nine Inch Nails , The Ramones , Billie Eilish , Willie Nelson , The Rolling Stones , and Paul McCartney have graced

4410-453: Was conceived in the 1960s by then-mayor Henry W. Maier . Inspired by his visit to Oktoberfest in Munich , Germany , Maier envisioned a similar ethnic-themed festival in Milwaukee, and in 1962 formed a panel of business and civic leaders to study the feasibility of a large-scale summer festival. By the middle of the decade, the panel drew up a proposal for a 10-day multi-event festival with the proposed name of "Milwaukee World Festival," which

4480-431: Was formerly Henry Jordan's secretary, became executive director in 1984 after a ten-year lobbying effort. The event has not been without its controversy. On December 9, 2002, Lee Gates commented in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the lack of opportunity to play at Summerfest. "I don't get the credit I deserve here. I've been playing 50-something years. There's discrimination at Summerfest. I shouldn't need to have

4550-432: Was highly successful – those nine games drew 264,297 fans. Those games took place on May 15 vs. the California Angels , May 28 vs. the Baltimore Orioles , June 17 vs. the Cleveland Indians , June 24 vs. the Minnesota Twins, July 11 vs. the New York Yankees , July 22 vs. the Oakland A's , August 2 vs. the Washington Senators , August 8 vs. the Boston Red Sox , and August 26 vs. the eventual World Series winners,

4620-542: Was hired specifically to improve production and book international superstars on what was a mere Local Rock Stage, where then the Ramones , UFO , and Judas Priest headlined Live comedy acts have also been a part of Summerfest's history, even before a regular "Comedy Showcase" was first established in 1975. Bob Hope was the main headliner at Summerfest 1969, performing two shows at Milwaukee County Stadium . George Carlin (opening for Arlo Guthrie ) performed his " Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television " routine at

4690-458: Was in 2000 , when it was replaced by the adjacent Miller Park . Milwaukee County Stadium was originally built as a home for the Milwaukee Brewers of the minor league American Association , replacing the outdated and deteriorating Borchert Field . Both locations would be influenced by the future Milwaukee County freeway system, as Borchert Field's footprint would be cleared to make way for Interstate 43 , with County Stadium located southwest of

4760-403: Was not until 1996 that groundbreaking began on the new stadium, by now named Miller Park as part of a sponsorship deal with nearby Miller Brewing Company . Miller Park's most distinctive new feature was a retractable roof, deemed essential to drawing fans during the cool and unpredictable Wisconsin spring. At the time of the groundbreaking, Miller Park was scheduled to open in 2000, making 1999

4830-749: Was one of multiple home venues for the Panthers after their on-campus stadium, Pearse Field, was razed for new development following the 1967 season. County Stadium was also a popular home for concerts throughout its history. Bob Hope performed for fans during a Braves doubleheader in 1960. County Stadium also hosted the Kool Jazz Festival every year from 1976 through 1980. Other musical stars who performed at County Stadium included Simon and Garfunkel , Pink Floyd , Crosby Stills & Nash , Fleetwood Mac , Jimmy Buffett , Kenny Loggins , Peter Frampton , Marvin Gaye , Al Green , The Jacksons , The Temptations , Smokey Robinson , B.B. King , Emmylou Harris , Nancy Wilson , The Staple Singers , Archie Bell and

4900-405: Was shot at County Stadium during the summer of 1988. Even though the movie was about the Cleveland Indians , producers cast Milwaukee Brewers radio announcer Bob Uecker in the movie, with signage for local channels WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) and WCGV-TV (Channel 24) not covered up and visible in the film. Announcements were made on local television news programs about the number of extras required for

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