Henry Maier Festival Park
- Henry Maier Festival Park
The Henry W. Maier Festival Park, also known either as the Henry Maier Festival Grounds or as the Summerfest Grounds, is a festival park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. The Park is named for Henry Maier, Milwaukee's longest-serving mayor.
The history of the Henry Maier Festival Park starts with Summerfest two years prior, in 1968. Summerfest was created that year, and found some success, being held in 35 different locations. The next year, however, was inundated with horrific weather, forcing cancellation of the last day and ensuring financial losses for that year. In 1970 a central location was decided upon: an abandoned strip of land along the lakefront in the downtown area, which was the former Maitland Airport and served as a Nike missile site during the Cold War.
The early Summerfest Grounds consisted of little more than concrete blocks with wooden slabs placed on top to serve as stages, in the middle of a grassy, muddy field. Despite this, the central location ended up being the key to the festival's success, ensuring the existence and expansion of the grounds. Construction continued through the 1970s and 1980s, with the highlight of the creation of the Marcus Amphitheater, a 23,000 seat partially covered venue, in 1987.
Festivals
Various ethnic and cultural festivals came to be held at the festival park beginning in the 1980s, as well as several run/walks for charity events.
*African World Festival [http://www.africanworldfestival.com/]
*Arab World Fest [http://www.arabworldfest.com/]
*Asian Moon Festival [http://www.asianmoonfestival.com/]
*Festa Italiana
*German Fest
*Indian Summer [http://www.indiansummer.org/]
*Irish Fest
*Labor Fest
*Mexican Fiesta [http://www.mexicanfiesta.org/]
*Polish Fest
*PrideFest
ources
* [http://www.summerfest.com/aboutus/history.htm History of Summerfest] (including the grounds)
* [http://www.airfields-freeman.com/WI/Airfields_WI_SE.htm#downtownmilwaukee Maitland Airport & Military Reservation] details and images
External links
*Geolinks-US-streetscale|43.028157|-87.898918
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