Milwaukee’s street festivals attract visitors from all over, but Bay View Bash is thrown just with its residents in mind.
Of course, everyone is welcome to enjoy the food, drinks, vendors, eccentric acts and top bands from the local music scene. But the big block party is fully run by neighborhood volunteers.
“The people who are booking the bands, talking to vendors and talking to volunteers – we all live there,” says Bay View Bash vice president Nickie Rouleau.
This Saturday, Bay View Bash celebrates 20 years of local revelry from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. along KK Avenue. To mark the occasion, the party partnered with Third Space Brewing for a special release lager, succinctly named “Bash Beer.” The label features sunny, cheerful illustrations from local artist Lauren Marvell, capturing Bay View’s hip, family-friendly charm.
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The Bash also flaunts its personality through its four musical stages, each booked by Milwaukee Record, WSME, X-Ray Arcade and Rushmor Records according to their own taste. Instead of cover bands, the stages are populated with rising artists playing original music, many of whom are local like Barely Civil, Fight Dice, and Kia Rap Princess. “You’re definitely going to find something new, something local, something unique,” Rouleau says.
Even though organizers like to go all out for the bash, they’re mindful of its place in the community. Bay View Bash is zero waste to minimize mess on its streets and “leave the neighborhood cleaner than we found it,” Rouleau says. And all profit made goes toward grants funding local nonprofits that work in the ZIP code.
“Since I’ve been involved – a little over 10 years – we’ve given away more than $100,000 in grants,” Rouleau says, citing projects like funding street repairs and Red Cats baseball uniforms. “It’s fun to have a festival, but it’s a lot cooler when you get to give those checks to these organizations that are impacting our own neighborhoods.”
This “give-back” ethos has been part of Bay View Bash since 2004 when it sprung out of the neighborhood’s early-aughts renaissance. It was started by the Bay View Neighborhood Association, the same year it also launched Chill on the Hill. As it grew from a grassroots operation to something turning a profit, longtime resident and perennial activist Bill Sell made sure the community saw all the money. Rouleau thinks this enduring mission is what motivates volunteers to give every festival their all.
“It does feel like a big reunion,” she says. “It feels like a day where you see all of your neighbors.”
