Summerfest was far from the “World’s Largest Music Festival” when this concert scene was photographed in 1976. The event had moved to Milwaukee’s lakefront just six years earlier, and its grounds were primitive by current standards. Food choices were limited, there wasn’t a stick of shade in sight, and the main stage was a simple raised platform under what resembled a gigantic halter top.
People came anyway. True to its mission before and since, Summerfest offered something for everyone. For a $2.50 daily ticket ($1.75 in advance), patrons had their choice of Cheap Trick, Judy Collins, Dave Brubeck, Tony Bennett, polka legend Eddie Blazonczyk, Luther Allison, Bobby Vinton, Billy Crystal doing standup, and dozens of other acts. Then as now, beer also played a starring role. The largest secondary stages were all sponsored by breweries – the Miller Jazz Oasis, the Schlitz Country Stage, and the Pabst International Folk Stage – and festgoers downed an ocean of suds during the event’s 12-day run.
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By the time the last band unplugged its amps and put away its guitars in 1976, more than 600,000 patrons had clicked through the turnstiles. That was a new record, but Summerfest was still growing; the festival wouldn’t reach its all-time attendance peak of just over 1 million until 2001. The formula has been refined and the grounds have been transformed since then, but variety remains the event’s keynote. As a Milwaukee Journal reporter wrote at the close of the 1976 edition: “That’s Summerfest – you usually get something besides what you planned on, and it’s usually something nice.”
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK:
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Canvas tents and mobile trailers marked a festival still in its infancy.
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If you’re too short to see over the grownups, just stand in the aisle.
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The Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge was still Milwaukee’s famous “bridge to nowhere” in 1976. It wasn’t connected to surface streets until the following year.
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The “1776-1976” dates in front of the main stage marked the bicentennial of America’s independence.
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Lakeshore State Park and its smaller predecessor, Summerfest Island, were not even dreams in 1976
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