1. Every Brilliant Thing
THROUGH MARCH 16 | MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE
What makes life worth living? Ice cream, water fights, perhaps. A little boy writes these things down for his mom living with depression, and the list grows more profound and life-affirming as he gets older and as the audience makes its own suggestions.
2. 10th Annual Destash
MARCH 2 | THE BAVARIAN BIERHAUS
Over 100 local artists and makers sell their leftover and repurposed wares at discounted prices at this annual market. Along with food and live polka, attendees will get a complementary drink and tote bag.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Journal Sentinel Sports Show
MARCH 7-9 | WISCONSIN STATE FAIR PARK
It’s outdoors galore at this exhibition packed with vendors celebrating hunting, fishing, grilling and more. Cast a line in the indoor trout pond, watch lumberjacks throw axes and race chainsaws, and cheer on the fastest retrievers.
4. Anime Milwaukee
MARCH 7-9 | BAIRD CENTER
For fans of all things anime and more, this convention presents esteemed voice actors and cosplayers in addition to vendors, gaming halls and a masquerade costume contest over three jam-packed days at the Baird Center.
5. Shamrock Shuffle
MARCH 8 | MULTIPLE NEIGHBORHOODS
Give cheers for charity while crawling local bars with thousands of others during this annual St. Patrick’s Day-adjacent bash. Choose from four trails on Brady Street, Water Street, Martin Luther King Drive and Walker’s Point with a free T-shirt and live Irish jams.
6. ‘Connections’
MARCH 8-APRIL 19 | KIM STORAGE GALLERY
Artist Jordan Scott amasses and puts together used postage stamps to create transfixing geometric patterns meant to evoke the universality of all people.
7. Martha Graham Dance Company
MARCH 15 | MILWAUKEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Marcus Performing Arts Center
To celebrate the prestigious modern dance company’s 100th anniversary, it’s returning to Milwaukee for the first time in 50 years. Expect dazzling performances drawn from the works of emerging artists and the legendary namesake choreographer.
8. Maple Sugarin’ Festival
MARCH 15 | RIVEREDGE NATURE CENTER
It’s maple syrup season! Try your hand at tapping a maple tree and learn how the sticky sap is turned into syrup. There’ll also be crafts, live music, and pancakes and pickles drowned in the sweet stuff.
9. Lion’s Tooth’s Birthday
MARCH 15 | LION’S TOOTH
Milwaukee’s independent bookstore specializing in comics, zines and small-press titles is celebrating four years in Bay View! Prizes and surprises are in store for the day, including a raffle and sweet treats.
10. Old Pup
MARCH 15 | CACTUS CLUB
Local pedal steel guitarist Will Hansen leads this ambling folk project with touches of country twang and a contributing cast of Milwaukee musicians. This show celebrates the release of Old Pup’s new album, Spider Towns.
11. St. Patrick’s Day Parade
MARCH 15 | WESTON
Go green for the Shamrock Club of Wisconsin’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, celebrating the city’s Irish community. The route runs from 3rd St. Market Hall to Highland and Water, and includes pipe and drums corps, dancers, floats and more.
12. Hari Kondabolu
MARCH 20-22 | THE LAUGHING TAP
Known for his sharp takes on race and politics and his documentary The Problem with Apu, Hari Kondabolu comes to Milwaukee following his 2023 special Vacation Baby about fatherhood during the pandemic.
13. The Last Five Years
MARCH 21-MAY 18 | MILWAUKEE REP
This unconventional love story between two 20-something New Yorkers is told from two perspectives at once: one chronologically, the other backwards. Catch this ever-popular passionate musical right before it makes its Broadway debut.
14. Bach Celebration
MARCH 21-23 | BRADLEY SYMPHONY CENTER
Bach is back! After last year’s festival celebrating the timeless composer, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is staging a new concert of classics including his fourth Brandenburg Concerto.
15. Viva La Mamma!
MARCH 21-23 | PITMAN THEATER AT ALVERNO COLLEGE
If you’re new to opera, consider one that doesn’t take itself so seriously. This 19th-century “drama with jokes” by Gaetano Donizetti is about the staging of a doomed production with competing stars and absurd accidents.
16. JJJJJerome Ellis
MARCH 22 | WOODLAND PATTERN
Poet and composer JJJJJerome Ellis explores the intersection of Blackness, history and disabled speech by blending saxophone, electronics, spoken word and song. They’ll perform excerpts from their latest book, Aster of Ceremonies.
17. The War & Treaty
MARCH 27 | TURNER HALL BALLROOM
Fusing gospel and country, husband-and-wife duo Michael and Tanya Trotter bundle their love into song, and their latest album, Plus One, is no exception.
