Readers of a certain age will remember the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie and its earworm of a tagline: “Set it and forget it.”
The idea behind the catchy little slogan was that you could put your brain on autopilot and not think too hard about … well, anything. That’s why those words sprung to mind when considering the return of the Brady Street Festival, which has become one of those annual Milwaukee events requiring almost zero brainpower when deciding whether to go.
Great local bands? Check. Tons of food-and-drink options? Duh. More vendors than you could possibly visit in one day? Absolutely. Are you going? Of course.
The other nice thing about this event existing for more than a half-century is that you know exactly where to go (the name helps, too). For those who need a refresher, it’s located on Brady Street between Farwell Avenue on the east side and Van Buren Street on the west end, with three stages spread evenly among those 10-ish blocks.
The official runtime of the festival is noon to 11 p.m. this Saturday, July 25, and some of the finest area artists will help ensure those hours are jam-packed with tunes. Fellow Travelers jumped out to us as our most recent Milwaukee Music Premiere, but you’ll immediately recognize a ton of Radio Milwaukee favorites like Social Cig, Emmitt James, Wire & Nail, Wave Chapelle and Gabriel Harris.
You can build your own festival experience using the full schedule below and find updates about this year’s event on the Brady Street Facebook page.
Brady Street Festival schedule
East Stage
- Noon — Local Memory
- 1:30 p.m. — Violet Wilder
- 3 p.m. — Spine Stealers
- 4:30 p.m. — Hollyy
- 6 p.m. — Social Cig
- 7:30 p.m. — Another One
- 9 p.m. — Modern Joey
Center Stage
- Noon — School of Rock
- 2 p.m. — Trio Elegancia
- 3:30 pm. — Gabriel Harris
- 5 p.m. — Wire & Nail
- 6:30 p.m. — Mári
- 8 p.m. — Melotuned and 39tharchitech
- 9:30 p.m. — Wave Chapelle
West Stage
- Noon — Summer Mobility Flow Yoga
- 2:30 p.m. — TNGT
- 4 p.m. — Fellow Travelers
- 5:30 p.m. — Cripes
- 7 p.m. — Emmitt James
- 8:30 p.m. — Brew City Belly Dancers
- 9:30 p.m. — Brady Street Babes
