Events & Festivals

Your guide for the 2023 Summer Soulstice festival

Radio Milwaukee | By Brett Krzykowski

Published June 13, 2023 at 10:16 AM CDT

Since Wisconsin weather can’t seem to make up its stupid mind, there’s an actual date on the calendar signifying the official start of summer: next Wednesday, June 21, also known as the summer solstice. Then there’s the unofficial start of summer ‘round these parts: Summer Soulstice, the East Side festival that returns this Saturday, June 17.

Befitting a celebration of the longest day on the calendar, the free event runs from noon to midnight, packing just a ton of stuff into those 720 minutes. We’re talking 28 acts on four different stages, 46 vendors peddling everything from jewelry to essential oils and cookies to cheese curds.

You’ll be able to find all of those things on the festival grounds bordered by Kenilworth Place to the north (roughly), Ivanhoe Place to the south, Farwell Avenue to the west and Prospect Avenue to the east (see the map below for more exact cardinal directions). You can enter near the North Point Water Tower on the east end, as well as what organizers call a “crossroads” post (possibly near Crossroads Collective?) on the west end.

Really, your experience at Summer Soulstice is only limited by your desire to walk around the East Side. Yes, there will be food-and-drink vendors on the festival grounds serving up treats, Asian street food, barbecue and other good stuff. But the East Side bars, restaurants and other shops will be open throughout the day, including many right up to and past the festival’s midnight finish.

Based solely on the music lineup, you’re going to want to stick as late as possible. The local representation is fierce, including this week’s last-minute-ish addition of NilexNile on the Kenilworth Stage (which we’re proudly sponsoring) at 9:30 p.m. You can also catch the likes of Bug Moment, Spider Creek, Fellow Kinsman, Wave Chapelle and Collections of Colonies of Bees as part of an entertainment slate that literally starts the moment the festival opens and wraps up just before Sunday officially starts.

You can check out the full music and vendor lineup below, and visit the Summer Soulstice website for more information about this year’s event.