Bastille Days is Milwaukee’s popular French festival that happens every year in Cathedral Square in downtown Milwaukee.
It kicked off on Thursday and runs until Sunday, just before the Republican National Convention (RNC) begins with an expected 50,000 people expected to attend.
Brian Ward owns Ward’s House of Prime in downtown Milwaukee, and this is the 14th year he’s been a vendor at Bastille Days. He said it’s his favorite festival of the summer.
“It’s the community festival. Anyone can come, anyone can walk around for a little bit, and I think that separates it where there’s not a lot of free festivals left that people can go to,” Ward said.
He said he’s excited to see new faces this year as guests for the Republican National Convention arrive in town and encourages locals not to be worried about parking despite the convention prep.
“I just think it’s getting the people down, you know, and people not being afraid about parking which isn’t an issue because being east of the river, there’s just a big difference,” Ward said.
Eddie Sturkey is the Executive Director of the East Town Association, which operates Bastille Days. He agrees that most heavy parking restrictions are west of the river which is over five blocks away from the festival.
He said they’ve partnered with nearby parking structures that will give discounts to festival goers.
“If anything, we’re just planning for more crowds and so we have more entertainment than ever have more restaurants than ever before,” Sturkey said.
James Flath is a Milwaukee resident who said he feels lucky to live in a city that’s in the international spotlight and with the RNC, and at the same time, still going strong with its annual festivals.
He said traffic and parking might be a little hectic but thinks it’s worth it.
“You just have got to live your life,”said Flath. “Summer in Milwaukee is the best time of the year in the country, there are always festivals, there’s always something going on, and you can’t hold back just because there is a little bit of traffic,” he said.
Ward said he’s excited for the big crowds, the storming of the bastille on Thursday night and especially happy about this weekend’s weather forecast.
“We are excited because we’ve had a lot of rain so far this year and there’s no rain in the forecast so just being an outdoor festival,” said Ward. “Having great weather is the key and we’re going to have that this weekend,” said Ward.