With outdoor movies, night markets, beer gardens and bike races, Drexel Town Square is your go-to destination for summer fun, featuring vibrant entertainment for everyone. Learn more.
This content created in partnership with the City of Oak Creek.
For many years, the 85-acre site that’s home to Oak Creek’s Drexel Town Square was the lifeblood of the community, where auto industry giant Delco/Delphi was the city’s largest employer.
When the plant closed, Oak Creek pivoted and used the site to build a new kind of community catalyst, creating a hub that has become a successful central community gathering place in a city that had no traditional main street downtown.
Now, there are lots of apartments, hotels, shops, restaurants, and banks and other services, along with the library and city hall, and the area is as lively as ever, with kids romping in the splash pad, dog-focused events, beer gardens, entertainment, weekly farmers market and more.
Summer is when things really come alive as the sun shines down and the whole city seems to come out to play.
This year, there’s more fun planned than ever as part of Oak Creek Summer celebration. Local attorney Kevin Martin is a strong supporter of Oak Creek. His firm, Martin Law Office, serves as the official sponsor of Oak Creek Summer.
Fare in the Square & Outdoor Movie Nights
Wednesdays, June 18, July 9 and Aug. 13
Begins at 4 p.m., movie at dusk
Drexel Town Square
In addition to bringing together some of the area’s best food trucks for your al fresco dining enjoyment, each of these three summer nights, presented by North Shore Bank, also serves up a great family-friendly movie and related fun.
On Wednesday, June 18 it’s “Lilo & Stitch” (2002) with an aloha-themed evening featuring island-inspired entertainment including Hawaiian music and hula dancing and tropical treats.
Then, Wednesday, July 9, you can see “Wonka” (2023) and enjoy sweet treats and themed activities for the whole family.
Finally, on Wednesday, Aug. 13 you get to choose as it’s Oak Creek Voter’s Choice Movie Night! Details to come on how to vote for the movie.
Beer Garden
Thursdays-Saturdays, June 19-21, July 24-26 and Aug. 21-23
Drexel Town Square
This beer garden with brews from locally owned The Explorium Brewpub plus food from local food trucks and Oak Creek’s own DTS restaurant also features live music (see the schedule below) and has been a Best of Milwaukee finalist.
Live music:
Thursday, June 19: Dirty Boogie
Friday, June 20: Haley Klinkhammer
Saturday, June 21: Summer Solstice Music Festival
Thursday, July 24: Ryan McIntyre
Friday, July 25: BAMM
Saturday, July 26: The Playlist
Thursday, Aug. 21: Phil Norby
Friday, Aug. 22: Boo! The Band
Saturday, Aug. 23: That ‘90s Band
Summer Solstice
Saturday, June 21, 2-9 p.m.
Drexel Town Square
Celebrate the Summer Solstice at this newly returned annual event, which was put on hold during the pandemic.
In addition to food vendors, artists and family-friendly activities, there will be live music from three WAMI Award-winning bands: Chris Haise Band (2-3 p.m.), Betsy Ade & The Well-Known Strangers (4:30-6 p.m.) and Big Spoon (7-9 p.m.)
New! Clocktower Classic
Wednesday, June 25, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Drexel Town Square
For the first time ever, Oak Creek gets in on the high-speed action of the Tour of America’s Dairyland series of cycle races around the area.
This electrifying race – presented by Visit Oak Creek and Drexel Town Square Association – will take place on a speedy and dynamic 1/2-mile track at Drexel Town Square that will host events by cyclists of all ages. If you’ve seen any of the Tour events in the Milwaukee area in previous years you know this will be an exciting day in the OC.
Night Markets
Saturdays, June 28, July 19, and Aug. 16
4-9 p.m.
Drexel Town Square
After hosting a single extremely successful night market last year, Drexel Town Center will be home to three night markets this summer, one each in June, July and August, presented by Milwaukee ER & Hospital.
This 21 and up event, will have a curated array of vendors selling artisanal goods, delicious food, drink and more.
Expect a peaceful evening under the stars with laid-back live music, too.
Dog Days at Drexel
Friday, July 18, 5-9 p.m. and Saturday, July 19, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Drexel Town Square
In mid-July, the pooches are coming to take over Drexel Town Square and humans can also expect a tail-wagging good time at Dog Days, presented by Educators Credit Union. There will be high-intensity dock diving competitions, a canine costume parade, vendors selling pup-perfect products and more.
Of course, just being around a town center full of furry best friends will be the main attraction.
Oak Creek’s 70th Birthday Celebration
Saturday, Aug. 9, Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Lake Vista Park
The City of Oak Creek celebrates its 70th birthday with an all-day celebration at Lake Vista Park, presented by We Energies Foundation. There will be a vintage baseball game, bags tournament, a community cookout and more as Oak Creek thanks its fellow citizens for helping to create the vibrant community with a proud past and bright future that is the OC today.
CAFE: A Celebration of Culture with new International Bazaar
Saturday, Sept. 13, 3-9 p.m.
Drexel Town Square
As the summer season begins to wind down, Drexel Town Square will host a multi-cultural night, focusing on the cultures in the Oak Creek and surrounding communities, presented by Eder Flag.
International foods, cultural attire, diverse performances, a new international bazaar with artisan crafts and more celebrate the cultures of Oak Creek residents whose roots reach all around the globe.
Farmers Market
Saturday, May 10-Oct. 25, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Drexel Town Square
Now in its eighth season, the Oak Creek Farmers Market – a pitch-perfect reminder of the city’s agricultural roots – has become a tradition in this community gathering space.
Farm-fresh produce, cheeses, meats, honey, flowers and more are all to be found at this market nestled into Drexel Town Square, allowing visitors access to a wide variety of food and beverage establishments and a little window-shopping, too!
Special thanks to to IBEW Local Union 494 for their support of the FoodShare match program.
For more information on Oak Creek Summer, click here. For more on Drexel Town Square, including a list of shops and restaurants, go here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
