The Big Gig scheduled to come back next year – but get ready for a remixed version of the world's largest music festival as Summerfest will not take place over the course of two weeks like in the past, but instead run across three Thursday-to-Saturday weekends: June 24-26, July 1-3 and July 8-10.
It's a format that the Big Gig introduced earlier this year for its rescheduled, then canceled, 2020 festival, offering two fewer days than before – nine compared to eleven – but all high-profile weekend dates. According to a release, the new format "allows an extended booking window for the Summerfest talent team, opening more opportunities to add national talent to daytime programming, as well as throughout the festival."
"The pandemic, which resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 event season, profoundly impacted our non-profit organization," said Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. president and CEO Don Smiley, in the release. "In response, our leadership team analyzed available data, patron surveys and the event landscape and ultimately determined the best possible path forward for Summerfest was to transition to a new format.
"Our fans have been asking for a bigger experience, and we are excited to be able to bring more weekends and more national talent to the already blockbuster Summerfest lineup, while continuing to provide significant economic impact to our state and region."
The schedule for 2021's mostly completed festival is as follows:
June 24 – Khalid
June 25 – Luke Bryan
June 26 – Justin Bieber
July 1 – Dave Matthews Band
July 2 – Blink-182
July 3 – Halsey
July 8 – Chris Stapleton
July 9 – TBA
July 10 – Guns N’ Roses
For more information on tickets and the Big Gig's plans for next year's edition, visit Summerfest's website.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.