By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Jul 06, 2023 at 11:01 AM Photography: Visit Milwaukee

Festival City is hopping this summer! OnMilwaukee's Festival Guide is brought to you by Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. Escape the heat and step inside! 

We are officially at Summerfest o'clock! And the only thing better than the Big Gig? Getting into the Big Gig for the wallet-friendly price of nothing – and as usual, Summerfest offers many, many ways one can get into nine days of festing across three weekends for zero dollars at the gate. 

Here are Summerfest's admission promotions for 2023, from familiar classics to a new discount courtesy of new sponsor Fritos.

Thursday, July 6 – Seniorfest Day

Seniors score on the start of the final weekend of the Big Gig, as those ages 60 and older who show their ID at any gate between noon and 4 p.m. will earn free admission into Summerfest that day – plus a discount voucher that'll take $2 off any food or non-alcoholic drink purchase $10 or more throughout the grounds. Plus, in between all the great acts on stage, the Direct Supply area will offer 30 senior-focused vendors to peruse. 

Thursday, July 6 – Silgan Community Food Drive

Do good for the world AND your wallet with yet another drive for savings. This time, the first 2,000 attendees who donate three non-perishable food items (canned fruits and veggies are particularly appreciated) to Hunger Task Force at the midgate promotions booth between noon and 3 p.m. will earn free admission for the day.

Friday, July 7 – It's Free with Fritos

This brand new Summerfest admission promo is easy: All attendees who arrive between noon and 6 p.m. will get in free! That's it! Well, that's not entirely it as the first 1,000 attendees through the midgate will also nab a free Fritos and Summerfest bag. Free entry AND free stuff!

Saturday, July 8 – Fan Appreciation Day

What's better than one day of free entry? Two days of free entry! For the final day of the Big Gig, those who arrive between noon and 3 p.m. will get in free courtesy of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. As an added showing of appreciation, attendees will also score an early Summerfest admission ticket for next year's edition as well as an entry ticket for the Big Win drawing, which you should drop into a specially marked bin at the midgate between noon and 3 p.m. for a chance to win. 

In case all of those daily admission promos weren't enough Summerfest savings, the Big Gig offers other ways to wiggle into the World's Largest Music Festival as well. For instance, you can simply download the Summerfest app, which not only contains all the info you need for the Big Gig but also is offering 15,000 digital admission tickets – one per device – for the first weekend (while supplies last). 

Or you can get more than groceries if you shopped with a Fresh Perks card at Pick 'n Save or Metro Market between May 24 and June 13. Those who purchased $25 or more of participating items – including Pepsi, Johnsonville, Red Bull, Fritos, Bush's Baked Beans, Koops' Mustard, Good Foods, Dean's Dips and Sargento – on a single trip, and have the original receipt to prove it, can earn two free Summerfest admission tickets. For more information on this deal, click here.

For more information on all of the Big Gig's admission promotions and other ways to save, visit Summerfest's website. And for the all the awesome on-stage action awaiting you when you get through the gates, click here for the full day-by-day music schedule

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

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.