Evan Musil

2 days ago | milwaukeemag.com | Evan Musil

If you’ve ever sat on the shores of Lake Michigan and watched with envy as sailboats glide past, there’s an accessible way to make your dream come true.  “Many of the people who walk through our doors have never been on a boat before,” says Milwaukee Community Sailing Center executive director Holly Church. And since 1980, the center has been placing those maritime-curious people into boats and putting wind in their sails. Know an outstanding female leader? Nominate her for The Betty Awards.

2 days ago | milwaukeemag.com | Evan Musil

I got a press release the other day, which happens quite often. The subject line read: “Summerfest ranks #1 most affordable music festival in US, by 72%”. The researcher – casino.org apparently – determined this by analyzing the average amount people spend per day between 12 different festivals. It’s an incredibly small and somewhat arbitrary data set, but I think there’s a nugget of truth in there.

1 week ago | milwaukeemag.com | Evan Musil

Ah, Summerfest. The fest so great they named a whole season after it. Last year was my first time at the Big Gig, and it certainly was big. I may never experience the festival’s 11-straight-day heyday, but what I did experience was a packed musical party with some unbeatable skyline views. Summerfest is more like a carnival than any other music fest I’ve been to.

2 weeks ago | milwaukeemag.com | Evan Musil

Scott Ziel compares crafting Summerfest’s massive lineup to dumping a 1,000-piece puzzle on the floor. The vice president of entertainment and his team of talent buyers sort the pieces into styles – rap, country, rock, etc. – and connect them slowly to create the full picture. Only there’s no right answer to what it should look like. The team leans on factors like ticket sales history and streaming numbers, plus some intuition and luck to figure that out.

3 weeks ago | milwaukeemag.com | Evan Musil

It’s natural to want to move to the music, but the MKE River Roundup takes that impulse to a whole new level: the band is on a pontoon boat, and the audience paddles alongside. Every Wednesday, June 18 through Aug. 27, local bands and artists will play music floating down the Milwaukee River, with dozens of kayakers, paddleboarders and more following close. Let your voice be heard about everything you love in Milwaukee, from food trucks to florists.