Move over, Summerfest.
Winter is when Milwaukee puts on a brave face and truly shines!
When you summon up the strength to brave the cold, head to one of these winter festivals to warm the whole family up inside and out.
1. Cool Fool Kite Festival (Free!)
January 1, 2024, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Gift of Wings Kite Store in Veterans Park
1300 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr., Milwaukee, WI 53202
(414) 273-5483
giftofwings.com
(This event happened already – mark your calendars for next year!)
This free annual kite festival is held every year on New Year’s Day in Veterans Park. The on-site kite store, Gift of Wings, organizes the event and provides free hot cocoa and coffee, snacks, giant kites, ice carving artists, and hot food for purchase. You can bring your own kite to fly or purchase one at Gift of Wings.
2. Winterfest in New Berlin (Free!)
January 6, 2024
John J Malone Park
Website
Shake off the winter blues at New Berlin Recreation’s 3rd Annual Winterfest – an outdoor festival featuring tons of frosty family fun! This FREE family-friendly event includes activities at Malone Park.
Among the festivities last year: Live music, a snowman building contest, a medallion hunt, snow kickball, a candlelight hike, a bonfire with s’mores, bingo, fireside stories, skating, sledding and more. Fuel up with a variety of food trucks and a winter beer garden.
3. Waukesha Janboree (Free!)
January 19-28, 2024
janboree.org
Get it? “January” and “Jamboree” are combined to create “Janboree”!
This epic 10-day event opens with a special ceremony that includes live music, dancing, and fireworks outside on the Fox River. Weekend activities include ice sculpting demonstrations, lumberjack shows, trivia, Frosty 5K, egg hunt, beer garden. ice bocce tournament, indoor ice skating at Eble Arena, ice fishing clinics, stargazing planetarium shows, nature activities, and more!
Most events are free, but some require pre-registration, like the “Timber Slide” toboggan run at Lowell Park.
4. BelAir Ice Bar
TBD for 2024!
BelAir Cantina – The Corners of Brookfield
250 High Street, Brookfield, WI 53045
Website
TBD for 2024.
Chill out at the 19-foot-long ice bar located outside of BelAir Cantina in Market Square. Enjoy a specialty cocktail at the bar, find a cozy seat near one of the heaters, or check out the custom ice installations and photo ops! VIP reservations with drink tickets and a private fire pit are also available.
Stay tuned to The Corners of Brookfield website for updates.
5. Winterfest at Boerner Botanical Gardens (Free!)
January 21, 2024
Boerner Education & Visitor Center
9400 Boerner Dr., Hales Corners, WI 53130
boernerbotanicalgardens.org
Enjoy indoor activites, guided winter walks, and more! Walks begin at 11:00 and 12:30 and last approximately 45 minutes. This event is free for all.
Geneva National Resort & Club, 1091 Hidden Cottage Cir, Lake Geneva, WI 53147
Opening in late January, the popular ice castles are coming back to Wisconsin!
Ice Castles is an award-winning frozen attraction located in five cities across North America. The experience is built using hundreds of thousands of icicles hand-placed by professional ice artists.
The castles include breathtaking LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, slides, fountains and more. You must buy tickets online, and they tend to sell out fast!
7. Winter Frolic at Mequon Nature Preserve
February 3, 20224
8200 W. County Line Rd., Mequon, WI 53097
mequonnaturepreserve.org
Take a tractor and sleigh ride while sipping hot chocolate, make some s’mores, play fun winter games, go ice fishing and snowshoeing, walk the trails and read the Storybook Walk from the Frank L. Weyenberg Library, and maybe make a snowperson!
There will be two different sessions, and one ticket per family is required.
This event will be completely outside, so dress for the weather!
8. Winterfest at Urban Ecology Center (Free!)
February 3, 2024
Washington Park, 1859 N. 40th St., Milwaukee, WI 53208
urbanecologycenter.org
Join the fun in Washington Park for winter fun, weather conditions permitting. Bring your friends and family along for an afternoon of crisp winter hikes, speeding down the sledding hill then warm up with drinks around a fire and more!
BONUS: Don’t miss The Urban Candlelight Hike in Three Bridges Park on Saturday, February 26! Back for its fifth year, this memorable outdoor experience includes warm campfires along the Hank Aaron State Trail, locally brewed beer and root beer from Third Space Brewing, access to food trucks, the opportunity to try on snowshoes, and more! Attend for free, or get extra cool stuff by purchasing a fun pass. Learn more >>
10. Winterfest in Lisbon (TBD for 2024)
TBD for 2024
townoflisbonwi.com
At this free family winter event, there will be horse-drawn sleigh rides, sledding, snowboarding, ice skating, a bonfire with s’mores, crafts and more. Lisbon Park Committee is providing refreshments: hot dogs, chili, hot cocoa and cider. Cardboard sled races will be held the next day, Feb. 20 (1-3 p.m.).
11. Winter Festival in Cedarburg
February 17-18, 2024
Washington Ave., Cedarburg, WI 53012
Website
Travel back to the 80’s for this year’s Winterfest in Cedarburg!
This year’s indoor activites (in the Community Center Gym) include a Festival Marketplace, 80s selfie wall, Cedarburg BEST restaurant soup contest, craft beer/wine bar, kid activities, raffle, individual chili contest, food, and Sunday pancake breakfast.
Outdoor festivities include an ice sculpting contest, costumed bed races, food trucks, iceberg golf open, dog pull contest, and penguin egg hunt.
12. Winter Carnival at the Lynden Sculpture Garden
January 27th, 2024
2145 W. Brown Deer Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53217
Visit Website
Lynden welcomes winter with a day of outdoor art-making, scavenger hunts, tree-walks, workshops, and whatever other winter activities the weather permits – ice skating, painting the pond, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and more!
mkewithkids
In 2013, Calie Herbst, a former teacher with three little ones, saw a need for a “One Stop Shop” for family fun in Milwaukee. So she founded Milwaukee With Kids. Her goal was to find the best this city has to offer families and share it with other parents. In one place.
In 2019, she published “Exploring Milwaukee WIth Kids”, a comprehensive Milwaukee travel guide for families and kids.
She appears regularly on WISN News, Fox 6’s ‘Real Milwaukee’, B93.3, and Wisconsin Morning News. She has been featured in Medium, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, NPR, the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, and on CBS 58 News.
Calie is available for hosting, moderating and media appearances.