Is Milwaukee’s Bastille Days the biggest French-themed outdoor festival in the United States? We did some research and weren’t able to find anything that beats it, so yes! More than a quarter-million visitors visit Cathedral Square Park every year for the four-day event, which this year will take place:
- Thursday, July 9 — 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
- Friday, July 10 — 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
- Saturday, July 11 — 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
- Sunday, July 12 — 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If you’re not sure where Cathedral Square Park is, you probably don’t know the names of any of the streets that border it. But, just in case, it’s between East Wells Street and East Kilbourn Avenue on the north-south sides and North Jefferson Street and North Jackson Street on east-west sides.
Precise location isn’t super important because you’d need to be pretty fortunate to park near the grounds, so you have a couple options. One is to circle the general vicinity and hope for an open parking meter. Another is to find a paid parking structure somewhere nearby.
A third (and our favorite) option is to take the Hop’s M-Line, which is totally free and stops right in the middle of the festival. A quick glance at their interactive map indicates you could park as far away as County Clare or the Milwaukee Intermodal Station and ride in style to the event while saving your steps for the fun part of your day.
On the food/drink front, there wasn’t any concrete information available as of this writing, but many of the vendors carry over from one year to the next. So feel free to reference our article from last year to see who you’ll likely be enjoying in 2026 (Beignets Francais and Peter Sciortino Bakery are shoo-ins, and they have the added bonus of being pastry-centric).
The last big chunk of the festival experience is the entertainment, which takes up nearly every minute of every day. The full schedule is below so you can plan accordingly, and other key pieces of information — including details for the Storm the Bastille 5K run/walk happening Thursday night — are available on the festival’s website.
Bastille Days 2026 schedule
Thursday, July 9
Educator’s Credit Union Main Stage
- 11:45 a.m. — Soul Patrol
- 3:15 p.m. — Wisconsin Space Program
- 6 p.m. — North Coast Orchestra
- 9:05 p.m. — Cold Sweat & The Brew City Horns
Gruber Law Offices “One Call… That’s All” Stage
- 12:15 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 1:15 p.m. — The Last Bees
- 4:10 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 5:10 p.m. — The Panoptics
- 8:20 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 9:20 p.m. — Radio Radio
MSOE Stage
- 11:30 a.m. — Kevin Soucie
- 2:30 p.m. — Ced
- 5:30 p.m. — Octavio Arcanjo
- 8:30 p.m. — French DJ Chill With John Stuart
Kilbourn/Beaux Arts Stage
- Noon — Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance
- 12:45 p.m. — Learn To Speak French
- 1:45 p.m. — Patchouli
- 3 p.m. — Learn To Speak French
- 5:35 p.m. — Sweet Sheiks
- 8:50 p.m. — Christopher’s Quartet
More to Enjoy
- 3 p.m. — Ginger Whimsy (Human Statue)
- 4:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Presents
- 9 p.m. — Storm The Bastille 5K Run
- 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Fire Performance
Friday, July 10
Educator’s Credit Union Main Stage
- 11:45 a.m. — Paradise Jazz Band
- 3 p.m. — Maple Road
- 4 p.m. — Milwaukee Hittaz
- 5:15 p.m. — Milwaukee Hittaz
- 6 p.m. — VFunk
- 9:30 p.m. — Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound
Gruber Law Offices “One Call… That’s All” Stage
- Noon — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 1 p.m. — Otherwise Normal
- 4 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 5 p.m. — One Louder
- 8 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 9 p.m. — Breaking Cadence
MSOE Stage
- 11:30 a.m. — Tenley Sheldon
- 2:30 p.m. — Tobias Cainion
- 5:30 p.m. — Tommy Odetto
- 8:30 p.m. — French DJ Chill With Jayx
Kilbourn/Beaux Arts Stage
- Noon — Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance
- 12:45 p.m. — Learn To Speak French
- 1:45 p.m. — Texas Dave Trio
- 3 p.m. — Learn To Speak French
- 6 p.m. — Jerry Grillo With The Golden Gals MKE
- 9 p.m. — Listening Party
More to Enjoy
- 3 p.m. — Ginger Whimsy (Human Statue)
- 4 p.m. — Milwaukee Hittaz
- 4:15 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Presents
- 5:15 p.m. — Milwaukee Hittaz
- 5:45 p.m. — Beth Stavros (Aerialist)
- 6:45 p.m. — Beth Stavros (Aerialist)
- 7:30 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Presents
- 8:45 p.m. — Samba 2nd Line
- 9:30 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Fire Performance
Saturday, July 11
Educator’s Credit Union Main Stage
- 10:30 a.m. — Kids/Family Day promotion
- 11 a.m. — Milwaukee Ballet
- 12:10 p.m. — Milwaukee French Immersion School
- 1 p.m. — Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance
- 2:45 p.m. — Fashionably Late
- 6:30 p.m. — The Us Project
- 9:20 p.m. — Extra Crispy Brass Band
Gruber Law Offices “One Call… That’s All” Stage
- 11:15 a.m. — North Coast for The Arts Rock Band
- 12:20 p.m. — WI Academy Music Rock Band
- 1:35 p.m. — Wauwatosa ESPRIT Pom & Dance Squad
- 2 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 3 p.m. — Sound Therapy
- 6 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 7 p.m. — 5 Card Studs
- 9:45 p.m. — Madame Gigi’s Outrageous French CanCans
- 10:05 p.m. — Viva La Drag Queen Show
MSOE Stage
- 11:30 a.m. — Hildegarde
- 2:30 p.m. — Miss Ingrid
- 5:30 p.m. — Emmitt James Duo
- 8:30 p.m. — French DJ Chill With Johnny Love
Kilbourn/Beaux Arts Stage
- 11:45 a.m. — Hanna Simone & Early Bird
- 1:15 p.m. — Learn To Speak French
- 2 p.m. — Robin Pluer
- 3 p.m. — Learn To Speak French
- 5:15 p.m. — Troubadours Of Rhythm
- 9 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton’s Irrelevant Orchestra
More to Enjoy
- 1:45 p.m. — Navy Band 2nd Line
- 4:15 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Presents
- 5 p.m. — Ginger Whimsy (Human Statue)
- 5 p.m. — French Mass at St. John Cathedral
- 5:45 p.m. — Beth Stavros (Aerialist)
- 6:45 p.m. — Beth Stavros (Aerialist)
- 7:30 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Presents
- 8:30 p.m. — Samba 2nd Line
- 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Fire Performance
Sunday, July 12
Educator’s Credit Union Main Stage
- 12:15 p.m. — Big Al & Blues Howlers
- 3:55 p.m. — The Hungry Williams
Gruber Law Offices “One Call… That’s All” Stage
- 12:10 p.m. — Spill
- 1:20 p.m. — Winefred RT
- 2:30 p.m. — Video Sex Priest
- 3:40 p.m. — Louie & The Flashbombs
- 4:50 p.m. — Carbellion
- 6 p.m. — Conniption
MSOE Stage
- 12:15 p.m. — The Style
- 3:30 p.m. — French DJ Chill With Lukewarm
Kilbourn/Beaux Arts Stage
- Noon — Learn To Speak French
- 12:10 p.m. — Hildegarde
- 1:30 p.m. — Learn To Speak French
- 2:15 p.m. — Robin Pluer
- 4:30 p.m. — Valley Fox
More to Enjoy
- 11 a.m. — Milwaukee Frenchies
- 1:30 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Presents
- 3 p.m. — Ginger Whimsy (Human Statue)
- 4 p.m. — Professor Pinkerton Presents
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source radiomilwaukee.org ’
