The final fest at Maier Festival Park was Indian Summer. This celebration of Native American history, culture and community was an excellent ending to the festival season.We arrived around 2:30pm on Friday, and were delightfully surprised with FREE admission. Donations of school supplies were recommended. This free offer and request for supplies must have been hidden somewhere on the website, because I did not know about either.
The festival was fairly large, occupying the whole park up to the Marcus Amphitheater. There were two distinct and separated sections: The Pow Wow area with no alcohol allowed, and the Miller Lite - Harley area with food, bands, entertainment and adult beverages.
I opted for $5 Margaritas and Annie enjoyed 12 oz. Miller Lite taps for $4. We sampled food from both Whitefeathers and Littlewinds. All menus were similar, offering frybread with various accoutrements. We had a Whitefeathers Indian Taco and a Littlewinds Buffalo Burger on Frybread and Wild Rice Casserole. Everything was good, and the Littlewinds frybread was particularly awesome.
The bands were decent, though nothing exceptional during the late Friday afternoon. We were roped in (especially the 12-year old) with the East Meets West culture and history demonstration. The hour long show allowed a Cree and Comanche to compare history, culture, weapons and technology typical of Eastern and Western tribes. The jokes were corny, but the gentlemen were both entertaining and enlightening.All in all an excellent and very professionally organized festival. It's one we will not miss in years to come.
Look for the final Every Fest MKE blog this Friday!
Ratings:
Entertainment is a Paul. Besides the bands and cultural demos, there was also skateboarding and a variety of other ways to while away the weekend. The fest did a great job of mixing both entertainment and education.
Drink is Bud Light. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Food is Jimmy Johns Delivered. Food was really good, though a bit pricey. Also, all food vendors required tickets making a higher rating impossible.
Cost was $12 for adults.
Bathrooms are a Trinity.
Adult vs. Family Fun spectrum is Disney. The demonstrations were particularly well done and great for kids.
