Milwaukee's Bastille Days festival will return for 2022; so will Jazz in the Park
Bastille Days will be back for 2022 — minus the Eiffel Tower.
The East Town Association announced Wednesday that Bastille Days, the free, French-flavored street festival that has been off the calendar the past two summers because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will return July 14-17 to the downtown Milwaukee neighborhood east of the Milwaukee River.
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In the announcement, the association described the 2022 Bastille Days as "slightly downsized." In an email, Eddie Sturkey, interim executive director of the East Town Association, confirmed that the festival would occupy Cathedral Square Park and the park's perimeter, along with a second stage on Wells Street between the bars Flannery's and This Is It. Gone from Bastille Days' traditional footprint are the stage between Jackson and Van Buren streets, and the stage near Milwaukee School of Engineering's library.
Among the changes confirmed for 2022: The 43-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower, the festival's unofficial symbol, will not be part of the proceedings. The structure, the association noted, "requires significant restoration each year," but the East Town Association is "reviewing options" on how to bring it back for 2023 — Bastille Days' 40th anniversary.
“Like many local festivals, we’ve faced significant challenges,” Sturkey said in the statement announcing Bastille Days' return. “But we are committed to bringing a more focused and refreshed version of these events this year so that we can build momentum and come back even stronger next year.”
The association promises updates at BastilleDaysMKE.com.
The East Town Association also said the popular Jazz in the Park concert series, held in Cathedral Square Park, will return Thursday evenings from July 21 to Sept. 29, and that the Cathedral Square Market will be back on Saturday mornings starting June 18.
Bastille Days is the latest staple of Milwaukee's summers to announce its return to the calendar after most of the events were canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. Two summer traditions have confirmed they are not returning for 2022: Festa Italiana and the downtown Memorial Day parade.
Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's Bastille Days, Jazz in the Park to return for 2022
