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River Rhythms is a free outdoor music concert series held annually at Pere Marquette Park along the
Milwaukee River
The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the ...
in downtown
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
. It takes place Wednesday evenings from June through September and showcases a wide variety of music entertainment.
The event, along with
Summerfest
Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's Third Ward business district. Summerfest is known ...
and the many ethnic and cultural festivals held throughout the city, are what give Milwaukee the nickname "City of Festivals."
Description
River Rhythms was created in 1996 by the Westown Association to draw attention to the historic Old World Third neighborhood and the
Milwaukee Riverwalk
The Milwaukee Riverwalk is a continuous pedestrian walkway along the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
History
The Milwaukee Riverwalk began in 1994. Since 1999, the city of Milwaukee had required all new riverfront developmen ...
. Since then, it has been billed as "downtown's fastest growing music festival". Many people bring picnics and blankets to enjoy while bands play. River Rhythms celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006.
With 2020 being scrapped due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the 25th anniversary celebration awaits in 2021.