Madcap Milwaukee Calendar: Red Magic, Chalk Art and More

Art & Chalk Fest

• 17-18 August
• Museum of Wisconsin Art
• 205 Veterans Ave.
• West Bend

MOWA’s annual Art & Chalk Festival takes place outside of Wisconsin’s art-focused museum. Artists create live chalk art on the sidewalk. There’s also an alley with food trucks and a beer garden, as well as performances by Milwaukee Hittaz Drumline, Warped Dance Company, Peter Alt Group, Little Priest Singers and Sainted Patrons. There are a variety of art vendors, art demonstrations and an activity area. In addition to the free festival, the museum offers free admission on weekends.

Entry to the festival is free and it takes place on both days from 10am to 5pm. For more information, click here: wisconsinart.org/events/art-chalk-fest-2024.

Red Magic Art Festival

• Sunday, August 18
• Jackson Park
• 4712 W. Forest Home Ave.

The Red Magic Art Festival is an annual celebration of Native American art and culture.

“The inspiration for this event came from my own experiences as an Indigenous (enrolled member of the Oneida Nation) woman and artist in this community,” says Harmony Hill, the event organizer. She says another inspiration was the creative output during lockdown during the pandemic. “While the dominant society spent a lot of time complaining about how bored they were during Covid, Indigenous artists were hard at work. I was incredibly inspired by the way our people used this time to work on their artistic practices and learn new ones.”

The festival takes place in Jackson Park and features artists and vendors, food, music, workshops on crafts such as corn husk puppets, community resources and Indigenous games.

“It is an honor to be able to bring our community together with surrounding communities to showcase Native American talent,” says Hill. “We are proud to provide a platform for traditional and contemporary artists, as well as our relatives in the performing arts. We are also happy to host a select few local and Mexican artists.”

The festival runs from 10am to 6pm and is free. For more information, visit redmagicnetwork.org.

Full Frontal Püppetry – A little song, a little dance, we don’t wear pants!

• 19-21 August
• Best place
• 901 W. Juneau Ave.

“The Full Frontal Puppets are back (once again) with a SINGING, DANCING PUPPET SKETCH COMEDY EXTRAVAGANZA!” announces Billy Ray Olsen, one of the puppeteers from Angry Young Men, the performance group behind the show. “OK, maybe not all singing, but this time it’s mostly music. And there’s dancing too. The Vagabond Show, however, is as extravagant as ever.” The show will feature “brand new tunes and classic hits” with a puppet cast of “monsters, robots, zombies and who knows what” and is rated PG-13 for “coarse language,” among other things.

Doors open for all three shows at 7:30 p.m., pay-what-you-can on August 19, and $10 on August 20 and 21..

Barbie in Bristol

• Saturday, August 24
• Bristol Renaissance Fair
• 12550 120th Avenue
• Kenosha

Last summer’s Barbie mania continued with various pink-themed parties and pop-ups. Milwaukee Film even brought last year’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon with a screening of Barbie And Oppenheimerat the Oriental this week. Now’s your chance to design a medieval Barbie costume. Awkward Nerd Events is promoting the well-known Barbie theme day, not an official Bristol event but an opportunity for like-minded Barbie fans to dress up and party like it’s 1599. There will be group photos at Shakespeare’s Meadow at 1pm.

For more information about the Bristol Renaissance Faire, including admission prices, visit renfair.com/bristol.

Spooky Frog presents: A spooky book fair. Part 2

• Saturday, August 24
• X-Ray Arcade
• 5036 S. Packard Ave.
• Cudahy

After a successful inaugural event in May, Spooky Frog returns for another horror book fair. This time, there will be over a dozen horror authors and another dozen artists and other vendors. The Goth Barge DJs will be spinning appropriate macabre music to set the atmosphere. It’s a great opportunity to support local authors and stock up on some scary stories for the upcoming fall.

Early admission from 11 a.m. to noon is $5; from noon to 4 p.m. the event is free.