St. Aloysius: A summer festival with a side of churchiness

As Milwaukeeans gear up for the 2009 summer festival season, let’s not forget the little guys, sprinkled throughout the city every weekend, beckoning partiers with vinyl banners and some good old fashioned religious guilt. Decider is talking about church festivals, and we’re convinced nobody does it quite like Milwaukee. These holy fundraisers usually involve beer, fish fries, chicken dinners, a Tilt-A-Whirl, and live music—kind of like any other annual summer shindigs, only churchy. There are kiddie activities of course (these are family-friendly events, after all), but that doesn’t mean you won’t get lucky and also find some minor gambling, debauchery, and street brawls.

Church festival season kicks off this weekend at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in West Allis. Catholics like to have fun—it could be said that they really own the church festival market—and St. Al’s three-day party proves it. Start the weekend with a 4 p.m. Friday fish fry on May 29, then party with Mt. Olive and Bobby Way And The Fabulous Wayouts (“Your ultimate party band”) on Saturday. Kids will love the clowns, magician, and rides all weekend long.

If you drink too many cans of Miller Lite and get crazy, be sure to show up for forgiveness on Sunday morning at the 10:30 a.m. Polka Mass, featuring The Mike Schneider Polka Band. They won’t actually do confession during the Polka Mass, but “Holy, Holy, Holy” has probably never sounded so Wisconsin.