Milwaukee Harbor District’s annual Harbor Fest is back this weekend, celebrating freshwater, fish, science and boats and ships.
The event – which takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25 at Harbor View Plaza and outside the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences on the 600 block of East Greenfield Avenue – is free and fun for the whole family.
Among the activities on tap are a sturgeon blessing at noon and baby sturgeon release (you can release one!); the sixth annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Boat Parade up to Lakefront Brewery; a children’s makers tent; fishing lessons; Doors Open tours of UWM School of Freshwater Sciences, and Komatsu’s new Experience Center; free boat tours of the inner harbor; live performances; informational booths detailing the work of many local organizations; and local food and vendors.
Here’s a schedule of the day’s events...
- 11-11:50 a.m. – Performance by Pulpa de Guayaba at the main stage
- Noon – Sturgeon Blessing with Richard Gonzalez at Harbor View Plaza
- 12:30 p.m. – Boat Parade begins at Harbor View Plaza
- 12:30-2 p.m. – Sturgeon Release continues by the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences’ west entrance
- 1-4 p.m. – Boat Tours of Milwaukee’s Inner Harbor
For more information, visit harbordistrict.org/harbor-fest.
Enjoy these vintage photos of Milwaukee's harbor hard at work.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
