Irish Fest

Last night we had the chance to visit Milwaukee’s Irish Fest. The weather couldn’t have cooperated more beautifully. We were initially a little worried about being chilly, but the sun warmed us until it set, and with a cool breeze we were very comfortable as we wandered the grounds. For those of you following along earlier in the Summer, Irish Fest and most other cultural festivals are held on the Summerfest grounds. Typically we attend Germanfest, which has always been a fun tradition, but this year we took a break as we were a bit event fatigued. Luckily Irish Fest messaged us and gifted us some tickets to head down and enjoy the experience. 

We just missed the opening ceremony, as it was difficult to get down there quickly after work. Irish Fest runs Thursday, August 15th through Sunday, August 18th, so there is plenty of time to join in on the world’s largest Irish celebration! Any time we hear about the irresistible combination of themed (fried) food, live music, and some beer, consider us lured in. We did some scoping of the traditional Irish fare being offered and after last night, we can conclude safely, that we love it. 

Being that it was our first time, we can’t speak to the crowd typical size. As we walked in, we were relieved to see that although there were plenty of people enjoying the first night, we wouldn’t be elbowing our way around as it usually happens at Summerfest. Some of the food vendors were closed probably just because of the smaller crowd size on the weeknight, but there were still ample options available and we took full advantage!

Whenever we visit festivals, fairs, etc; we love to share food. It’s always better to get a couple of bites of something and be able to try another new item than fill up on one thing. Plus you’re also risking not liking the new to you food you just spent good money on! So grab a friend you can split your grub with and enjoy as we do! To start us off strong, we stopped at Mulligan’s Irish Pub and grabbed the Reuben quesadilla. That was at the top of my list of items to try and I didn’t regret it! If anything now I’d like to make it at home. 

From there we grabbed a Sausage Roll from Mother Machree Strudel House. It was a top-notch Usinger’s sausage encased in a wonderfully flaky crust. It was like a gourmet corn dog, completely wonderful. As we enjoyed our first bites, we sat and took in the sounds of Backwest at the Miller Lite Stage. They are a traditional Irish music band and play some really fun classics while providing a backstory. Once we satiated our stomachs with the first round of food, we headed to find some beer. We ended up with the Terrapin IPA, which was new to us but had a great orange (citrusy) flavor.

We got to the grounds cutoff point (which might be shortened again because it was a weeknight but can’t confirm that) and found Winston’s. There was quite a line and as we scanned their menu, we realized it was for good reason. They have a plethora of incredible sounding options, and we intended to put it to the test. We ended up trying the Irish Egg Rolls, and oh my gosh were they more than we ever hoped! Perfectly fresh out of the deep fryer, with gooey wonderful insides.

Although we haven’t typically eaten a lot of Shepherd’s pie, for some reason the Shepherds Fries were calling our names. They are fresh fries, topped with Shepherd’s pie and melted cheddar cheese. The toppings were ample enough that we dug in with forks. It’s a play on the typical chili cheese fries and we loved it! The last thing we tried at Winston’s was their Toasted sandwich. It’s a corned beef sandwich on toasted marbled rye, with cheddar cheese and grilled onions. You can tell the corned beef was high quality and plentiful, we all just agree that we should have gone with the traditional Reuben because we missed the thousand island dressing. It was still a great sandwich, just hard because it was so similar to a Reuben!

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While we passed around our food with sighs of contentment, we listened to Realta another Irish Band at the Aer Lingus stage. They had a lot of the traditional instruments, playing with uilleann pipes, whistles, flute, bouzouki, banjo, and bodhran for an alternative folk take on Irish traditional music. They mixed in some slower tunes and then had some livelier riffs, which we truly enjoyed! We had a blast trying to figure out which Irish instruments they were all strumming on.

As we were heading back out of the festival, you know it wouldn’t be us (especially down at the Summerfest grounds), if we didn’t make a stop at Cedar Crest Ice Cream. There we split their peanut butter ice cream sundae, to satisfy our sweet tooth and cap off a great experience. We loved our first visit to Irish Fest, and we will definitely be returning in the future. Next year they are celebrating their 40th year of Irish Fest, so it seems like a great time to return. Go check it out for yourself this weekend, or save the date for next year’s huge celebration! 

Outfit Details

Caitlin’s Shorts are linked here