With the Brady Street Festival in mind, let’s walk down Brady on an ordinary weekday. We’ll start at the five-point intersection of Brady, Farwell and Cambridge where a mist from the lake haunts Farwell. There’s Farwell Point with office supplies, a FedEx and the Mega Media Xchange which trades used video games and other treasures. The remaining corners hold a law firm, a CVS, a strip mall and a Starbucks. Above the Starbucks is the lovely YogaOne Studio. YogaOne will open the festival’s east end stage with a yoga session. The street is packed with traffic now and hard to cross, but peace will reign at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 28.
Brady Street dates from 1840. It was first shaped by European immigrants. Old World values go beyond the architecture. Walking west to Walgreen’s, a shoeless beggar asks for help. He’s welcome here. (So are buskers, regardless of talent.) The street’s new radio station, WRRD—Wisconsin Resistance Radio—calls this spot “the liberal heart of Wisconsin.” The label is meant to hearten listeners (I’m one), but if liberalism means that all are welcome—the yearning huddled masses—the claim has some grounds. It sets a high bar for our neighborhood; but as we walk along, observing the diversity on every count among passersby and patrons at the cafés, franchises, bars, salons and tattoo parlors, it’s possible to think that ideal holds. Nothing lessens the tragedies of homelessness or addiction, but the answer isn’t banishing the victims.
Where are we? Oh, yeah, the festival. All nine blocks of Brady are closed to traffic and packed (depending on weather) with all sorts of people, vendors and entertainers. After yoga, the east stage offers seven bands including Fox Face at 4 p.m. and Plaid Hawaii at 10 p.m. Our walk has taken us past the Dogg Haus, Fabrizio-Cappeli Salon, Smith Beer & Liquor Mart and the check cashing place to the Nomad World Pub with its fruit-colored backyard patio, a cozy neighborhood park with TV screens and flags from every nation that played the Word Cup. The big front windows are covered with names of the local musicians who’ve played there this summer. This place welcomes the world; it’s a Brady Street anchor; it rules its corner of Brady and Warren at the festival.
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We’re in the street’s heart. On the north side: Qdoba with its outdoor balcony, Jimmy Johns, Futen Dojo (let’s bow from the waist), King Crab Shack, Fro Zone ice cream, Uncommon Items, Apollo Café (another anchor) and La Masa Empanada Bar. The flower boxes are especially lovely this summer at La Masa’s corner and north on Arlington at Balzac Wine Bar and across the street at Hi Hat Lounge and Garage. Brady establishments were in the vanguard of sidewalk seating in the city. The street is filled with folks at tables making every kind of fashion statement. On the south side: Club Brady, Malone’s (with Milwaukee’s smallest bar), the Waterford Wine Company, Jack’s American Pub, Rochambo Coffee & Tea House, Joe Cat’s Pub and the Italian restaurant Dorsia where the flower boxes rival anybody’s.
Let’s follow the funny footprints painted on the crosswalk to the north side and walk past the invaluable BESTD Clinic, the homey healthy Harry’s restaurant and the adventurous Easy Tyger. We’ll wave to the radio guys in WRRD’s window, check the lineup at Up and Under, greet friends at Brewed Café and the guy who suns himself on the steps of Brady Street Futons. This block’s character is further embellished by Green Field’s Trading Co., Cousins, Saints and Sinners Tattoo Company, Halo Salon, Eco Pet, the Famous Smoke Shop, the Cutting Lounge and Kompali Mexican restaurant. The festival’s central stage is here. Performances start with the Conservatory of Music at 1 p.m. and close with the Afrobeat of Nwa Na Agbe at 10 p.m. Queen Tut plays at 7 p.m.
Next are the firehouse, Hosed, Tamarack Waldorf School, Usman La’Aro’s clothing and the Peter Sciortino Bakery, sure to serve homemade gelato at the fest. In the middle of everything, St. Hedwig’s Church! We’re at the Old Italian stretch of Glorioso’s, Fazio’s Dry Cleaning & Tailoring and the pet-friendly Regano’s Roman Coin; but here’s Emperor of China, Thai-namite, Dryhootch coffeehouse, Art Smart’s Dart Mart and Juggling Emporium, a barber, a jeweler and MKE Vape. Still, the Gloriosos manage the festival action here with artisan cheese tasting, cheese making, a curd eating contest and an eclectic roster of bands including Moon Rats and Calliope. Chicago’s Wild Skies starts at 9 p.m.
Several salons, the new Chocolate MKE, the chef-owned Diplomat and the venerable Sherwin-Williams Paint Store lead to Casablanca Middle Eastern Restaurant, Zayna’s Pizza and the festival’s mainstage: Zumba at 11:30 a.m., Ballet Folklorico Nacional de Milwaukee, Faux Fiction, Carinne, Queen Hilma, DJ Shawna, the Casablanca Belly Dancers, and Nova D’Vine’s Cream City Queens at 9:30, then a party in the street until midnight.
The 2018 Brady Street Festival is Saturday, July 28, from 11 a.m. to midnight.
