Photo by Meg Strobel
Wes Shaver - President and CEO of Milwaukee Pride
Wes Shaver, President and CEO of Milwaukee Pride Inc.
In 2013 Wes Shaver joined the board of directors of Milwaukee Pride, Inc., the organization that produces Milwaukee’s PrideFest. He was 28 years old with a master’s degree in sport and entertainment management from Cardinal Stritch and already an up-and-coming entertainment and hospitality entrepreneur. In 2017 he was elected president of that body and directed his first PrideFest.
Building on the structures developed under his predecessor, Milwaukee Pride president Scott Gunkel, whose decades-long tenure managed PrideFest through years of continual growth and success (along with the occasional existential crisis), Shaver shifted gears, elevating the annual LGBTQ event to ever greater heights. His first PrideFest attendance of 37,682 broke the record of the previous year by 10%. In 2018, that number was eclipsed by a 21% increase to 45,400.
Over the following years, while coping with a pandemic and the cancellation of PrideFest 2020, attendance remained constant. In 2025, however, the numbers again set a record both in attendance and vendors reaching over 46,150 attendees, a 12% increase over 2024, and 167 vendors. PrideFest also introduced carnival rides to the already broad spectrum of entertainment, a dedicated youth section and the traditional health and wellness and area.
Diversity of Entertainment
Shaver attributes PrideFest’s growth to a number of factors. While he has expanded the diversity of entertainment, vendors and corporate partnerships, he also instituted organizational changes. Among those, Shaver cites one of which he is particularly proud. “We created a stipend model for all year-round festival production team members. This is a crucial step towards recognizing LGBTQ+ people are worth their time and talent. To put it simply: it’s unfair to ask a person to take paid time off work to volunteer at an event that supports so many facets of our local economy and workforce,” Shaver said, adding, “If we want to achieve wage and opportunity equality, it starts with us. If we don’t value our own hardworking teammates, then why should anyone else? Because of the stipend and specific role and responsibilities that come with it, many of our festival team have used their managerial experience to jump up their careers outside the festival.”
Milwaukee Pride’s community engagement beyond the festival grounds saw its underwriting of the 2018 installation of Milwaukee’s first rainbow crosswalk at Jefferson and Wells Streets to commemorate the 1989 LGBTQ march that ended at Cathedral Square.
Rainbow Lighting
In 2020, despite the cancellation of its lakefront festival, Milwaukee Pride celebrated Pride month in alternative but highly visible ways, including the inaugural rainbow lighting of the Hoan Bridge and the launch of the first Milwaukee County Transit Authority Pride Bus and The Hop streetcar both decorated in rainbow array. Also in 2020, Milwaukee Pride provided logistical assistance to Montell Infinity Ross and the organizers of the LGBTQ March for Black Lives Matter.
When coming back to a post-pandemic, full festival in 2022, Shaver eliminated the Sunday schedule to support the Milwaukee Pride Parade as well as the local businesses of Walkers Point. Elsewhere, Milwaukee Pride, Inc. participated in the InterPride 2019 Annual General Meeting and World Conference held in Athens, Greece and recently hosted the U.S. Association of Prides National Conference.
Shaver’s work has not gone unnoticed. Since 2021 he has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions beginning with the Inaugural Class of BizTimes’ Notable LGBT Executives. In successive years through 2024, he was named among the Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Class of 2022, the Titan Wisconsin Top 100 Titans of Industry, and received the Vivent Health’s Leadership Award. This year, Visit Milwaukee honored Shaver with its Joe Bartolotta Hospitality Award.
Revolve Experience Marketing
Not content to direct one major lakefront festival, Shaver’s production company, Revolve Experience Marketing, created two additional events at Henry Maier Festival Park. Freshwater Food & Wine Festival debuts Sept.19-20, 2026 and Rock and Roll Fest joins the lineup in September of 2027. Both festivals will be on the same weekend in 2027 and will utilize the entire Henry Maier grounds.
Shaver explained pitching his new ideas to SummerFest and World Festivals, Inc, “These new festivals are extensions of my personal passions: food, music, culture, cars, community. They’re rooted in things that bring people together authentically. It is actually pretty simple: I deeply believe in the power of live experiences—especially in a world that’s becoming increasingly digital and driven by AI. But nothing replaces the emotional impact of gathering in person with music under the sky, shared meals, spontaneous conversations and the energy of a crowd. Live events create memories. They create belonging. They create moments that technology can amplify but never replicate.”
Meanwhile, back at Milwaukee Pride, more innovations and growth are in the offing for PrideFest 2026. “We celebrate the 30th festival season since moving to Henry Maier Festival Park this summer (1996 was the first year) and we want to “double down” on aspects of our history that brought us to this point,” Shaver said, noting a refreshed and re-imagined Youth Area with Courage+, and a collaboration with Black Pride Milwaukee Inc. that will serve as an incubator for a growing, all POC Pride Event. “Our entertainment lineup represents genres, performers, music, dance, and experiences that connect the dots between the last three decades and the shared experiences that bring us together despite a challenging social and political climate.”
Shaver’s philosophy of leadership recognizes the community’s varied strengths and accommodates them to produce our city’s world-renowned LGBTQ celebration. He sums it all up saying “PrideFest is a unique organization and a fragile one. Each member of our team has a personal and specific lived experience. Not all are the same and we cannot assume everyone has the same capacities or abilities as their peers. So, we meet people where they are. We understand that it takes all types to make things happen. And from there, we’ve created the most wonderful, strong, and trusting culture I’ve ever seen.”
