ArtBlaze, Milwaukee’s only public beach party series, is making its return to Milwaukee this summer at McKinley Beach.
The popular beach party series, which is open and free to the public, made its debut at Bradford and South Shore beaches last summer.
This year’s event will be held on Thursdays at McKinley Beach on July 24, Aug. 7 and Aug. 21, from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. each day, according to a release from Joy Engine, the nonprofit public art organization in Milwaukee hosting the event.
ArtBlaze will feature concerts, local artisans and vendors, s’mores-making stations with bonfires, and interactive art, transforming the beach into “a haven of artistic wonder and musical delight, shining a light on our amazing parks and local artists,” according to its website.
Original inflatable art by FuzzPop Workshop, the same group that created the "Astral Relics of the Great North Woods" art installation at Summerfest this year, will also be on display.
Watch: the Cosmopod that sat at the center of last year's ArtBlaze event
This year, they created a sculpture named the Hydrobloom that will "stretch nearly 1,000 feet and stand 25 feet tall with enchanting loops and curls that sprawl from sand to water, forming an open space to gather and play."
Passersby, whether walking by or dancing, will have their movements “noticed by the Hydrobloom’s bioluminescent membrane and will awaken and respond in pulses of color that ripple into the lake.”
FuzzPop got a helping hand from architecture students at UW-Milwaukee to create the inflatable sculpture. Last year for ArtBlaze, FuzzPop created a large inflatable Cosmopod.
The all-ages programming for ArtBlaze includes concerts by artists like The Quilz and DJ Gemini Gilly and the return of the beloved Silent Disco with live DJs.
The full entertainment lineup is expected to be announced soon, according to the release.
For more information about ArtBlaze, visit Joy Engine's website.
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