Every east side neighborhood festival in Madison has its own flavor, and AtwoodFest may be the sassiest. That’s not just because the festival, which takes place July 26 and 27 in the 1900 and 2000 blocks of Atwood Ave., is co-sponsored by Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara (SASY) neighborhood association.
It’s also a true neighborhood festival reflecting the friendly, scrappy east side spirit, featuring many of the city’s favorite musicians, food vendors, and arts and crafts vendors. Here’s your guide to doing AtwoodFest right.
A Sassy Start
In classic sassy fashion, AtwoodFest started life in 1982 as Atwood Summerfest, even though Milwaukee had started its own much larger Summerfest 14 years earlier. Originally a fundraiser for the Goodman Center (then the Atwood Community Center), it transitioned in 2014 into becoming a joint venture hosted by the Barrymore Theatre, Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, and the SASY Neighborhood Association, and was renamed AtwoodFest.
Come Together, Right Now
It just wouldn’t be an east side festival without a parade, would it? AtwoodFest kicks off with Convergence 2025 at 11 a.m. which symbolizes the neighborhood coming together. It starts at one of four different locations around the neighborhood – Yahara River, Circle Park, Hawthorne Park, and the Goodman Center.
Folks will go to one of those four groups all gussied up – costumes, hula hoops, and decorated bikes and wagons are encouraged. Then, members of the Madison percussion group the Handphibians will lead paraders from each location through the streets until they all converge at noon on the Atwoodfest grounds.
Three Stages of Music
After that musical start, AtwoodFest has three stages of live music on both days, each with its own different flavor. The Sugar Maple Stage, sponsored by the Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival, has folk, bluegrass, and Americana music that fits in with the annual August festival.
Highlights include North Carolina duo Admiral Radio (5 p.m. July 26) and banjo phenom Mean Mary James (3:30 p.m. July 27).
Meanwhile, the stage named after funk legend Clyde Stubblefield features local treasures like The Big Payback (1:45 p.m. July 26), Phat Phunktion (5:15 p.m. July 26), and Allman Brothers tribute band The Brothers Allmanac (great name) at 6 p.m. July 27. The third music stage is named after the late blues legend Luther Allison, and features Wisconsin rock octet Automatic Lover (6:45 p.m. July 26) and Madison ska-fusion band One Beer Please (noon July 27).
Eat, Drink and Shop Local
Speaking of beer, the beer tents will be serving drafts from multiple local breweries, including Delta Beer Labs, Young Blood, and Hop Haus. Food Alley will feature lots of local restaurants and food trucks serving their best, including Cinn City Smash, La Taguara, and Lao Laan-Xang.
Take a trip down Vendor Alley, which has been described as an open-air bazaar for its wide variety of craftsmen and artisans.
