Summer means many things to me: happiness, sunshine, spending as much time outdoors as possible, picnics in parks, long days at the beach reading under the sun and splashing in the waves, ice cream and iced coffees, pasta salads and watermelon, watching sunsets and going on evening walks through neighborhoods, outdoor dining, and live music. Live music is a distinctly summer-coded activity to me, I LOVE sitting outside in a beautiful park, enjoying local musicians, trying new foods and drinks, meeting up with friends, and dancing like no one is watching. I grew up in a very musical family, and going to see live music outdoors is something I’ve done every summer. The Green Bay area always had lots of live music throughout the whole summer, so I was eager to find out about live music in Sheboygan. Thankfully, I was not disappointed by the various options for locals and tourists to enjoy. Here are five places to find live music throughout summer in Sheboygan!

8th Streatery

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I absolutely love outdoor dining with live music. Enjoying a meal outdoors is near impossible to do most of the year in Wisconsin, let alone linger at the meal with music filling the air around you. 8th Streatery is a food and live music event that takes place in Downtown Sheboygan on 8th St and Pennsylvania Ave throughout the summer. Participating restaurants create an outdoor dining paradise, transforming the street into endless picnic tables and a foodies’ dream atmosphere! This event takes place every Tuesday from 5pm-9pm between June 11th and August 13th, and has an immaculate summer feeling to it. It’s lively with all the people gathering together to eat some good food, and listen to some good music. Each week, a new band performs on the street among the tables. As of July 26th 2024, there are three more dates of 8th Streatery left, and these are the bands scheduled to perform:

July 30th: Erin Krebs Duo

August 6th: Natural Satellite Duo

August 13th: Cathy Grier

Levitt AMP Music Series

On Tuesdays there’s 8th Streatery, on Thursdays there’s the JMKAC Levitt AMP Music Series on the City Green (also located in Downtown Sheboygan). Another great excuse to get people outdoors, dining, trying new foods, all while appreciating local artists’ music. From 6pm-8:30pm hop from food truck to food truck, enjoy some free art-making activities, and prop up your lawn chairs to enjoy the musicians! This is another annual live music event that takes place over the course of the summer. The remaining dates for the year along with the scheduled artists are as follows:

August 1st: Lone Piñon

August 8th: Kyshona, Tall Tall Trees

August 15th: Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East

This event is put on by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and is located in the park directly across the street from their building, so make sure you stop in to check out the beautiful and unique building they call home (even if it’s only for the washrooms, ikyky)

Wineries and Breweries:

There is no shortage of live music in the fermentation industry in the Sheboygan area. 3 Sheeps Brewery has a fantastic space that seamlessly expands from indoors to outdoors, so it’s enjoyable rain or shine. Their garage-style walls are often left open so that you can still see, smell, and feel the outdoors while sheltering from any bad weather. Check their website for when they have live music booked, they often will get live performers a couple times a month on Fridays.

The Blind Horse and SoLu Estate are two restaurant wineries in the area that have beyond magical outdoor seating and book various live music events during the summer months. The Blind Horse has a whole additional menu and area behind the main restaurant that includes a stage for the musicians and plenty of beautiful space for kids to run around, for people to dance, and take photos on the gorgeous property.

SoLu Estate Winery has two different stages for live music, and depending on the show, you’ll either need to buy tickets in advance, or the music is free for patrons to enjoy! The large estate will make you feel like you are in California or Italy, with beautiful acres of land, the vineyard, a pond, rustic buildings, and plenty of outdoor seating of course.

If you’ve been eager to fit in some live music before the end of your summer, then I hope this blog helps inspire you to seek out the unique places and events in Sheboygan that passionately provide a live music experience to the community! Truly, attending a live music show at any of these places is a full experience complete with tasty food, sweet drinks, and good company.