Dylan Brogan
For nearly half a century, Willy Street Fair has taken over Madison’s eccentric near east side, marking an unofficial ending to the summer festival season with one of the city’s largest block parties. Tents featuring local artists and restaurants line three blocks of Williamson Street (known to most as Willy Street), accompanied by the sounds of some of the Madison area’s best musicians.
The free, two-day fair is back on Sept. 19-20 on the 800, 900 and 1000 blocks of Williamson, from 2 to 10 p.m. on Saturday (note, the start time has moved back due to the rainy weather) and 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Produced by Common Wealth Development and the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, all proceeds benefit the two nonprofits that provide services to thousands of community members every year.
Know Before You Go
With the large crowds attracted to the fair, parking is scarce. There is some free parking on surrounding streets (some spots are limited to two hours until 6 p.m. on Saturday), but there are no designated lots. Plenty of bike parking is available to those who opt in to cycling.
Leave the dogs at home! Pets are highly discouraged by the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center.
Willy Street will be closed to vehicles from Saturday morning until Sunday night around 9 p.m.
Music and Entertainment
Between Livingston and Ingersoll streets, each block of Willy Street houses entertainment stages, creating a surround-sound experience for festivalgoers. Each stage fosters its own vibe, ensuring a little something from many styles of music.
From west to east, the four stages are: the Willy Street Beats Stage (which becomes the WORT stage on Sunday) in the 800 block, the Main Stage in the 900 block, the Kids’ Stage near Brearly, and the Folk Stage at Ingersoll.
For Packers fans, the game screens under a large tent on Sunday, with improv comedy performances by Monkey Business Institute during commercial breaks.
Please note that the Saturday stage lineups are the times originally announced; this morning fest organizers moved the start time to 2 p.m. due to the weather, and new times have not been announced.
Stage Lineups
Saturday:
Main Stage (presented by Lauer Realty Group)
12:30 p.m.: Deep Dive
2:15 p.m.: Los Chechos
4:15 p.m.: Cris Plata with Extra Hot
6:15 p.m.: Ben Mulwana & the Village
8:30 p.m.: Honor Among Thieves
Folk Stage (presented by Madison Folk Music Society)
12:30 p.m.: Bruised Orange (John Prine tribute)
2 p.m.: Mark Young
4:15 p.m.: Robert J.
6:15 p.m.: Bret & Frisk
8 p.m.: The Roddys Trio
Kids’ Stage (presented by Lauer Realty Group)
2:30 p.m.: James the Magician
3:30 p.m.: Youth talent show/karaoke with Cypher
7:30 p.m.: All ages karaoke
Willy Street Beats Stage (presented by MadCat)
2:00 p.m.: gxnasty
3:00 p.m.: Santine
4:00 p.m.: Geoff K b2b Paul Gordon
6:00 p.m.: Sassmouth
8:00 p.m.: Boo Williams
Sunday:
Main Stage
noon: Los Bad Hombres
1:45 p.m.: Rare Element
3:30 p.m.: Automatic Lover
4:50 p.m.: Willy Street Fair raffle drawing
5:15 p.m.: The Jimmys
Folk Stage
12:15 p.m.: Cris Plata
1:45 p.m.: John Duggleby (Protest Song Therapy)
3:15 p.m.: Stuart Stotts
5:00 p.m.: Better with Friends
Kids’ Stage
11:45 a.m.: Forward! Marching Band
12:30 p.m.: East High School Orchestra
1:15 p.m.: Mad Unis
2 p.m.: Dairyland Dancing Diamonds
2:45 p.m.: Angela Puerta
4 p.m.: Madison Music Foundry youth band showcase
WORT Stage (presented by WORT-FM)
12:30 p.m.: The Scratch-Offs
1:45 p.m.: Ed Dave
3 p.m.: Yolk
4:15 p.m.: Free Dirt
5:30 p.m.: Hottt Probs
Dylan Brogan
Parade
Perhaps the most anticipated part of the weekend, the Willy Street Fair parade marches through the Williamson-Marquette neighborhood on Sunday morning.
Jim Wildman leads the traditional procession in his 1967 Cadillac, transformed into the “Bubble Mobile,” spraying bubbles through a whimsical tangle of brass horns mounted atop the convertible. Wildman has attended every year of the fair, and has driven a Bubble Mobile in the parade since its second year in 1978. His current Cadillac is the fourth iteration of the Bubble Mobile.
Following Wildman, local organizations and businesses pass out flyers and candy to viewers on the sidelines. Madison Circus Space performers roll in on unicycles and the Forward! Marching Band plays their horns and drums. Many come dressed in elaborate costumes and flashy outfits, and you can’t go far without spotting a stilt walker.
The parade kicks off at 11 a.m., beginning and ending on Willy Street with a route wrapping around Paterson, Spaight and Ingersoll.
Vendors galore
More than 150 vendors will sell food, drinks and handmade goods. Many restaurants and cafes on the east side bring every kind of flavor to the fair, like Lao Laan-Xang’s Laotian cuisine, Monsoon Siam’s Thai food, and Mexican dishes from El Sabor.
Artists — most of whom are Madison residents — sell jewelry, pottery, paintings and more.
Editor's note: This post has been updated to reflect a changed start time on Sept. 19 due to the rainy weather.
