Green County Cheese Days

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Brenda Steurer

Cheese Days mascot Wedgie does the dab with 2022 Cheese Days Prince Braun King.

Cheese Days may be the most perfect of all Wisconsin festivals. There will be, of course, cheese — and plenty of it — cows, other dairy products, polka bands, a parade (12:30 p.m. Sunday), and maybe even BINGO. Plus it takes place in the iconic courthouse square in Monroe. Make tracks to the huge cheese tent, with samples of the best of Wisconsin cheese. Elsewhere there will be food for sale, including grilled cheese with secret sauce, deep-fried cheese curds, mac 'n cheese, baked cheese skewers, and cheesecake on a stick. There are also cheesemaking demos, a bus tour of dairy farms and lots more. Find stage schedules below.

press release: Monroe, Wisconsin celebrates all things cheese on the third weekend of September this year.

It’s the granddaddy of all food fests in the Midwest:  Green County Cheese Days in Monroe, September 16-18, 2022. 

Enjoy three days of full-flavored, family fun celebrating cheesemaking, dairy farming and Swiss traditions.  It all happens on the Historic Courthouse Square in downtown Monroe, Wisconsin – right where the festival got started way back in 1914.

Right away you’ll sense the cheesy vibe: a procession of cheesemakers at Friday's opening ceremony, old time copper kettle cheesemaking on Saturday (take a turn stirring with the Swiss harp), and the big Cheese Tent all weekend – stop by on Friday and Saturday to meet cheese carver and food artist Nancy Baker.  Among other varieties, she’ll be carving an eighteen-pound wheel of Grand Cru from Monroe’s Emmi Roth USA.  The festival even has a mascot named “Wedgie” who is shaped like a supersize wedge cut from a supersize wheel of Swiss Emmentaler cheese.

On the cheesy festival menu: gourmet grilled cheese with secret sauce, Monroe Optimist Club’s famous deep-fried cheese curds, mac-n-cheese, baked cheese skewers, and cheesecake on a stick made exclusively for the festival.

See where cheese gets started by meeting the farmers and their herds at one of Green County’s showcase dairy farms. Board a bus downtown for a guided countryside tour with barn quilts and a dairy farm visit.  Limited seating is available for tours on Friday and Saturday.  Advance ticket sales encouraged. 

The highlight of the Cheese Days festival weekend is Wisconsin’s only parade led by a herd of Brown Swiss cows. You’ll hear bells clanging in the distance long before you see the beautiful bovines march past wearing fancy embroidered collars, imported Swiss bells, and colorful floral wreaths.  The Swiss Colony Cheese Days Parade steps off on Sunday, September 18 at 12:30 PM. 

Two Cheese Days entertainment stages feature everything from alphorns and yodeling, to doo wop and current top pop.  Returning favorites on the lineup include yodel master Kerry Christensen, polka masters The Goodtime Dutchmen, the Doo Wop Daddies, and Wheelhouse.  New on the schedule:  DJ Stacy Spins Vintage Polka Records, Accordion Legend Ruth Marty and Friends, and a throwback to “Edelweiss Revisited” with entertainers from New Glarus. Evening headliners for 2022 are Boogie and the Yo-yo'z on Friday night, and Screamin’ Cucumbers on Saturday. 

Throughout the weekend, there will be roving entertainers like drumlines, stilt walkers, accordion players, and alphorn players.  For families – fun and games on Kids’ Street on Saturday (bubble stations, jugglers, clowns, dunk tank, dancers and singers, and more), plus the Family Farm Adventure Tent all weekend. Learn more at cheesedays.com and follow Cheese Days Festival on Facebook for the latest updates.

Martha Bernet Main Stage

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Noon - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

1:30 PM - Keith Zweifel

3 PM - Alphorn Entertainment

3:15 PM - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

4:15 PM - Children’s Swiss Music Concert

5 PM - Cheese Days Children’s Parade

6 PM - Opening Ceremony with MC Scott Thompson of Big Radio

7:15 PM - D’Schwiizer Gruppe + Alphorn Entertainment

8:30 PM - Boogie and the Yo-Yo’z

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2022

7:30 AM - Cheese Days Chase

10:30 AM - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

12 PM - Monroe City Band

1:15 PM - David Austin Band

2:30 PM - New Glarus Swiss Miss Dancers

3 PM - Doo Wop Daddies

4:45 PM - D’Schwiizer Gruppe

5:45 PM - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

7 PM - WheelHouse

9 PM - Screamin Cucumbers!

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

10 AM - Wilhelm Tell Usherettes

10:30 AM - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

11:30 AM - Goodtime Dutchmen Band

12:45 AM - THE SWISS COLONY CHEESE DAYS PARADE arrives downtown on the Square

After Parade - UW Marching Band 5th Quarter!

3:15 PM - Goodtime Dutchmen Band

4:30 PM - Jodlerklub (Yodel Club) and New Glarus Mannerchor

5:45 PM - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

Colony Brands Hospitality Tent

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Noon - DJ Stacy Spins Vintage Polka Records

1 - 2 PM - John & Bobbie, Accordion Duo

2 - 4 PM - Front Porch Rockers

4 - 5 PM - DJ Stacy Spins Vintage Polka Records

5 - 6 PM - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

6 PM - Opening Ceremony on Main Stage

7 - 8:45 PM - Mascot Theory

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2022

11:30 AM - Queso Fiesta! Hispanic Cheese Tasting

1 - 2 PM - Ruth Marty and Friends

2 - 2:45 PM - Kerry Christensen, Master Yodeler

3 - 4:15 PM - Edelweiss Revisited

4:30 -5:30 PM - Accordion Four with John, Bobbie, Barb and Mary

6:30 - 8:30 PM - The Decade:  80’s Rock Experience

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

11 AM - DJ Stacy Spins Vintage Polka Records

Later there might be BINGO!