You could argue that no other state in the union is as proud of its industry as Wisconsinites are of their cheese. The state’s license plates say America’s Dairyland, folks flock to special events wearing foam cheeseheads, and some even forgo sugar for a cheese wedding cake.
Wisconsin’s food culture runs deep. Some people call Milwaukee the culinary capital of the Midwest thanks to its signature beer, sausage and cheese. These folks know as well as anyone that cheese always pairs well with a good time. People are coming over? Put some cheese out. Going to a football game? Wear a cheese wedge on your head. Looking for a reason to get up north? Go to a cheese festival, where cheesemakers and small-town councils are celebrating their industry with wide variety of fun, cheese-focused weekends.
These events feature cheese-eating contests, cheese galas, cheese sculptures, chocolate cheesecakes on sticks, and much more. Some towns host fancy, modern festivals that feel like the Met with Muenster. Others have been putting a traditional weekend to celebrate cheese on their calendars for more than 100 years. In addition to head-spinning arrays of fine cheese, these festivals will take you through small town histories and show you how the area has turned into what it is today. They all have one thing in common: They love cheese –– and most of them have parades. From celebrations involving squeaky cheese curds to stinky limburger cheese varieties, these festivals will bring you deeper into the cheese-making universe than you’ve ever dared venture before.
Art of Cheese Festival in Madison
We’ve got three words for you: glitz, glam, and gouda. Those three words describe the Art of Cheese Festival held yearly in September in Madison, Wisconsin. The festival is led by the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, who asked one simple question: What if we took cheese and made it into art? Their answer to that question is a variety of special events that orbit around the inner circle of Wisconsin cheese…