The Ultimate Summerfest Parking Guide

9 days. 12 stages. Nearly 900,000 of your closest friends. Summerfest Music Festival is celebrating its 55th year this summer! The “Big Gig” is the largest music festival in the world, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Summerfest 2023 is set to take place June 22-24, June 29-July 1, and July 7-9.

Summerfest Parking

Summerfest is a festival full of incredible artists that will make your summer one to remember. This year’s can’t-miss lineup is sure to draw tons of fans.

The good news? We’re here to help with dozens of affordable Summerfest parking spots for you to choose from. You can use SpotHero to reserve parking in advance, located within a mile and a half of the festival grounds. Many of these cheaper parking options are along the Summerfest shuttle route.

Below are parking spots listed on SpotHero that you can reserve ahead of time for Summerfest:

SpotHero Parking FacilityPriceWalking Time
Lake Lot – 328 N Van Buren St$455 minutes
Italian Community Center – 178 N Jackson St Lot$455 minutes
Grainger Lot$155 minutes
A Gagliano Co. – 633 E Buffalo St. Lot$506 minutes
128 N Jackson St. Lot$257 minutes
417 E Menomonee St. (417 E Chicago St.) Lot$607 minutes
Museum Center Park – 910 E Michigan St.$358 minutes

Summerfest Parking with Shuttle Service Options

Milwaukee World Festival will be providing shuttles that run every 30 minutes from all three of their park and ride lots. Shuttles start operating at 11:30 a.m.

  • College Ave Park and Ride Lot
  • Brown Deer Park and Ride Lot

Parking in these lots is free. Roundtrip fares for the shuttle are $10 per person. This year, payment for the shuttles is cashless (Umo app, WisGo card, M-Card, VISA, Mastercard, American Express or Discover card are accepted). Riders will pay the fare upon arrival at Summerfest. You can also purchase shuttle parking in advance here.

IMPORTANT – If you park in one of the park-ride lots, make sure to park in designated spaces to ensure buses and patrols can get through the lots easily. Cars that are parked illegally could receive tickets and/or be towed by local authorities.

The Hop

The Hop Streetcar is Milwaukee’s FREE transportation service. Find parking anywhere around the city and ride one of the streetcars to the Historic Third Ward platform. From there, the festival grounds are only a ten-minute walk. For more information and an interactive map, click here.

Official Summerfest Parking

Summerfest offers official parking near the festival grounds. Pre-paid parking passes for specific dates during Summerfest may be purchased online. Be aware that parking passes offered through Summerfest do sell out.

Parking in the Summerfest Preferred Lots costs anywhere from $25 – $30, depending on who is performing.  Parking lots open daily at 9:00 am. Official Summerfest parking is on a first-come, first-served basis.

There is no RV parking or tailgating on the Summerfest grounds.

For more information on rideshare, directions, and transportation to Summerfest, click here.

Download the SpotHero app on iOS or Android for easy parking reservations!