Thousands of people like you  come to Waukesha’s Friday Night Live every year. What started out over 15 years ago with a couple of musicians playing and singing under a single tent, has blossomed into a great event in the greatest city in Wisconsin – Waukesha!

Today Waukesha Friday Night Live runs every Friday from June through September.  Over the course of the 16 week event, Friday Night Live hosts 9 stages of entertainment, over 70 musicians and entertainers, and dozens of downtown businesses are open to offer food, candies, drinks, artwork, and much more.

Acknowledgement

Waukesha’s Friday Night Live is only made possible through the work of the Waukesha Downtown Business Association (WDBA), and the generous support of downtown businesses, sponsors, musicians, and thousands of people like you that attend this weekly summer event.

How it Started

Waukesha Friday Night Live began over 15 years ago as Freeman Friday Night Live when citizens and downtown business owners gathered to discuss the fact that the city of Waukesha was abandoned and looked like a ghost town by 7 pm on Friday nights.  Businesses were closed due to a lack of customers, and the only sound that filled the streets was wind and muffled music from local taverns. 

A couple of local musicians, local business owners, and organization officials decided that sponsoring musicians to entertain on various stage locations throughout downtown Waukesha each Friday would wake the sleeping city and bring her back to life.  Such an event would draw visitors and entertainers alike.

It didn’t take long before Friday Night Live as you now know it was born in Waukesha, and Friday’s were back to the way they used to be in the historical days of the city.

Did you know?

Back in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s people gathered in the streets of downtown Waukesha to dance, sell and/or trade produce, meat and other foods, and simply to have a good time while socializing and listening to live music.