The Kids from Wisconsin will return to Fond du Lac for their 27th annual free appearance at Buttermilk Creek Park on Wednesday, August 17, at 7:15 p.m. The Lighthouse Big Band and the Fond du Lac Area Children’s Chorale will entertain prior to the Kids’ performance, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
This summer, the Kids show theme is THE BIG BANG BOOM TOUR!! Through the decades, eclectic fads, explosive dance crazes, artists and bands have burst forth onto the music scene and into our psyche. British invasions, Swedish bands, Motown, Swing dance and Disney are just some of the influences that have ignited today’s music genres. The BIG BANG BOOM Tour brings these sensations, and much more, to life in a high-powered two-hour Vegas style production.
Area performers in this year’s troupe include Noah Bartelt, electric bass, Sheboygan Falls; Bridget Bullard, soprano, Kohler; Ian Janssen, piano, West Bend; and Kelly Robinson, trumpet (understudy), Appleton.
Since their first performance in 1969, the Kids from Wisconsin show troupe has performed at state and county fairs, festivals, national trade shows and conventions. Their travels have taken them to many hometown stages as well as distinguished stages such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, Cabo Hall in Detroit, the Convention Center in Atlantic City, and the Canadian National Exhibition. Selected through a rigorous audition process, troupe members not only perform to thousands over the summer, but are trained to provide hands-on, performing arts workshops in many of the communities they perform, helping to spread the love of performing to youth ages 7-13.
Sponsors for this year’s performance include the Francis R. and Ruth E. Oberreich Foundation, Service League, Fond du Lac Noon Rotary, Uecker-Witt Funeral Home and Steve and Lynne Uecker. Funding for the Buttermilk Festival is also provided by local business and individual donors known collectively as the Friends of the Festival, and a free-will offering that will be received at the concert.
In the event of bad weather, the concert will be moved to the EXPO Center at the County Fairgrounds.
Next on the summer schedule, the Fond du Lac Symphonic Band will perform at Sterr Park in Lomira at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 18, and will wind up the summer season with “Fan Favorites” on Wednesday, Aug. 24 at Buttermilk Creek Park.