
The 2023 entertainment calendar is slowly starting to fill up with annual festivals, outdoor concert series and farmers markets, but first comes cold, snow and winter.
While we wait for a bright and busy day to come, here are six new things in the lineup that will happen in the Green Bay area this year.
Carol & Bruce Bell Children’s Garden opens
Kids can explore, climb, crawl and slide acres when the new children’s garden at Green Bay Botanic Gardens opens in May.
Five times the size of the Gertrude B. Nielsen Children’s Garden, which opened 26 years ago, the 2.5-acre Carroll & Bruce Bell Children’s Garden will be the largest in the state and one of the largest in the Upper Midwest. Families can learn about plants, nature, water and wildlife. Lily Pad Splash and Mushroom Jumper woodland playground, treehouse structure with views from 16 feet high, hillside tunnels and caves, raindrop garden, creature sculptures including birds, badgers and turtles. Over 500 trees and his 20,000 perennials are also planted.
Favorite features of the existing gardens, including Mr. McGregor’s Garden, koi ponds and Stumpf Hobbit House toilets, will be incorporated into the new gardens as Gertrude B. Nielsen Village.
Levitt AMP Green Bay Music Series
Leicht Memorial Park kicks off the first of three consecutive free summer concerts. This is thanks to On Broadway Inc. winning his $90,000 Levittt AMP Grant Award and helping make it happen. Music lovers host 10 of his concerts each summer at downtown parks along the Fox River.
This year’s tentative plan calls for concerts on Sundays from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm to replace the many evening and weekday concert series that fill the calendar in Green Bay and the surrounding area in the summer. says Brian Johnson. on Broadway. The series will begin on June 25th and will continue until August 27th, with the artist line-up to be announced at a later date.
This is the first time Green Bay has won a three-year grant. In 2019, a $25,000 Levitt AMP Grant Award made it possible for him to host one of his summer concerts at the park.
more:Netflix’s ‘Our Planet’ Comes to Weidner with 18-piece Orchestra and Acclaimed Narrator Pair
more:Daredevil Robby Knievel, who died at the age of 60, sent the crowd into a frenzy in 1998 with his record-breaking jump at the Oneida Casino.

Opening of Maruba Cultural Center
Since the project broke ground in August 2021, anyone who regularly travels downtown De Pere has wondered what the 75,000-square-foot glass structure will form. Made possible by philanthropists James and Miriam Malva, the Malva Cultural Center will host world-class touring exhibits, diverse cultural programs, film screenings and educational opportunities when it opens in late summer. .
Overlooking the Fox River, the building includes a 10,000-square-foot main exhibition hall with movable walls, a 200-seat auditorium with a 40-foot screen, an exclusive café, gift shop, atrium, classrooms, and two-story observation decks. There is a table. .
Mulva’s first season of programming and exhibiting is expected to be announced earlier this year. The center hopes to attract attention-grabbing traveling exhibits focusing on history, natural history, science, art and photography, pop culture, and world religions.
Artfest Green Bay
Arts Street’s 40-year run in downtown Green Bay came to an end last summer when Mosaic Arts Inc. moved its free, juried art fair to Ashwaubenong’s Ashwaubomey Park. Art lovers who miss the downtown street browsing experience will be sure to check out the new arts and culture extravaganza this summer.
Downtown Green Bay Inc. presents Art Fest Green Bay July 28-30 featuring artists, music, food and demonstrations. This free event will be held in what the organizers call “the heart of downtown.” This may include some of the same streets used by Artstreet. The ArtFest hopes to attract local, state, and national exhibiting artists. Artist applications are being accepted through March 1st at downtowngreenbay.com.
meat fest
Yes, that’s exactly what it sounds like – a full day celebration of all meat. The first event will be on May 20th from 11am to 7pm at Ashwaubenong’s Resch Expo inside and outside (weather permitting). ) is scheduled. Early plans call for a children’s area with over 50,000 square feet of food trucks, cooking seminars, a beer garden and mini golf. Wisconsin’s Meat Smoking Club hosts amateur competitions in the square. You can almost smell it now. Ticket sales date is yet to come.

“Beyond Van Gogh: An Immersive Experience”
The good news: The circuit event’s website still lists the Green Bay stop, promising details “coming soon.” The bad news: Nothing is known about where or when than when Green Bay first appeared on the list of future cities to visit in 2022.
In this multimedia spectacle, more than 300 works by the famous Dutch Post-Impressionist painter come to life in state-of-the-art projections onto the walls, floors and columns of the expansive space. The installation is accompanied by a symphony. As guests walk through, they are immersed in larger-than-life images that appear and disappear through multiple planes.
Stay tuned for updates on your Green Bay visit at https://vangoghgreenbay.com.
A few reminders about Rock the Dock and Polar Express…
The location of Rock the Dock has changed. The music festival, which debuted at CityDeck in downtown Green Bay in 2019, is heading to De Pere’s Voyageur Park this year for more space for multiple stages and drone shows. The fun runs from noon to August 19th at 10pm. The band’s line-up has yet to be announced. Proceeds will be donated to Compassionate Home Health Care Inc.
Polar Express tickets go on sale in July. If you want to enjoy the hot chocolate dance at Jammy or take the train to the North Pole on vacation, you need to hurry up and get your summer tickets. Ashwaubenon’s Polar Express Train Ride at the National Railroad Museum sells out quickly (last year he sold over 12,400 tickets to 40 shows in less than 24 hours). Tickets for this year’s performances, November 17th through December 10th, go on sale July 25th at 10am.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or her kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. follow her on her twitter @Kendra Meinert.