Q&A: Summerfest CEO Sarah Pancheri On What Makes The Event So Special

Forbes

20-06-2025

Today (June 19) Summerfest in Milwaukee kicks off with a slate of shows that include Aly & AJ, The Isley Brothers, Gary Clark Jr. and headliners Def Leppard. Over the next three weekends, wrapping July 3 – 5, some of the biggest names in music – Hozier, The Killers, Lainey Wilson, James Taylor, The Lumineers, Benson Boone – will lead an insanely eclectic lineup of top-tier artists that will grace the eights stages on the festival grounds.
Bishop Briggs, The Fray, Lindsay Stirling, Riley Green, The Avett Brothers, Devo, Babymetal, Rick Springfield, Billy Corgan, Mike Posner, Social Distortion, Iann Dior, Jo Dee Messina, the list goes on and on.
At the head of assembling these dream weekends of music is CEO Sarah Pancheri, who took over that role in 2024. I spoke with her about Summerfest's history and future and more.
Steve Batin: So, you're opening with Def Leppard.
Sarah Pancheri: Yes, we are thrilled that they will be opening up Summerfest 2025.
Baltin: Is this the first year they've played the festival?
Pancheri: No, I would need to go back into our archive to know how many times they've played, but I know they've played and they're always a great show, Tesla's opening. And as we talked about briefly the variety of what we present is really one of the things that makes Summerfest so special, which I know you have a high degree of understanding of. Just the nature of it.
Baltin: Yeah, that's what makes it special. But most US music festivals would never in a million years put Def Leppard on. Everybody in the world loves Def Leppard. There's a cool factor with a lot of festivals and I really appreciate the fact that Summerfest isn't afraid to go populist.
Pancheri: That's our idea, there's always going to be a big variety. When we say something for everyone It's something that we that we take really seriously. So, in our amphitheater this time around, you'll see [acts from] Lainey Wilson to James Taylor to Megan Thee Stallion to Bad Omens. That variety is really one of the parts that makes the festival so terrific. That philosophy has been with us for 60 years almost. So, when you pull from the archives, you see names like Tina Turner and Kenny Chesney, and Billie Eilish, and I was just having a conversation, Sammy Davis Jr. It spans such a wide variety of music that it's really what we pride ourselves on. There are a couple of other things that make us special, of course, the permanent nature of our festival park, Henry Marr Festival Park. It really is 75 acres devoted to festivals. Sixty years ago, as our forefathers said, we'll take this space, which was an old, abandoned field, if you can believe it, just sitting on the lakefront steps away from downtown. And over time, we've developed it into this really gorgeous place with eight permanent stage houses. The range of stages goes from like a 2000 capacity pavilion all the way up to the 23 ,000 seating amphitheater where Def Leppard is going to play. So, it's the variety of music, but then also this permanent site that really makes us stand out.
Baltin: I love the fact that James Taylor is one of those people who's just iconic. He's not of the moment. You have Hozier, who's a great guy, and you have Laney Wilson. You have those people that are of the moment, but you also have those people that are just iconic.
Pancheri: That is how we program the event because we want to create an environment for everybody to find something that they're going to love. So, the biggest stages are always super exciting. But then just to orient you towards how we do it. The festival admission to the festival does not include access to the amphitheater, but it includes access to the rest of the festival park, where you're going to find bands like Cake, like Loud Luxury, like Gary Clark, Jr. We are so excited about that show. And you'll hear me say that again and again, because it's absolutely true. And as a music fan, you know, you're excited you get to come to work. On our poster, you have Baby Metal, Chicago and Porter Robinson, all kind of in the same place, which again, just speaks to how rare our lineup is. And the accessibility of that is you can come to the festival for the price of 30 bucks. And then the other piece of that, which really makes us stand out, I believe, is as a nonprofit organization, we do this so that we can continue to provide access to this world -class place, this world -class lineup. And then 20 percent of our fans come in free above and beyond that low ticket price. So, it's pretty unique, I think we're one of one. We can't find anything else quite like it.
Baltin: Milwaukee is synonymous with Summerfest the same way Jazz Fest is New Orleans.
Pancheri: That's high praise. We appreciate that. Thank you, I tend to believe that the people that do this work, it is very special and really takes a lot of dedication, and I know the folks in New Orleans as well as everyone that works really hard at what they do. And so, it's high praise to say that, and when you go back to the roots of the event, the idea that at the time there were massive breweries of beer. And so, the tradition of coming together and celebrating music as well as gathering around, at the time it was Schlitz, Papst, and Miller. It was a great reason to put on display all that Milwaukee and music had to offer in the summertime.
Baltin: Talk about the site.
Pancheri: Over the past 20 years, we put over $160 million into improving this site, which really does make it that special place. If it were just a field, it would probably feel different, but the permanence of the site really gives the festival a lot of wind in terms of just how important it is. And we're really proud of the fact, over $300 million in economic impact is generated from this park for Wisconsin. So, on an annual basis, $300 million going back into Wisconsin, again, as a nonprofit organization and being able to do that on a regular basis is really, it ingrains us into what Milwaukeeans and what Wisconsinites consider summer. The city of festivals is very real for us.
Baltin: You took over in your role in 2024. There's such a legacy for the festival. That's always a fascinating thing to balance that legacy with your own style and vision to it.
Pancheri: Thank you. We have an incredible team. So, I've stepped into the role in the beginning of 2024, my predecessor and I worked together for quite some time before that. So, stepping into the role now and really the dynamic nature of this industry, as you well know, it's changing every day. We're making sure that we're remaining current and maintaining that variety while also adding some of these new artists that are coming out. In addition to considering how we're going to use this park, how we're going to continue to expand what the use is, and highest and best use of this beautiful facility is, and how do we continue to enhance the Summerfest experience. So, last year, we started adding some art installations. We're looking at continuing to do that. We continue to push our value proposition. When someone new comes to the festival park and experiences Summerfest, someone who's never been here before, they're genuinely blown away with the value as well as just the variety of music here. So, as I think about what the future looks like and what our team is looking forward to doing, it's how do we continue, enhance, and grow that opportunity that we know is one of one in Milwaukee.