Walk south on Washington Avenue this week and you'll notice the elevation change before you notice anything else. One lane sits a few inches higher than the other, a leftover of the reconstruction project that has been reshaping the corridor. The city posted a caution about it back in the spring: drivers crossing at Pioneer Road and Lincoln Boulevard should watch their step, because the two lanes don't sit flush anymore. It's a small thing. It's also the kind of detail you only notice if you actually live here and drive this street every week, not the kind that shows up in a visitor's guide.
This is the Cedarburg that residents are moving through this fall: a downtown that has just hosted one of its biggest annual gatherings, the Wine & Harvest Festival on September 19-20, and is preparing for another, the upcoming Oktoberfest on October 3-4, while a road crew is still mid-project on the street both events depend on. The interesting part isn't that the timing overlaps. It's the contrast between the festivals' different footprints, with Camp Bar adding a creekside option nearby.
Wine & Harvest and the Construction Zone
The South Washington Avenue reconstruction has been underway since Vinton Construction started sewer main replacement back in April, and the project has moved through phases most residents have felt more than read about: lanes flipped east to west, then west to east, sidewalks and driveway aprons poured in sections so nobody loses full access to their own property for more than a day at a time. The city's target completion date is November 6, though officials said early on they were hoping to beat that.
Cedarburg Festivals' event page warned that portions of Washington Avenue would be under construction for Wine & Harvest, with major traffic rerouting and possible limits on local street parking. For a festival marking more than fifty years in this town, the warning meant residents could not assume the usual routine of where to park or which block to walk in from.
For visitors who planned for the September 19-20 festival, the familiar plan—finding a spot on a side street, walking in past the Arts of the Avenue vendors, and heading toward the wine tents and the Giant Pumpkin Charity Regatta on Cedar Creek Sunday afternoon—depended on checking the city's project update before setting out. The traffic-control phase had changed often enough that an August lane configuration didn't tell you much about September.
The New Front Door: Camp Bar's Creekside Approach
Here's what's different this year. In late May, the riverfront building at W63N664 Washington Avenue reopened as Camp Bar Cedarburg, the fifth location for Hackbarth Hospitality Group and the first new life for that property since Art of Joy Social House & Mercantile closed the previous December. Owner Paul Hackbarth's Cedarburg location has two stories of cream city brick, a wraparound patio, and direct frontage on Cedar Creek.
Camp Bar sits creekside rather than street-side. The patio faces the water, not Washington Avenue. Guests can settle into the Adirondack chairs by the fire pits and order a pizza from Flour Child. Its creek-path approach offers a different way to reach the bar than Washington Avenue.
Camp Bar carries the Northwoods theme Hackbarth has built across four other locations, starting with the original in Shorewood over a decade ago. And the timing lines up. A brand-new business with creek access opened the same season the street it fronts became unpredictable, adding another downtown option.
What Else Changed Between the Two Festivals
Camp Bar isn't the only new stop. A few blocks up, Union House Cedarburg opened as a modern tapas restaurant, the kind of shareable-plates, craft-cocktail spot managing partner Chris Homayouni describes as built to feel a little unexpected for this town. It's a different kind of night out than the fish fry and broasted chicken spots Cedarburg has long been known for, and it gives downtown diners a reservation-worthy option they didn't have a year ago.
A few practical notes from Wine & Harvest and ahead of Oktoberfest:
- Wine & Harvest (September 19-20): The festival overlapped with Washington Avenue construction. Side-street parking and the Camp Bar creek approach were options if the main strip was congested.
- Watch for the lane elevation change at Pioneer Road and Lincoln Boulevard if you're driving rather than walking in. The city has flagged it more than once in project updates.
- Reservations matter more than they used to. With Union House added to the mix, downtown has more sit-down options competing for the same festival-weekend crowd.
Oktoberfest Runs a Different Playbook
Two weeks later, on October 3 and 4, Oktoberfest returns to a different footprint entirely: the Community Center parking lot and the City Hall lawn, rather than the Washington Avenue corridor itself. Foxtown Brewing sets up its beer garden right on the City Hall lawn, with live music from Bridge Road, while the Glockenspiel Show runs every two hours and dancers from the Pommersche Tanzdeel perform alongside the River City Blaskapelle band. Sunday brings Hammerschlagen and a Porsche club showcase.
That venue choice matters more this year than it might have in years past. By moving the festival footprint off Washington Avenue and onto adjacent lots, Oktoberfest sidesteps most of the construction disruption that Wine & Harvest has to work around. It's a reminder that Cedarburg's two flagship fall festivals aren't interchangeable versions of the same event. One is built into the historic corridor and has to adapt to whatever that corridor is dealing with in a given year. The other sits a block off it and mostly doesn't have to.
What This Fall Actually Looks Like
Wine & Harvest has passed, but Oktoberfest is still ahead. The wine tastings, artisan booths lining both sides of the avenue, German bands and pretzel-eating contest are all part of what residents expect from a Cedarburg fall. This year, Wine & Harvest's logistics were affected by construction, while Oktoberfest's different footprint leaves it less affected. Two new businesses, one riverside and one downtown, give longtime residents fresh reasons to linger after the festival tents come down.
Camp Bar's creekside setting gives downtown visitors another option this fall. And if you haven't been to Union House yet, festival season is as good an excuse as any.
For those of you thinking further ahead about what a home near this corridor might be worth once the dust settles on Washington Avenue, or how Cedarburg's downtown investment might shape the neighborhood over the next few years, The Wright Group knows this market from the ground up. Contact us anytime.
