Mequon's Festivals Committee decided early this year: pause Redbud Festival and Winter Wonderland, two of the city's own long-running seasonal traditions, and figure out what comes next. No public event replaced Winter Wonderland's horse-drawn carriage rides or the Redbud Project's spring bloom walk along the Riverwalk. What the committee tried instead was smaller and more experimental, a free movie night on a baseball outfield.
Meanwhile, the fall calendar remains active, with events organized by the city as well as by a volunteer service club and a private food hall. The club and the food hall have been building their offerings for years.
City Festivals Paused for 2026
Winter Wonderland 2025 was held on a Sunday in early December in front of Mequon City Hall on Cedarburg Road, with carriage rides, a Santa visit, free hot cocoa, a tree lighting, and holiday music from three local choirs. Redbud Festival, held the previous May, paired live music and artist booths with the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club's Redbud Project, a decade-plus effort to plant flowering trees along the Riverwalk and Town Center.
Both were paused for 2026. In their place, the committee tried something low-stakes: a family movie night on Rennicke Field behind City Hall in late June, with free popcorn, ice cream, and cotton candy. About 200 people showed up with lawn chairs and blankets to watch a PG-rated film in the outfield. The movie night drew fewer people than the paused festivals, and the committee is still considering what belongs on the calendar long-term.
Here's how the pieces actually line up this year:
| Event | Who runs it | 2026 status | Typical turnout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taste of Mequon | City Festivals Committee | Confirmed, Sept. 12, noon to 9 p.m. | 12,000 to 15,000 |
| Redbud Festival | City Festivals Committee + Sunrise Rotary | Paused | n/a |
| Winter Wonderland | City Festivals Committee | Paused | n/a |
| Movie Night, Rennicke Field | City Festivals Committee (new pilot) | Held June 26 | About 200 |
| Applefest | Thiensville-Mequon Lions Club (independent of the city) | Confirmed, Oct. 4, 11th annual | 2,000 to 3,000 |
Taste of Mequon, the city's flagship event, is still on. It's still the biggest thing on the calendar. The two smaller signature events the city used to run are paused for now, while Applefest is organized independently by the Thiensville-Mequon Lions Club.
The Volunteer Festival’s Annual Run
The Thiensville-Mequon Lions Club has run Applefest in Thiensville Village Park for years. Its first year drew an estimated 300 to 500 people and nine vendors. Last year's 10th annual event, held on the shores of the Milwaukee River, drew an estimated 2,000 to 3,000. A Lions Club member told The News Graphic ahead of last year's event, "Our club members are very excited," as the paper reported while covering Applefest's growth.
This year's Applefest lands on Sunday, October 4, back in Thiensville Village Park with the same formula that's carried it for a decade: hayrides, a barrel train, an apple pie baking contest, apple brats, and polka music. It's free and organized independently of the city.
The city paused two seasonal events this year, while Applefest continued its annual run.
Mequon’s Food Hall and Other Local Businesses
The private side of Mequon's calendar has been busy too, and it's happening almost entirely inside one converted building. The Mequon Public Market, part of the Spur 16 development off West Mequon Road, occupies a former public works building on a site named for the railroad spur that once served the Milwaukee River Cannery, one of the area's largest shippers in its day. The cannery building next door now holds St. Paul Fish Company.
Inside the market today: Fenwick's Pub & Patio, which runs a standing Thursday trivia night at 7 p.m., Santorini Grill, Screaming Tuna, Aloha Poke, Thai City Cuisine, Boca Rica, Mad Rush Pizza, Purple Door Ice Cream, and Lakeside Cookie Co. The lineup is part of a privately developed food hall that has become a weekly gathering spot in Mequon.
A few miles away on Donges Bay Road, Steny's North Shore opened in March in the space that had been Libby Montana for 24 years before it closed in 2024. The new spot leans into its location next to the District 5 Ice Barn, with an oval bar faced in white subway tile and blue stripes built to resemble a hockey rink, tap handles fashioned from pucks and sticks, and a Friday fish fry.
What Mequon’s 2026 Calendar Includes
None of this means Mequon's public calendar is disappearing. Taste of Mequon is still confirmed for September 12, still free, still expected to pull five figures of attendance into the closed streets around City Hall. But if you've been assuming Winter Wonderland or Redbud will simply reappear next year on schedule, that's not guaranteed. The Festivals Committee has said it is trying to build something new around Taste of Mequon rather than restore the paused events; its movie night was one event in that effort.
If you want a fall event, Applefest is scheduled for October 4. For weekly options, Fenwick's trivia night at Spur 16 and Steny's Friday fish fry are on the calendar.
Put on your calendar:
- September 12 — Taste of Mequon, noon to 9 p.m., closed streets around City Hall
- October 4 — Applefest, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thiensville Village Park
- Thursdays — Trivia night at Fenwick's Pub & Patio, Mequon Public Market, 7 p.m.
- Fridays — Fish fry at Steny's North Shore, 5616 W. Donges Bay Rd.
Mequon's city festival lineup is changing this year, while independently organized events and weekly business programming also appear on the calendar.
The Wright Group is a Compass-affiliated real estate team based in Bayside, serving Mequon and the North Shore. If you're weighing a move in or around Mequon and want a local read on what a neighborhood actually feels like day to day, reach out anytime.
