The Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival, the biggest music-and-moto event to hit Milwaukee this summer, took place from July 13-16 at venues across the Milwaukee area. Moto enthusiasts from all over the world enjoyed the festivities celebrating the rich, 120-year history of Harley-Davidson. The company also announced next year’s Harley-Davidson Homecoming will be July 25-28, 2024.
Some key highlights of the 2023 Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival included the following.
Veterans Park on the Milwaukee Lakefront: Performances by Green Day and Foo Fighters
On Friday and Saturday night at Veterans Park, music headliners Green Day (July 14) and Foo Fighters (July 15) performed to massive crowds on the Milwaukee lakefront. The shows gathered more than 80,000 moto and music enthusiasts throughout the weekend. Leading up to the headlining acts at the Veterans Park venue, key performances on July 14 included Abby Jeanne, KennyHoopla, Phantogram and The Cult. On July 15, performances included Ghost Hounds, White Reaper, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Cody Jinks. In addition, Nitro Circus, the most explosive crew in action sports, provided an action-packed freestyle motocross show, plus the exhilarating stunts of the Ives Brothers Wall of Death & Ball of Steel, food and beverage vendors, and special merchandise added to the family-friendly entertainment. Matty Matheson hosted a Burger Build Off, where legendary chef, actor, author and restauranteur Matty Matheson created the ultimate, show-stopping burger in a head-to-head cookoff.
Harley-Davidson Museum: Milwaukee
Activities kicked off at the Harley-Davidson Museum grounds on Thursday with Bike Night and continued through the weekend. Seventy-three thousand bikes lined the museum grounds and Sixth Street over the four days, while 130,000 attendees enjoyed food trucks, Flat Out Friday Boonie Bike races, motorcycle displays and demo ride opportunities with LiveWire and Stacyc electric vehicles, the Division BMX Stunt Show, custom and vintage motorcycle shows, and evening musical entertainment. The music line-up included headliners Hairball, The Jimmys and The Now Band, Rust Bucket Road Trip, and The Toys and Rebel Grace.
Harley-Davidson Powertrain Operations: Menomonee Falls
The Harley-Davidson Powertrain Operations in Milwaukee suburb Menomonee Falls hosted demos of 2023 Harley-Davidson motorcycles, factory tours and Police Skills Riding Demonstrations.
Harley-Davidson 120th Anniversary Motorcycle Parade: Downtown Milwaukee
The 2023 Homecoming event concluded on Sunday with the Harley-Davidson 120th Anniversary Parade, winding through Wisconsin Ave. to the heart of downtown Milwaukee, ending at Veterans Park on the lakefront. Seven thousand motorcycles participated in the parade to the cheers and waves from crowds gathered along the route.
Ride In Routes
All roads led to Milwaukee as Harley-Davidson plotted six exciting Ride In routes, each starting from the furthest reaches of North America and leading to Milwaukee, to arrive for Homecoming festivities. This provided an opportunity for riders to join at any point and ride at their own pace while mingling with fellow H-D riders. Each daily Ride In segment began and ended at an authorized Harley-Davidson dealership, with a midday stop also at a H-D dealership to meet other riders, chat with local staff, eat at local food trucks and conduct bike maintenance as needed.
New 2023 Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) Motorcycles
Homecoming weekend was also the official consumer debut of the new 2023 CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide models showcasing advanced technology, enhanced rider comfort and dynamic performance propelled by the powerful new Milwaukee-Eight VVT 121 engine, with a technical display in the Harley-Davidson Museum Garage area and demos at the Company’s Powertrain Operations facility.
Harley-Davidson Dealership Events
Six Milwaukee-area Harley-Davidson dealerships hosted events and entertainment. Dealerships that participated included House of Harley-Davidson (Greenfield), Milwaukee Harley-Davidson (Milwaukee), Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson (Thiensville), Uke’s Harley-Davidson (Kenosha), West Bend Harley-Davidson (West Bend) and Wisconsin Harley-Davidson (Oconomowoc).
