Sheboygan's Brat Days will return in 2024. Here’s what we know about future plans.
SHEBOYGAN – Brat Days is coming back to Sheboygan in 2024 after taking a year off to “revamp.”
The Sheboygan Jaycees hosted a “Bring Back Brat Days” fundraiser at the Sheboygan Early Bird Rotary Club Lobster Boil in July. The fundraiser brought in about $1,500, according to Brat Days Chairwoman Jackie Quasius.
The fundraiser follows an April post on the Brat Days’ website sharing the event wouldn’t be hosted in 2023 because the Jaycees are “working to revamp” it.
Last year, the Sheboygan Jaycees also shared Brat Days would take “some other iteration” after it was held for the 69th time.
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Quasius said the Jaycees needed to reassess the event, which has been costly over the last decade, to make it more successful and profitable. Costs were exacerbated by a rainy year, the pandemic and increased prices. Brat Days is typically budgeted for at least $200,000.
The Jaycees could host more fundraisers ahead of the 2024 event, slated for the first weekend of August, but nothing has been organized yet, she said.
Brat Days has evolved since 1953 — canceling in 1966 because of drunken rowdiness, temporarily holding the name “German Days” in the early 1970s and moving from downtown to Kiwanis Park.
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What will Brat Days look like next year?
Quasius said the Jaycees are looking to expand the family and carnival areas and downsize the music area from two stages to one.
Several staples of Brat Days will return next year, including the brat-eating competition, charity competition and scholarship program.
Quasius said the parade and Marketplace could come back, too.
Through Brat Days, one of the Jaycee’s largest fundraising events, more than $300,000 has been donated to community organizations, like the Sheboygan County Food Bank and Humane Society of Sheboygan County.
Though Brat Days was expected to downsize from a weekend event, Quasius said the plans they’re anticipating call for it to span Friday night and Saturday with shorter hours.
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The 2022 Brat Days was hosted from 4 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Johnsonville is still expected to partner with the Jaycees on the event, Quasius added. The Sheboygan Falls-based company has been the title sponsor since 2004.
Quasius said of Johnsonville: “They've always been supportive of us. They have always been supportive of what we want to do."
Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alexx_garner.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: No Sheboygan Brat Days in 2023, but Jaycees plans for 2024 event
