Oftentimes around the holidays, people find themselves growing tired of traditional Christmas celebrations. I know that finishing all of my Christmas shopping early plus being in charge of decorations at work had taken quite the toll on my Holiday Cheer. I had tried blasting Christmas music and decorating Christmas cookies. I even thought about going caroling, but luckily I wasn’t that far gone. I was about to throw in the towel, when I heard of a small convention happening in the Brewery District called Krampusnacht. I decided to go, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something different during the holidays.
For the uninitiated, Krampus is a folkloric monster from the Alpine region of Germany created by parents to scare children into being good for the Holidays. The story was that if they were nice, St. Nick would come bearing toys and candy. But if they were naughty, Krampus would come, and beat them with bundles of sticks. If they were really bad, he would eat them or take them to hell. Wow, that escalated quickly! Besides teaching them to behave, Krampus was also created to put a fear of nature into kids, so they wouldn’t go wandering into the woods. To celebrate this tradition, people hold Krampusnacht parades where they dress up as Krampus and terrorize the crowd by chasing them and whacking them with bundles of sticks. Krampus wasn’t really well known in the U.S. up until the internet. It started with people making Krampus cards, and sharing them online. Then people started hosting their own Krampusnacht parades in places like Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Bloomington. So it made sense that Milwaukee would be the perfect place for its own Krampusnacht, due to its rich German roots.
I spoke with event organizer Tea Krulos for an idea of how such a unique event began in Milwaukee. Besides Milwaukee Krampusnacht, Krulos also organizes the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference which usually takes place in mid-October at Alverno College. The paranormal conference features a couple of guest speakers, a small vendor floor, and all things paranormal. At the 2016 Paranormal Conference, Tea had invited a group called Minnesota Krampus, and they were a big hit at the conference. Everybody wanted their picture taken with them. Shortly after that, Tea began planning his own Krampus event based on Krampusnacht celebrations around the world. Their first Krampusnacht was held in 2017 at Lakefront Brewery, and it was a huge success.
According to Krulos, “We quickly had to cap the tickets, because we were going to go way over capacity if we didn’t.” For 2018, 2019, and 2021 the event was held at the Bavarian Beerhouse which is a bar and restaurant with a beer garten in glendale. This year, they decided to move the event to Best Place and the Brewery District with the goal of expanding the event to an inside and outside market with other entertainment and activities. In my opinion, the Brewery District was the best place to hold an event like this due to its German heritage. Most of the buildings in the Brewery District are from the 1800s, and were commissioned by Captain Pabst who was a German Immigrant. The Brewery District gave an old world aesthetic, and turned Milwaukee Krampusnacht into an unconventional convention of sorts. Krulos had this to say about the move to the Brewery District, “It was great because we got to shut down the streets, and turn pretty much a two block area into Krampus Land” Krulos estimated that around 2,500 people attended the event throughout the night, which is certainly their biggest turn out yet.
The highlight of Milwaukee Krampusnacht is the Krampus Parade at 7:30. This year was the biggest Krampus Parade yet, because they got to shut down 9th to 11th street, and march their hairy hearts out. Parade participants would also get one free general admission ticket. There was a post parade show featuring The Squeezettes and Xposed 4heads. Besides the Krampus Parade, there were several group activities that sold out very quickly which included making your own Krampus Card, Kids Krampus hour which offered a $1 coupon for the Feral House Publishing Company table along with other sweets, and guest speaker Chad Lewis who travels the country investigating cryptids and paranormal experiences. The second most popular part of the event is the Christmas market which takes place in Captain Pabst’s office, and in the courtyard outside. Some of the event sponsors had tables in the market including Feral House Publishing Company which was selling rare out of print books, Hellfire Hot Sauce which had free samples that I would only recommend if you have a high spice tolerance, and American Science and Surplus which had everything from Krampus ornaments to Krampus stockings. Some of the other tables I visited were The Hodag Store, Madam Cora’s Emporium, and Memento Moira. I ended up buying some handmade soap, Hodag memorabilia, and a couple books from both Feral House and Chad Lewis. They were also holding a Toys for Tots drive, and a White Elephant gift exchange in Captain Pabst’s office.
There were also a couple of events in the event spaces surrounding Best Place. The Speakeasy under Captain Pabst’s office was holding Christmas karaoke, tarot readings, and a holiday photo op in the Pabst Infirmary. The Courtyard outside had 100% Vegan German inspired food from Plant Burger, special performances from fiddle player Wend O’Lynn, and Yuletide Scarings which was a Krampus themed escape room. Onkel Belsnickel’s Party Patio was holding the Toys for Tots benefit raffle, DJ Wendy and Ryan’s monster themed games, a special guest set by Puerto Wiccan, and the presentation of the Farthest flung award for who traveled the farthest for Milwaukee Krampusnacht. Central Waters Brewing had the Tamarind Tribal Belly Dancers, and a band called The Courtesan and The Cabin Boy.
Clearly there is something for everyone at Milwaukee Krampusnacht. If you’re not sure what to expect, Krulos summarized it as a mashup of Mardi Gras and Ren Faire with a weird Christmas market. But it’s so much more than that, and it’s only going to get bigger every year. Typically they start planning early in the summer, but due to the big move to the brewery district they’re going to have to start planning as early as January of 2023. According to Krulos, the main complaints they had were about food selection and crowding. To fix these issues, they are speaking with some of the newer event spaces surrounding Best Place to possibly hold new vendor floors and activity areas. They are also looking at food trucks and caterers for more food options. Despite these small issues, I’d still highly recommend Milwaukee Krampusnacht to anyone looking for something new, strange, and exciting for the holidays.