Oshkosh

Sawdust Days

(http://www.sawdustdays.com/) july 4 and nearest weekend. the annual celebration of independence day and the cities logging history. includes amusement park rides, native american encampment, fireworks and more.

Lifest

(http://www.lifest.com/). annual christian rock festival.

Art Walk

Downtown park across from library or behind true value hardware. monthly display of local artists in a variety of galleries and boutiques. food and drink offered in most stores. dirst saturday of the month 6pm-9pm, free.

Festival of Lights

Menominee park, december. a large assortment of christmas light displays. christmas music is broadcast and sleigh rides are offered. fee, reduced with non-perishable food donation.

CountryUSA

(http://www.countryusaoshk...). annual country music festival.

airventure

EAA AirVenture (http://www.airventure.org/), last Monday in July through Sunday. Sometimes known simply as "Oshkosh", it is one of the world's great aviation gatherings. A week-long aviation event offering seminars, product demonstrations, aircraft tours and daily airshows. One of the largest airshows in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people drive in, tens of thousands of aircraft fly in. A tent city sprouts under the wings of parked aircraft and beyond. Be on the alert for closed roads all around Wittman airport and Highway 41 during the festival. Hotels can be filled for tens of miles around, but local universities open their dorm rooms, and private homes their spare bedrooms, to the visitor. See the AirVenture and Chamber of Commerce websites for leads on housing. If you plan to fly in to Wittman airport during AirVenture, you must absolutely get the AirVenture NOTAM and follow it carefully.

Volunteering at AirVenture is a great way to experience the event at a whole different level. Flight Line Operations volunteers, clad in fetching orange vests, direct incoming and departing aircraft as they taxi between runway and parking. It's an exciting way to be close to a huge variety of noisy, smelly machines. Protect Our Planes volunteers walk among the planes on display, reminding visitors not to touch and perhaps damage the planes, or smoke near them. It's a way to help the festival while getting a good look at planes you wanted to see anyhow. And there are many other possibilities, too. AirVenture's Volunteering web page (http://www.airventure.org...) lists what you can do and how to register. Or, come to the Volunteer Information Center on the grounds and offer your services.

Forums are a held in a dozen open-walled lecture rooms to the north of AeroShell square. Experts and enthusiasts volunteer to deliver hundreds of talks on every conceivable aviation topic. Frequently the audience contains experts every bit as authoritative as the presenters. The AirVenture Today newspaper contains the full forum schedule for each day.