Isthmus hosted its own parties, festivals and fundraisers long before the publishing world realized that event revenue could replace some of what classified advertising used to bring in. And until our reboot as a nonprofit organization in 2021, many of the events succeeded in engaging our readers along with making money that supported journalism.

A partnership with the old Madison Civic Center led to the Isthmus Jazz Festival, which brought Miles Davis to Madison in the late 1980s. The Big Eat celebrated the release of our annual Dining Guide in the 1990s, and a summertime block party announced the annual Madison’s Favorites awards and the release of the Annual Manual.

In 2007, we started Isthmus Green Day, an eco fair held at Monona Terrace that brought together environmental organizations, businesses and speakers, including celebrity chef Rick Bayless and New York Times food writer Mark Bittman.

Success with Green Day led to events where we made the bulk of our money on ticket sales, not sponsorship revenue. Most prominent among these was Isthmus Beer & Cheese Fest, which debuted in 2010 and drew thousands to the Alliant Energy Center thanks to the obvious appeal of its straightforward name and concept. Isthmus took over the iconic Paddle & Portage canoe race in 2011, a feat that proved particularly challenging. It’s essentially two canoe races with a run/portage race in the middle.

Other parties we’ve thrown over the years include Isthmus a La Carts, Margarita & Taco Fest, Burger Week, Craft Beer Week and the Band to Band Combat local music competition. All were fun, some were profitable, but all took significant effort to plan and execute. They either faded away or were taken over by other businesses.

As a nonprofit, we have focused on small, community gatherings that are more focused on supporting our mission. We’re brainstorming other ideas, particularly after throwing a killer party at Atwood Music Hall for our 50th anniversary in April.