{"id":807044,"date":"2026-08-08T17:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/807044\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:32:10","slug":"dry-days-dried-bugs-are-back-fairgoers-vendors-reflect-one-year-after-flood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/807044\/","title":{"rendered":"Dry days, dried bugs are back: Fairgoers, vendors reflect one year after flood"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE \u2014 Day two of the Wisconsin State Fair is underway, and vendors and visitors say it is off to a warm and smooth start \u2014 a big change from this time last year, when historic August floods filled the fairgrounds.<\/p>\n

For many, the flooding at the fairgrounds was just a glimpse of the much greater damage the flood caused across southeast Wisconsin, whether they were in the thick of it or saw videos on social media.<\/p>\n

Brianna May was at the fair the night of the flood.<\/p>\n

Watch: Dry days and dried bugs are back: Fairgoers, vendors reflect one year after historic flood<\/p>\n

Dry days and dried bugs are back: Fairgoers, vendors reflect one year after historic flood<\/p>\n

“It was coming down like crazy,” May said. “All of a sudden, the water is like up to my knees, so that was pretty, pretty rough.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vendors like All Things Jerky had to close down early during last year’s flood.<\/p>\n

“I mean, running a business is hard anyway. But yeah, last year was a shock. I mean, there was a whole day and a half of lost revenue,” Jessica Jerky said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jerky says the flood was not the only natural disaster she experienced this year.<\/p>\n

“We’re coming off of a year of the flood, and then I live in Appleton, which was just hit with the tornado. So I’m just hoping and crossing my fingers there’s no really bad weather here this year,” Jerky said.<\/p>\n

Despite a tough year, Jerky is back at the fair, this time with bugged-out cheesecake on the menu.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been selling bugs here for 15 years, and making it crazy fun,” Jerky said.<\/p>\n

May and her girlfriend gave the bug cheesecake a try.<\/p>\n

“Crunchy, a little earthy. Not too bad though\u2026 it doesn’t taste like bugs,” May said.<\/p>\n

While the memories of the flood may not be flushed away completely, fairgoers and vendors are taking advantage of the drier days \u2014 and even dried bugs \u2014 this year.<\/p>\n

“We plan on being here all day because we love to eat,” May said.<\/p>\n

Let’s talk:<\/p>\n

Hey there! At TMJ4 News, we’re all about listening to our audience and tackling the stuff that really matters to you. Got a story idea, tip, or just want to chat about this piece? Hit us up using the form below. For more ways to get in touch, head over to tmj4.com\/tips. <\/p>\n

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Report a typo or error<\/a> \/\/ Submit a news tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE \u2014 Day two of the Wisconsin State Fair is underway, and vendors and visitors say it is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-807044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}