Booyah Bash, Kringle Combine return at Washington Street Block Party

Downtown Green Bay will host the Washington Street Block Party April 25 from 12-7 p.m., featuring the Booyah Battle, the Kringle Combine and the Bike Bash. There will also be local bands present, performing a variety of songs, like polka, upbeat music, Polish Push Style, country, rock and oldies.

Local high school band Plaster will play 90s and 2000s rock and grunge at 3:30 p.m., as well as Counter Punch, which is a Chicago-based punk rock band. At 5:30 is Flat Foot 56, which is also a Chicago-based hardcore-tinged Celtic punk band.

Returning from last year’s NFL Draft programming, the Booyah Battle and the Kringle Combine events will take place from 12 to 3 p.m.

“They did so well last year, and people wanted them to return, so we're bringing them back to downtown, and joining us this year is the Bike Bash presented by the Green Bay Bicycle Collective. That event is going to be all day, from 12 to 7 p.m.,” said Kennedy Corpus, digital media manager at Downtown Green Bay, Inc. “What that covers is bicycle games by the hour. There's a vintage and specialty bicycle show and swap meet, and a flatland EMX demo at 6 p.m., so lots of fun activities all day are going on, with that as well as live music.” 

The Booyah Battle will have 10 local Booyah chefs battling for the title of Best Booyah in the Land. The winner, determined by attendees, will receive a $500 cash prize. Attendees can purchase a $20 tasting card on the day of, and that's while supplies last.

“We are expecting a big crowd right away, so we definitely recommend folks bring a friend and share their samples. They'll get to sample all 10 Booyahs and vote for which one is their favorite,” Corpus explained. 

The Kringle Combine is also a voting event, with a $5 donation benefiting the Salvation Army that gets people into the Kringle Combine area. There will be five never-before-tasted Limited Edition Kringle flavors that are created by community favorites, such as Local 5 Live, WBAY, Cocoon Brewing, Beckett from Up Next with Bex and 95.9 Kiss FM, for attendees to taste and vote for their favorite.

“The Kringle Combine and Booyah Battle are both favorite foods that are traditional to the area, so we're excited to highlight those that bring the community together,” Corpus said. “[They] kind of go back to our Belgian and Danish roots. We have many more roots here in Wisconsin, but those are some fun ones to spotlight. A lot of people don't even know what Booyah is, including our two Chicago-based bands that are coming. They said they're very excited to try Booyah because they've never heard of it before. Same with Kringle, so we're really excited to highlight those for our community.”

The Bike Bash, starting at 12 p.m., will be a vintage and specialty bike show and swap meet featuring five different bicycle games by the hour starting at 1 p.m., like Tiger Tube Blow-up, and ending at 7 p.m. There will also be a local food truck available, but Corpus also encourages people to dine at the local restaurants that are on Washington Street, like Al's Hamburgers or the Vintage Cantina, as well as the Daily Buzz.